Passan: MLB Exec Said Bobby Witt Jr., Not Shohei Ohtani, Is Best Player in the World

Even though consensus opinion across Major League Baseball would tell you that Shohei Ohtani is the best player, that's not a unanimous thought among people in the sport.

Per ESPN's Jeff Passan, one longtime talent evaluator said Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. is the best baseball player in the world.

The evaluator did hedge a bit by saying that Ohtani will be the best player when he resumes pitching, in addition to hitting.

It's not that hard to make the argument for Witt as the top player in the sport, especially when you factor in his defensive value as a shortstop. The main contenders around Witt for the crown are Ohtani and Aaron Judge.

Witt hit .332/.389/.588 with 32 homers, 31 stolen bases and 109 RBI in 161 games. His 88 extra-base hits ranked third in MLB, behind Ohtani (99) and Judge (95).

Using FanGraphs' offensive value metric from the 2024 season, Witt's 59.4 mark ranked fourth behind those of Judge (95.0), Ohtani (80.7) and Juan Soto (61.1).

FanGraphs' defensive value metric gave Witt a significant advantage over that trio. He was the only one in that group with a positive rating (17.5) in 2024. Soto was at minus-6.1 and Judge was at minus-9.9. Ohtani did technically have a rating (minus-17.2) even though he only played designated hitter.

Witt's defensive rating was the third-best in MLB, behind only those of Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh (21.8) and Chicago Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson (18.9).

By FanGraphs' wins above replacement, Witt's 10.4 mark trailed only Judge's (11.2) for the best mark in baseball. Ohtani, without having any defensive value, was still third at 9.1.

Ohtani didn't pitch last season due to an elbow injury suffered in August 2023 that required surgery. He intends to get back on the mound at some point this season, but the Dodgers have said he won't be ready to do so by Opening Day.

There are also going to be questions about how effective Ohtani can be as a pitcher after a second UCL surgery. He previously had Tommy John surgery in October 2018.

Ohtani has been coy about what exactly his second elbow surgery was, only telling reporters in December 2023 the procedure was "completely different from my last one."

If Ohtani can't return to pitching, or he's not effective in doing so, a case can be made that Witt is the best player in baseball because of his impact as an elite all-around shortstop.