NEW YORK — As the 2026 Major League Baseball season approaches, sportswriters are debating whether New York Yankees captain Aaron Judge or Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani is the best player in baseball. ESPN's preseason MLB Rank placed Ohtani at No. 1 and Judge at No. 2 entering 2026.

The debate follows a long tradition. Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner drew similar comparisons from the late 1900s into the early 1910s, Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio in the 1940s, Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays from the mid-1950s into the early 1960s, and Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey Jr. through much of the 1990s.

Ohtani won the Most Valuable Player award in four of the five seasons preceding 2026, each unanimously. Judge won the MVP in three of the four seasons preceding 2026. The two play in different leagues and are each eligible for their league's MVP in 2026.

"Judge, not Ohtani, is the best hitter in the world. The Yankees captain has ascended to all-time great status," sportswriter Jorge Castillo wrote. Over the 2024 and 2025 seasons, Judge batted .326 with 111 home runs, 259 runs scored, and 258 runs batted in. Ohtani batted .296 with 109 home runs, 280 runs, and 232 RBIs. Judge's on-base percentage was .457 compared with Ohtani's .391.

Baseball-Reference estimated Judge created 356 runs over the 2024 and 2025 seasons while making 793 outs; Ohtani created 328 runs while making 911 outs. The site calculated Judge averaged 9.4 batting wins above an average hitter per season during that span, compared with 6.8 for Ohtani. Over the full 2024 and 2025 seasons, Judge accumulated roughly 3.2 more total wins of value than Ohtani.

In high-leverage situations during the 2024 and 2025 regular seasons, Judge hit .315/.466/.630 and Ohtani hit .314/.428/.638.

Ohtani held an edge in baserunning, stealing 59 bases in 63 attempts in 2024 and 20 in 26 attempts in 2025. The FanGraphs baserunning metric credited Ohtani with 3.7 positive runs in 2025 and Judge with minus-4.1, though Baseball-Reference's metric placed Judge closer to Ohtani. "It almost seems unfair to include Ohtani on this list," sportswriter Alden Gonzalez wrote.

Judge posted 3 defensive runs saved as a right fielder in 2025, ranking in the 86th percentile for range and 84th for arm value among right fielders according to Statcast. His defensive Wins Above Replacement was minus-0.5, while Ohtani's was minus-1.7. Combining defensive and baserunning metrics, Judge held approximately 0.6 more wins of value than Ohtani in 2025.

The 2026 season will be the first full year Ohtani pitches since he injured his elbow in August 2023. Both players entered their fifth MLB season in 2026. The Dodgers entered the campaign as two-time defending World Series champions.