During spring training, MLB.com beat writers polled over 100 players and asked them who the best player in baseball was. Not surprisingly, the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani was the no-brainer choice for number one. However, the pick for the second-best player was a bit of an upset. The choice wasn’t the Yankees' two-time and reigning AL MVP, Aaron Judge, but the Royals' young shortstop, Bobby Witt Jr.
Ohtani is the best player in baseball right now. He’s won three MVPs in four years and was the most dominating offensive threat, crushing 54 home runs and stealing 59 bases (in only 63 attempts!) last season. That would be reason enough to have the Japanese superstar number one, but adding in the fact that he’s a Cy Young candidate when healthy only enhances the legend that he has become.
Judge seemed like an easy choice for the second-best player. He was the unanimous choice for the 2024 AL MVP, his second, and he’s finished in the top four in voting three other times. He has four Silver Slugger awards, six all-star appearances, and two 10+ WAR seasons.
In 2022 and 2024, his MVP seasons, he led the AL in WAR, home runs, RBI, walks, On-Base Percentage, Slugging Percentage, and OPS, among other key stats. It seems as if Judge would be the easy choice for the next-best player after Ohtani.
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How did Bobby Witt Jr. finish ahead of Aaron Judge in the minds of MLB players?
Witt is a small market team’s Holy Grail. He is an incredible mixed of speed and power not seen very often. He worked to improve his defense to the point where now he is a Gold Glover winner at shortstop. Seldom does an organization like the Royals draft, develop, and produce a player of this caliber.
Witt did lead the majors in hits and batting average in 2024, and finishing second unanimously in the MVP race. While his stats are incredible - he’s the first shortstop ever to have back-to-back 30 home run/30 steal seasons - they are not as overwhelming as Judge’s are.
And that is the most significant trait about Witt. He’s fun to watch. No one is getting up to go to the restroom when he is due to bat. He plays every day at shortstop, and he plays that position very well. According to Baseball Savant, he’s the fastest player in baseball, and he loves to stretch singles into doubles and doubles into triples. He hustles and smiles, and it is obvious he loves playing baseball.
Since the MLB strike that wiped out the 1994 World Series, the Royals have only produced one player even close to the athletic talent that Witt displays—Carlos Beltran. Unlike that future Hall of Famer, Witt has already signed a long-term contract with the Royals that will keep him in Kansas City until at least after the 2030 season. According to Spotrac, with player and team option clauses, he could stay through the 2037 season.
Witt is the case study of how small market teams can draft, develop, and retain superstar talent. A player of Witt’s skill level gives a team like the Royals something to build around long-term to compete with big-market teams like the Yankees and the Dodgers.
The best thing about Witt for the Royals is that he is just 24 and still has a chance to get even better. It is hard to imagine a better Bobby Witt Jr.
Aaron Judge is the reigning AL MVP, but he turns 33 next month. It shouldn’t be long before Witt surpasses the Yankee star as the American League’s premier player. MLB players already think he is.