Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, Yordan Álvarez top Home Run Derby wish list

Imagine for a moment if baseball's top sluggers had no restrictions — personal, team or otherwise — about participating in the Home Run Derby. Wonder for a minute what the event would look and feel like if the game's best players were unconcerned about suffering new injuries or exacerbating existing maladies by taking swing after swing while putting on a show.

Oftentimes, the reasons that hitters provide for turning down invitations to participate in the Derby are practical. Their club could be in the hunt for the postseason, and getting even slightly injured in MLB's annual event is not worth the risk. Perhaps they've already participated, so once was enough. Maybe the travel to the All-Star Game festivities — the Texas Rangers' Globe Life Field is hosting this year — is simply not feasible or desirable. 

Those arguments are all fine and well, but for the purpose of this exercise, let's forget for a moment that there are any conditions to the Derby. Who would you most like to see swat baseballs with titanic force into the earth's stratosphere, and have a blast doing it? Which athletes would you love to see loosen up from their day-to-day rigidity and show fans a different side of themselves? 

Since Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson has already agreed to participate, and Aaron Judge has already declined, here are six other sluggers who top my Home Run Derby wish list, highlighting players who would create the highest entertainment value for their friends and fans.

1. Juan Soto , New York Yankees

It was only two years ago that Soto, as a Washington National, defeated Julio Rogríguez for the Home Run Derby crown at Chavez Ravine. But Soto was only 23 years old then, and he's been through a lot since, including being