The two-way star won't be able to pitch in 2024, but he's still one of the most coveted players ever.
ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the L.A. Rams for ESPN from 2016 to 2018 and the L.A. Angels for MLB.com from 2012 to 2016.' five-day, exclusive negotiating window, a time when teams are given the first opportunity to keep their own players. In this case, it is merely a formality, a feeble attempt to delay the inevitable.
Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the orthopedic surgeon who performed both of Ohtani's elbow procedures, wrote in a statement on Sept. 19 that Ohtani will be able to hit by the start of the 2024 season and resume a two-way role by 2025. But none of this is straightforward.The sample size of pitchers undergoing two UCL surgeries is relatively small, the number of success stories even smaller.
It's a major uncertainty. But it is also coupled by an understanding that Ohtani is capable of being one of the greatest pitchers and one of the most dynamic offensive players in the sport -- all at once.Ohtani won the American League's Most Valuable Player Award unanimously in 2021 and would have won it in 2022 if not for's record-breaking home run season. He is all but guaranteed to capture the honor again in 2023, even though he barely pitched for the season's last two months.
But a number of factors could change this in several directions. Ohtani could push for an opt-out after Year 1 or 2, allowing him to retest the market once he's done recovering from surgery as a pitcher. He could be swayed by one of the short-term, exceedingly high AAV deals that will surely present themselves over the winter. Or he could be drawn to a highly motivated owner who blows up the structure entirely by guaranteeing sums of money that other teams can't come close to matching.