ANAHEIM, Calif. — Before Shohei Ohtani stepped into the bright lights of Hollywood and signed the most lucrative contract in U.S.
professional sports history, baseball's two-way superstar put together yet another season of unparalleled brilliance from Tokyo to Anaheim.
What can this singular talent possibly do next? The Los Angeles Dodgers are eagerly paying $700 million to see for themselves.
But what Ohtani already did in 2023 — both for the Los Angeles Angels and for Japan in the World Baseball Classic — is the reason he was selected as The Associated Press' Male Athlete of the Year for the second time in three years. «Shohei is arguably the most talented player who's ever played this game,» said Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers' president of baseball operations, after signing Ohtani to a 10-year contract last week.