The 2024 World Series begins Friday, and MLB fans could witness one of the best players to ever play the game achieve the sport’s ultimate goal.
Shohei Ohtani was the talk of last offseason. The Boston Red Sox were one of multiple teams linked to the two-way superstar. However, the Los Angeles Dodgers won the sweepstakes when they signed Ohtani to a 10-year, $700 million deal.
It was an insane contract, and the details made it even more wilder. But with Ohtani reaching his first World Series in his seventh year in the majors, it begged the question: What if the Red Sox signed Ohtani?
First of all, he wouldn’t have any problems at Fenway Park. The 30-year-old commanded a .810 OPS with two home runs and 14 RBIs in 14 games in Boston. If you’re looking at the Japanese superstar in the long term — since an elbow injury prevented him from pitching this year — Ohtani recorded a 1.00 ERA and 14 strikeouts in nine innings at Fenway Park.
You obviously don’t need us to tell you how awesome Ohtani is. He’s already an all-time great without a World Series title, and he’s on track toward winning the National League MVP. It’s hard not to think he wouldn’t do the same if he stayed in the American League. That would have given baseball fans another exciting MVP race between Aaron Judge and Ohtani. You add in the New York Yankees and Red Sox dynamics and MLB and TV executives are on Cloud Nine.
However, for those who don’t believe in or were unaware of how great Ohtani was this season, let’s take a dive into his stats. Again, Ohtani could not pitch this season, so he decided to deliver one of the most memorable seasons from the plate. Ohtani led the NL with 54 home runs and 130 RBIs. He stole 59 bases, making him the first person in MLB history to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season. He also led the NL with a .390 on-base percentage and 1.036 OPS. Those stats made him a 9.1 fWAR player. Oh, yeah, and have you seen his dog?
Imagine, if you will, Ohtani and Jarren Duran terrorizing opposing pitchers and defenses with their speed or Ohtani and Rafael Devers making Gerrit Cole cry rivers as large as the Hudson River. Ohtani is your locked-in starter and you leave Alex Cora and Craig Breslow to figure out how the rest of the lineup shakes out.
The Red Sox improved this season but fell short of their goal of making the postseason. One factor of their second-half slump was the lack of offense. Ohtani fixes that immediately. And if Boston made the playoffs, how far could it go with Ohtani? Well, leave you to speculate on that.
There were solid strides made, and the “Big Four” gives fans something to be excited about in the future. But the major league team needs a superstar like Ohtani to help reach its goals. Perhaps a run at Juan Soto could help solve the Red Sox’s problems?
