It’s not even November and the Shohei Ohtani trade rumors are in full force across baseball.
The two-way star is fresh off yet another MVP-caliber season (although Aaron Judge should win the award) that broke plenty of records. He’s the first player to record 10-plus wins as a pitcher and hit at least 30 homers in the same year. Ohtani is also the first player to qualify for both the ERA title and the batting title.
His remarkable performance led to 3.8 fWAR as a hitter and 5.6 fWAR as a pitcher. The Los Angeles Angels think that agreeing to a $30 million deal with Ohtani for 2023 is “step one” toward retaining him beyond next season.