When you talk about the best players in baseball right now, the two names that immediately come to mind are New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge and Los Angeles Dodgers two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani. You’d think that for CC Sabathia, Judge would be the obvious choice if he were asked to pick the best right? After all, he is a Yankee legend! But instead, he chose Shohei Ohtani and it’s easy to see why!

After the Milwaukee Brewers racked up the franchise record of 97 wins and knocked out the Chicago Cubs in a five-game NLDS, it looked like they were ready for a deep October run. But then they ran into Ohtani and the Dodgers, and what followed was four straight games of complete nightmare baseball. Milwaukee’s bat went ice cold and scored just one run in each contest, and Ohtani delivered a performance that left five teams in the postseason looking embarrassed.

CC Sabathia, in an interview, made it clear, “I keep saying this, but… he’s the best baseball player I’ve seen in my life. My man can hit a ball 900 feet and can throw 99 off the mound. There’s nobody else doing that.” 

The funny part is that Sabathia first saw Ohtani in just one inning of one game when he was still playing and immediately knew he was special. “People got on me when I talked about Ohtani. I saw him play, and I said, ‘This is the best baseball player I’ve ever seen.’ He’s the biggest, the fastest, and the strongest; he hits the ball the furthest, and he throws the ball the hardest. There’s really nobody you can compare him to.”

Game 4 of the NLDS perfectly illustrated why Sabathia’s early take was spot on. Shohei Ohtani smashed three home runs, pitched six scoreless innings of two-hit ball, and struck out 10 batters. That performance alone was enough to wipe out all of the Milwaukee Brewers’ hopes and capped off a Dodgers playoff run that is now 9-1, including 7-1 against the top two NL teams during the regular season.

Ohtani’s two-way threat—crushing homers while he is dominating on the mound—has drawn several comparisons to Babe Ruth, too. But Sabathia insists that there is no one like Ohtani. And in just one night against Milwaukee, Ohtani proved it. Rob Bradford said it best: “In one game, Shohei Ohtani hit as many or more home runs than five teams that participated in the postseason.” So the message is loud and clear—he is not just the best player in the game; he is redefining the game.

Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million gamble just paid off big time

When Shohei Ohtani signed that eye-watering 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, people thought it was one of the boldest moves in baseball history. Less than two seasons later, it turns out that the Dodgers have made their money back and then some more. MLB insider Joon Lee said the Dodgers recouped the entire amount in Ohtani’s very first season through ticket sales, merchandise, and global marketing deals. Basically, the Ohtani effect paid for itself even before he unpacked his bags.

But here is the genius part—Ohtani himself structured the deal to help the team. Out of the $700 million, a huge $680 million is deferred over ten years. That dropped the present-day value to about $460 million, and this gives LA plenty of flexibility to stack their roster with names like Blake Snell, Tanner Scott, and Teoscar Hernández—all-in-all, a smart team. The response after Ohtani signed was nothing short of electric.

StubHub reported a 25x spike in Dodgers searches the day after the announcement. Ohtani’s No. 17 jersey also shattered the records as Fanatics’ fastest-selling jersey ever. And suddenly Dodgers blue wasn’t just popular in L.A.—it was a huge sensation. In fact, in Japan, the Los Angeles Dodgers have become a huge brand, and not just through Ohtani, but also through Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki. It is a brand or bond that started in the 90s with Hideo Nomo and is still going on.

Now with $752 million in revenue last year, the highest in MLB, and also a World Series title under his belt, this partnership looks like a class in business and baseball. And as you see with the returns, the story is just getting started.