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The Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani seems to do something absurd every time he steps on the field, but Alex Rodriguez isn't ready to throw the GOAT moniker his way just yet.
When Zach Gelb of The Zach Gelb Show asked A-Rod point-blank if Ohtani is the best player he's ever seen, the former New York Yankee had another name in mind.
Alex Rodriguez was asked if Shohei Ohtani is the best baseball player he's ever seen:
"No. The best player I've ever seen is Barry Bonds. Like, head and shoulders above everyone, almost like Michael Jordan. Just a class of his own."
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“No. The best player I've ever seen is Barry Bonds,” Rodriguez said. “Like, head and shoulders above everyone, almost like Michael Jordan. Just a class of his own.”
Rodriguez continued, pointing to Bonds' lineage.
“Barry Bonds was so good it’s hard to articulate how good this guy was,” he continued. “He’s also baseball royalty with Willie Mays as his Godfather and also the great Bobby Bonds as his dad. Barry Bonds is in a class of his own.”
Ohtani is off to another ridiculous start at the plate, batting .308 with 12 home runs, 10 stolen bases and a 1.051 OPS through 39 games. He's still a ways off from being able to return to a major-league mound, but Rodriguez is looking forward to the day Ohtani can reclaim his status as a two-way sensation.
“Barry doesn’t pitch, and Barry can’t throw 100 miles per hour, although Barry would probably tell you he could,” Rodriguez said. “But as far as the most unique, the most special player that I’ve ever seen, it has to be Shohei Ohtani, especially when he’s able to pitch as well because then it only becomes a class of two, Shohei and Babe Ruth.”
The Barry Bonds vs. Shohei Ohtani comparison
To this point in Ohtani's career, he has two clear advantages over Bonds: he's a two-way player, and he has not found himself embroiled in performance-enhancing-drug allegations.
On paper, the Dodgers DH has put up Bonds-like numbers through his first eight seasons as a hitter.
Both have three MVP awards in that span (Bonds eventually won seven), and Ohtani has a 237-222 home run edge over the San Francisco Giants legend (Bonds eventually hit 762, the all-time record). However, Ohtani's MLB career began at age 23 as compared to 21 for Bonds.
On the bases, many forget that Bonds was once a consistent stolen base threat. He had 280 in his first eight seasons while Ohtani only has 155. The catch: Ohtani became the only player in MLB history last year to record a 50-50 season as he was free to tear up the base paths without having to worry about pitching.
Expect him to steal a little less once he's back on the mound where he has a career 3.01 ERA behind a career 31.2% strikeout rate.
