Angels News: Shohei Ohtani Named Top Player in MLB For Second Straight Season

To no surprise, the two-way superstar is ranked the No. 1 Player ahead of the 2023 season.

In what might be his last season with the Los Angeles Angels, Shohei Ohtani is selected as the No. 1 player by MLB Network, again. 

For the second year in a row, Shohei Ohtani is MLB Network's No. 1 player‼️ pic.twitter.com/ploGsmlv0K

— MLB (@MLB) February 24, 2023

Ohtani is a force to be reckoned with, and he's proven that both at the plate and from the mound.

After making his major league debut with the Angels back in 2018 and winning the AL Rookie of the Year Award, he's just been getting more and more dangerous.

During his 2022 campaign, where he was selected to the AL All-Star team, he posted a career-best 2.33 ERA with a 15-9 record.

The 28-year-old righty also collected 219 strikeouts across 166 innings of work while averaging 11.9 strikeouts per 9 innings, the second-highest in the league. 

Offensively, he posted a .273 AVG and 34 bombs which is good for 11th in the whole MLB. 

Truly no one is doing it like him and that's why he'll be looking at potentially the biggest free-agent deal in history. And rightfully so. 

But the question is, who will sign him next winter when he becomes a free agent? 

The Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, and San Francisco Giants are among the teams with the best chance at securing him next year, but Ohtani and the suitors have a whole season ahead of them before they can start looking at what the 2024 season will look like.

Ohtani's first order of business will be representing his home country this spring as he'll play for Team Japan in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. He'll join Yu Darvish and Seiya Suzuki as the other three major leaguers on the team.

Then, he'll play his fifth year with the Angels, taking his place in the starting rotation alongside Patrick Sandoval, Jose Suarez, Reid Detmers, and Tyler Anderson who just moved across the freeway from the Dodgers.

Last year, the Angels finished third in the AL West with a 73-89 record despite having two players (Ohtani and Mike Trout) in the Top 10 in the MLB.

Maybe in his most likely final year with the Angels, Ohtani can lead the team to at least a winning record, which hasn't been done since 2015.