In last year’s edition of The Athletic’s annual MLB Player Poll, almost 60 percent of the players we spoke to predicted Shohei Ohtani would be playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2024. None of them likely could have imagined the record-shattering contract (and deferrals) that went alongside that move, but they definitely have thoughts about it now. This spring, over the course of two and half months, we interviewed more than 100 players — almost evenly split between the American and National Leagues — across 18 teams and granted them anonymity to get their unfiltered takes on some of the biggest and most controversial storylines in baseball. In addition to their thoughts on Los Angeles’ prolific offseason spending spree, we learned who they think is the most overrated player and the things former players say that irk them the most. This is not exactly a scientific poll — not every player we spoke to answered every question, and we have listed the number of responses for transparency — but it provides an interesting look into the minds of those currently playing and shaping the game. Let’s see what they had to say.
1. Who is the best player in baseball?
It appears, once again, that Ohtani is inevitable. Even for many who see him up close regularly, the luster has yet to wear off. Forty-six percent of our voting pool named the two-time MVP as their pick for the best player in the sport. Several more players even acknowledged that Ohtani was the real answer, but they elected to provide a different response for fear of being too predictable. Ronald Acuña Jr., who suffered an ACL tear in May and is out for the season, was the players’ second pick with over a quarter of the vote. Ohtani’s fellow Dodger Mookie Betts, along with the Yankees’ Aaron Judge, came in third with 8.8 percent each. Mike Trout rounded out the group with 3.9 percent. Other players receiving votes were the Phillies’ Bryce Harper and Zack Wheeler, the Orioles’ Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman, the Guardians’ José Ramirez, and the Rangers’ Corey Seager.
2. Who is the most overrated player in baseball?
Unsurprisingly, players were not as keen to respond to this question, and those who did were less aligned on their answers. At the top was Marlins center fielder Chisholm, who took home 20 percent of the vote. Though most respondents did not elaborate on their reasoning, one player did question how the former All-Star ended up on the cover of last year’s “MLB The Show” video game. This year’s runner-up was Angels infielder Rendon, with 10.2 percent of the total. Long-time readers of The Athletic might be surprised to see his name here, as he was voted the most underrated player in baseball by his peers in our player poll back in 2019. Said one player at the time: “He makes every single play. I think he’s a superstar.” A lot can change in five years. Carlos Correa (6.7 percent), Tim Anderson and Jack Flaherty (5 percent) were next, while Pete Alonso, Cody Bellinger, Alex Bregman, Elly De La Cruz, Manny Machado and Blake Snell (3.3 percent) rounded out our leaderboard. Other players receiving votes were Yordan Alvarez, Javier Báez, Kris Bryant, Jeimer Candelario, Emmanuel Clase, Gerrit Cole, Rafael Devers, Adolis García, Alek Manoah, Carlos Rodón, Julio Rodríguez, Juan Soto, Giancarlo Stanton, Spencer Strider, Marcus Stroman, Alex Verdugo, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Christian Yelich. Several players we asked said they would hesitate to call anyone at the pro level overrated. “I just feel like this game is too hard,” said one AL pitcher. “I don’t want to be talking bad about someone else’s game.” One notable data point is Bryce Harper, who received just one vote despite making up almost half the votes for this category back in 2018 and 62 percent of the responses in 2019. Said one player who was informed of this fact: “It’s not Bryce anymore.”
3. Putting aside their stats and going solely on vibes, who do you most want on your team?
Earlier this year, we asked our readers to submit questions they’d like to see included in this survey. This one comes courtesy of Michael S., and the players were quite game to answer. They provided a variety of names and reasons, ranging from “I’m a big fan” to “That guy just seems cool.” Betts, known for his smile on the field and leadership skills in the clubhouse, was the overall top pick. “He’s a really good player and he’s figured out how to get the most out of himself,” according to an NL outfielder. Not far behind was Betts’ teammate Ohtani (6.3 percent), who stood a chance of being crowned the best player and the player with the best vibes before several respondents chose someone else to avoid doubling up. One player, who eventually voted for a different NL candidate, had to give himself a pep talk beforehand: “I’m not going to say Shohei. I’m not doing it.” Acuña, Harper, Judge and Kyle Schwarber tied for third place (4.2 percent). Trout, Marcus Semien, Lance Lynn, and Willy Adames all had 3.1 percent of the vote, followed by Jose Altuve, Orlando Arcia, Gerrit Cole, Kiké Hernández, Francisco Lindor and Garrett Stubbs (2.1 percent).
4. Evaluate this statement: Anthony Rendon was right — the season is too long.
Though he may be an imperfect messenger, Rendon’s comments earlier this year on the length of the MLB season resonated with many and sparked vigorous conversations both online and off. “There’s too many dang games — 162 games and 185 days or whatever it is,” Rendon told the Jack Vita podcast in January. “Man, no. We gotta shorten this bad boy up.” The logistics and odds of that happening aside, it is an interesting question. Is the modern MLB season too long? Almost one-third of those polled agreed with Rendon. Some respondents offered that 140-150 games would be ideal, while a few even suggested 120 would be a better target. Several admitted that they thought the season was too long but acknowledged it would be too difficult to change for historical and record-keeping purposes and ultimately voted “no.” However, the overwhelming view of those we polled was that the schedule is fine as is. “I think (the season) feels long, but I also think it’s fair for everyone,” said an AL pitcher. ”It’s part of the grind. It’s part of what makes it so hard.” And for at least one anonymous baseball diehard, the question didn’t even compute. “Is the season too long? It’s not long enough.”
5. Which team would you sign with if contracts, state taxes and rosters were not a factor?
This was another reader-sourced question, courtesy of Josh N., who wanted to know where players would most like to sign, all things being equal. The responses skewed toward players’ residential preferences, with many citing that they’d like to play for the team closest to where they live in the offseason or where they grew up. It’s also no surprise that teams in moderate climates or those with significant history scored high on the list. Some players even wanted to join a team for the stadium they play in. (Said one Texas voter: “Their new ballpark is really nice.”) But one major franchise stood above the rest: The Atlanta Braves, who captured 12.7 percent of the vote.
6. What organizations have bad reputations among players?
Thanks to reader Carson C. for this one. We invited players to offer more than one response to this question, so the above graph represents the number of times a team was mentioned. Of the 79 players who responded, 40 named the beleaguered Oakland Athletics as a team with a bad rep, the highest response overall. They were followed, in order, by the White Sox, Angels, Rockies, Mets, Pirates, Marlins, Rays, Padres, Yankees, Nationals, and Royals. The Orioles, Red Sox, Guardians, Tigers, Astros, Giants, Mariners, and Cardinals were all mentioned once. The reasons players listed were varied but mostly involved an organization’s lack of spending or player development. One NL player declined to name a specific team but was blunt in his general assessment: “Any place that is not trying to win consistently. So, a fourth of the league.”
7. What is the most irritating criticism of the current game coming from former players?
We let players answer this question however they saw fit, and they gave us a variety of wide-ranging responses. Eighty-two responses, in fact. Most touched on one of three topics they were most tired of hearing about from former players.
8. Should MLB shut down midseason so players can participate in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles?
In their own words
9. Have analytics helped your career, hurt your career, or made no difference to your career?
In their own words
10. Have you ever seen or heard of a player being put on the injured list when they weren’t injured enough to merit it?
In their own words
11. Was the Dodgers’ offseason spending good for the game?
In their own words
12. Are you in favor of or opposed to MLB adopting the salary cap and floor system used in other major sports leagues?
In their own words