Shohei Ohtani Tops Judge as No. 1 MLB Star to Build Team from Scratch in Player Poll

Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani was the overwhelming pick in a survey of MLB players who were asked by The Athletic the one colleague they'd build a team around.

Nearly half (45.6 percent) of the 103 respondents chose Ohtani. New York Yankees star Aaron Judge (14.5 percent) was a distant second.

"It's a cheesy answer but you have to sign Ohtani because he's two players for one, right?" one player said. "He's two-for-one; you get a pitcher and a hitter, and really, really good ones at that."

Ohtani is on pace to have his best year yet. He's leading MLB in home runs (24) and RBI (58) while slugging .632. Meanwhile, the 2021 American League MVP is 6-2 with a 3.29 ERA, a 4.07 FIP and 105 strikeouts through 82 innings.

His 3.1 WAR are fifth among position players at FanGraphs, and tied for 33rd among pitchers (1.4).

The 28-year-old's performance on the mound has fallen off a bit, but he's still pitching like a solid No. 2 or 3 starter. And the Angels are getting that along with elite hitting at the plate. Overall, Ohtani remains is a class by himself.

Judge is doing well to at least keep pace offensively. The reigning AL MVP has 19 homers and 40 RBI and leads the majors in slugging (.674) and OPS (1.078).

"You need that kind of guy in your lineup," one player said to The Athletic of the four-time All-Star. "And you really need that kind of leadership."

In a sign of how the general hierarchy has shifted in MLB, Angels star Mike Trout was all the way down in the "also receiving votes" category of the exercise.

The injuries have begun adding up for the three-time MVP over the last few years, and his production in 2023 is decidedly un-Trout-like. Through 69 games, he has a .257/.364/.479 slash line.

It's too early to say the decline has begun for the 31-year-old, yet the days when he was reflexively viewed as the best player in baseball are probably over.