Superduperstar in two ways and SEO behemoth You undoubtedly already know that Major League Baseball’s primary character for the 2023–24 offseason is Shohei Ohtani. This is due to the fact that he is a free agent and will likely sign the biggest contract in MLB history if he doesn’t choose to sign a short-term agreement that would allow him to hit the market again soon. That’s true even though, following a recent elbow surgery, he will only be “just” one of baseball’s finest power hitters in 2024 and won’t be able to return to his ace position on the pitching until 2025.

The fact that Ohtani was just named American League MVP for the second time in his illustrious career serves as the background for everything. As the current MVP, that puts him in the unique position of (very certainly) switching teams. Ohtani could theoretically re-up with the Angels, but it seems very improbable. Ohtani will only be the fourth reigning MVP to ever switch teams, whether via trade or free agency, if he does sign with, say, the Dodgers, Rangers, Mets, Red Sox, or some other fortunate team. Because of those exceptionally unusual circumstances, we may take a look back at the other four reigning MVPs who moved on to other teams, which Ohtani will most likely soon join. So let’s get started.

Eddie Collins, Athletics to White Sox, 1914

Via: Trade

The AL’s top individual award, known as the Chalmers Award, was given to the future star second baseman while he was a member of the 1914 Philadelphia Athletics. Before the Boston Braves defeated the squad in the World Series, Collins’ team won 99 games and the pennant that season. He batted.344/.452/.452 with 14 triples and 58 stolen bases.

Collins wasn’t a player you trade, especially considering he was only 27 years old at the time. Still, Connie Mack, the Athletics’ owner, made the decision as part of a dramatic cutback brought on by the start of the Great War in Europe and the growing prominence of the Federal League as a rival to Major League Baseball. Mack enabled Herb Pennock and Charles Bender to sign with the Federal League, cut loose Jack Coombs, and declined to negotiate a new contract with Home Run Baker. For an alleged $50,000, he also sold Collins to the White Sox along with his recently acquired Chalmers Award. Collins would amass a WAR of 66.8 with Chicago over the course of the following 12 seasons, solidifying his place in the eventual Hall of Fame.

Barry Bonds, Pirates to Giants, 1992

Via: Free agency

While the narrative appears to have been somewhat embellished over time, Bonds was, in fact, “almost” dealt to the Braves in the spring of 1992 before he was set to become a free agent. Years later, Hall of Fame General Manager John Schuerholz of Atlanta told reporters that the team had every intention of signing Bonds to an extension as soon as they acquired him. That presents the intriguing prospect that the Braves might not have signed Greg Maddux as a free agent that winter after paying the market rates for a Bonds extension. Ultimately, though, the Pirates chose not to deal him, and the 28-year-old MVP went into free agency.

In December 1992, the day before Maddux signed a deal with Atlanta, he signed a six-year, $43.75 million contract with the San Francisco Giants, his home team. Even while those terms seem extremely modest now, they were the most expensive agreement in MLB history at the time. The Giants made a wise decision in signing Bonds, who finished with a WAR of nearly 50 during his initial deal with the Bay Area and earned an MVP in his first season there. Things would get even better for the couple in the future.

Bonds will remain the lone MVP winner to switch teams as a free agency as long as Ohtani doesn’t decide otherwise.

Alex Rodriguez, Rangers to Yankees, 2003

Via: Trade

A-Rod signed a 10-year, $252 million deal with the Texas Rangers, which at the time was the biggest player contract in professional sports history, after becoming a free agency at the end of the 2000 season. Despite Rodriguez’s early-career success, the Rangers did not have much on the field, which contributed to the (completely unfounded) belief that A-Rod was an organisational pillar.

Following the 2003 campaign, in which A-Rod won a Gold Glove, a Silver Slugger, and the AL MVP award, the Rangers started to shop him and his remaining salary commitments. For a while, it looked like Rodriguez might sign a contract with the Red Sox, but the players union objected to a rather radical modification of his contract, and the deal fell through at the last minute. As a result, the Yankees were able to move quickly to acquire A-Rod in a blockbuster trade that sent Joaquin Arias and Alfonso Soriano to the reigning MVP. Additionally, Texas contributed $67 million to cover Rodriguez’s outstanding wage commitments.

In apparent deference to shortstop Derek Jeter, Rodriguez moved to third base, and while playing for the Yankees, he went on to win two MVP awards and a World Series. A-Rod chose to opt out of his contract and become a free agency after winning his third and final MVP in 2007. For a while, it appeared as though he might become the first-ever reigning MVP to swap teams twice. But the Yankees tracked him down and managed to re-sign him for the balance of his playing career.

Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins to Yankees, 2017

Via: Trade

With his formidable physique at the plate and his elite exit velocity, Stanton was one of the most impressive power hitters in history during his prime. Everything clicked like never before or after he won NL MVP against Joey Votto of the Reds in one of the tightest votes ever cast in 2017 while he was a member of the Marlins and collected 59 home runs.

Stanton was three years into a 13-year, $325 million contract he had signed with the Marlins after that season. The Marlins, led openly by CEO Derek Jeter and under new ownership, sought to escape those responsibilities. They were close to making deals with the Giants and the Cardinals, but Stanton used his no-trade clause to prevent them from doing so. Nevertheless, he approved a deal with the Yankees that was completed in less than a month following Stanton’s MVP victory.

The Yankees acquired $30 million in addition to one of baseball’s top power hitters, while the Marlins obtained Starlin Castro, José Devers, and Jorge Guzmán. Despite struggling with ailments while with New York, Stanton has improved overall in terms of rate and has already finished the season with 38 home runs since the move.

Now it’s your turn, Mr. Ohtani.