OHTANI AWARDED AL MVP, 11TH UNANIMOUS CHOICE
The coronation is complete.
It started early in the season, when Shohei Ohtani began doing things baseball hadn’t seen in 100 years. It picked up steam at the AllStar break, when the enormity of the two-way star’s unprecedented skill set was on full display. And even as the Angels faded down the stretch, the hype around Ohtani never seemed to run out of steam.
Already this offseason, he had been named a Silver Slugger, the MLB Players Choice Outstanding Player, Baseball America’s player of the year and the 16th all-time recipient of the Commissioner’s Historic Achievement Award.
On Thursday, he claimed his biggest honor yet, his historic campaign culminating with the announcement that he had been named the American League’s Most Valuable Player in a unanimous vote.
Ohtani finished ahead of fellow finalists Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Marcus Semien, both infielders for the Toronto Blue Jays.
He became the fourth Angels player to win the award, joining Don Baylor (1979), Vladimir Guerrero Sr. (2004) and Mike Trout (2014, 2016, 2019), and is only the second Japanese-born recipient, after Ichiro Suzuki in 2001. And he was the 11th American League player to be a unanimous selection, the 19th overall.
In the entirety of the sport’s history, Ohtani’s 2021 was seemingly unmatched.
After three injury-plagued seasons to begin his MLB career, Ohtani finally mastered his two-way role. He hit 46 home runs and drove in 100 runs as a hitter, finishing the season with a .257 batting average, .965 on-base-plus-slugging
percentage and 26 stolen bases. He went 9-2 with a 3.18 ERA as a pitcher, collecting 156 strikeouts in 1301⁄3 innings.
He was the major league leader in several analytical rankings, including both Fangraphs’ and Baseball Reference’s versions of combined wins above replacement. He also shattered a series of historical milestones, including becoming the first player to be elected to an All-Star game as both a hitter and pitcher.
Notable
While insisting MLB is focused on reaching a labor deal, Commissioner Rob Manfred signaled Thursday that owners likely will lock out players if the current contract expires Dec. 1 without a new agreement.
Baseball had eight work stoppages from 1972-95, but there has been labor peace since a 71⁄2-month strike began in August 1994 and forced the cancellation of the World Series for the first time in 90 years.
“We’ve been down this path. We locked out in ’89-90,” Manfred said. “I don’t think ’94 worked out too great for anybody. I think when you look at other sports, the pattern
has become to control the timing ... and try to minimize the ... actual disruption of the season. That’s what it’s about. It’s avoiding doing damage to the season.”
Most minor league players will get their own beds provided in team housing under a new MLB policy.
Stepping up improvements for minor leaguers after widespread criticism, MLB’s housing policy will require teams to provide furnished accommodations, with a single bed per player and no more than two players per bedroom. The housing must be “located at a reasonable, commutable distance from the ballpark,” the commissioner’s office said. Teams will be responsible for basic utility bills.
The D-backs officially hired San Diegan Brent Strom to be their pitching coach. The 73-year-old has been a pitching coach in the big leagues for 11 seasons, most recently with the Astros from 2014-21.
The Rockies agreed to a $14.5 million, three-year deal with catcher