“Give me Yadier Molina and a time machine. “Catcher is the hardest position to find someone good.” “I want more than just a good player, I want a good clubhouse guy, and I’ve heard great things about Judge.” And you really need that kind of leadership.” “You need that kind of guy in your lineup. Other players who received multiple votes include Ohtani’s teammate Mike Trout, Seattle’s Julio Rodríguez and Houston’s Yordan Alvarez. and Baltimore’s Adley Rutschman round out our top four with 9.7% and 5.8%, respectively. “Ohtani is the right answer, right? But that’s kind of boring,” said another.Īaron Judge - who in last year’s playoff poll was voted as the player other players would most want to have at the plate in a World Series-deciding at-bat - had a strong showing as well (14.5%), with several players citing his leadership skills specifically. Said one player: “It’s a cheesy answer but you have to sign Ohtani because he’s two players for one, right? He’s two-for-one you get a pitcher and a hitter, and really, really good ones at that.”
Interestingly enough, that was also the perspective of the players, the majority of whom did not feel compelled to explain their reasoning when casting their vote. Almost half of the players we polled said they’d want to build their team around Ohtani, whose awards and achievements probably don’t need to be explained here. It likely comes as no surprise that the most versatile player in the sport ran away with this one.
Note: Some player quotes have been lightly edited for length and clarity. Not every player answered all of the questions we asked - the number of responses will be listed on each question for transparency - but they were very game to discuss who they’d want if they started a team, the postseason pitch clock and more.
For this project, our local and national writers spoke to 103 players across 22 teams and granted them anonymity to find out what they think about some of the biggest storylines of the 2023 season, from expansion teams to where they think Shohei Ohtani will be playing next year.
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