A once-in-a-generation talent, two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani continues to rise in Major League Baseball. Recently, the Angels’ star, Ohtani, hit his 25th home run of the season and became this year’s home run leader. While Ohtani’s free agency stays a sensational topic in the league, his fandom is increasing with the baseball legends fawning over him.?
Yesterday, London Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs hit it off with Derek Jeter coming out of his shell for the coverage. There, as it happened, the conversation between the entire crew, DJ, Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, and Kevin Burkhardt, quickly turned toward the player aspiring for half a billion dollars in his free agency. And acknowledging his immense talent, Jeter, Ortiz, and A-Rod had only praise for the two-way phenom.
Captain Derek Jeter approves of Shohei Ohtani’s two-way talent
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Derek Jeter sharing the stage with Alex Rodriguez was one of the biggest moments in itself. It is no secret that despite playing for the same team for a few years, Jeter and Rodriguez had their differences. And when it comes to David Ortiz, the Yankees legend shared the on-field rivalry with the Red Sox legend for years. And yet when the topic of the discussion was Ohtani, all three united to appreciate the phenomenal talent of the Angels slugger.
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Hall of Famer Ortiz remained flabbergasted about Shohei. He couldn’t help but continue talking as much as possible about Shotime. One of the many things that David Ortiz said about the two-way phenom is,?“This guy keeps on showing the whole planet how great of a player he is. He leads the league with 25 bombs right now. Can you believe that?”?These words by Ortiz prompted Jeter to agree with him as he compared Ohtani with the one and only Babe Ruth.
About Ohtani, Jeter said,?“It’s almost like you can’t be surprised by that anymore. He just continues to do it. I mean, this guy is leading the league in home runs, is one of the best pitchers in the game. I can’t relate to it. I don’t think anyone up here can relate to it. You know Babe Ruth did it years ago, but what he (Ohtani) is doing is unprecedented, and he’s fun to watch.”
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However, praises about Ohtani was not stopping with Jeter. After Jeter chimed in, his former teammate, Alex ‘A-Rod’ Rodriguez. A-Rod believes that Ohtani is a talent that he’s never seen before, and nobody will probably see it again, and that Ruth was the only one closest to it.?
Ohtani’s free agency: a tale for history
Even before 2023 started kicked off, Ohtani had already started to make a buzz in the baseball world with his impending free agency. Shotime won his first AL MVP back in 2021 and finished second in the race in 2022. And now, from the looks of it, the chances of him winning MVP again are more in his favor. With it, the talks of him getting a contract as big as $500,000,000 or even more is getting persistent.
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Although the Angels have said that they’re not letting Shohei go without a fight, the chances of them retaining him are very thin. At the same time, San Diego Padres, LA Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, and New York Yankees are leading the talks of where Ohtani might end up post this season. Only time will tell where the Japanese superstar will play his next season!
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