Shohei Ohtani is widely regarded as the best player in MLB. Ohtani is doing things fans haven't seen in decades and quite frankly, ever. He pitches, he hits, and does both at such an elite level.
With MLB contracts being some of the largest seen, there's no telling what Ohtani could command. One could only assume it's going to hit that $500M mark. Some contracts to take into account are Mike Trout (12/$426.5M), Mookie Betts (12/$365M), and Aaron Judge (9/$360M). These three players are regarded as some of the best baseball has to offer. Yet again, those three are still missing a whole aspect of the game that Ohtani possesses.
Ohtani is signed through the 2023 season, making him a free agent in the off-season of 2024. Signing him addresses a need on top of the rotation and in the middle of the batting order. It's only right to assume that he will command much more than the player stated above. Ohtani, 28, already has a long line of accomplishments. An AL MVP, AL ROY, Silver Slugger, as well as being a 2x All-Star.
In Ohtani's 5-year career, his stats are impressive to say the least.
As a hitter..
.267/.354/.532 with 127 home runs and 342 RBIs in 1986 ABs.
As a pitcher..
28-14, 2.96 ERA, 3.04 FIP, 1.090 WHIP, with 441 SO all in 349.2 IP.
(Via Baseball Reference)
This also doesn't consider his 24.8 WAR that he has accumulated over the last five seasons. Ohtani is a special player. He's great for the game of baseball and is poised to command that historic contract that he will sign at the end of the 2023 season. It's hard to say if the Angels will entertain trades throughout the season, it's hard to imagine that they wouldn't receive offers, or if they feel they can lock up Ohtani and keep him in Anaheim. Whatever the case might be, Ohtani's 2023 & 2024 off-season is going to be must watch.