After a strong 2023 season, Shohei Ohtani became the 33rd player to win multiple MVP awards and the first to do so unanimously.
He also became the fifth player to receive this award in the same year he became a free agent.Although rare, this was the second year in a row that the AL MVP hit the open market; The Yankees’ Aaron Judge found himself in this position in 2022. Before that, it had only happened once in the past three decades.Here’s a look at how each MVP winner fared the following year2023: Shohei Ohtani signs with the DodgersOhtani’s 2023 season with the Angels was in many ways better than his MVP-caliber 2021 season. Each of his triple-slash numbers – .307/.412/.654 – were career bests. No one in MLB had a higher on-base percentage or slugging percentage. But of course that’s only half of Ohtani’s greatness. His opponents’ .184 batting average and 31.5% strikeout rate were best among AL pitchers with at least 130 innings.Even with a season-ending elbow injury that required surgery and will keep Ohtani off the mound in 2024, there was no question that he was the No. 1 free agent of the offseason. The Dodgers, long considered the favorites for his services, went all out in their pursuit. A few days after the Winter Meetings ended, they gave Ohtani a recording contract worth $700 million over ten years. 2022: Aaron Judge re-signs with the YankeesJudge won his first career AL MVP Award thanks to a record-breaking season. The Yankees slugger hit 62 home runs, breaking Roger Maris’ AL record with 61 home runs in 1961. Judge finished the 2022 season with a slash line of .311/.425/.686, with an OPS of 1.111 and a MLB best 10.6 bWAR. . Before the start of the 2022 season, Judge rejected a seven-year, $213.5 million extension with New York, playing the final year of his rookie contract with the Yankees at a $19 million salary . Thanks to his MVP season, Judge’s bet on himself has certainly paid off for him.The Giants reportedly made the California native a substantial offer, but Judge ended up in pinstripes again. The Yankees re-signed their MVP outfielder to a nine-year, $360 million contract. 2007: Alex Rodriguez re-signs with the YankeesRodriguez launched 54 home runs, drove in 156 runs and posted an OPS of 1.067 for the Yankees, winning his third AL MVP Award in 2007. That was the seventh season of a record 10-year, $252 million contract he signed with the Rangers before the 2001 season (Texas traded A-Rod to New York in 2004). But it was also the first time that Rodriguez could withdraw from the agreement, and he did.Although it appeared that Rodriguez’s time with the Yankees had come to an end when his agent announced his waiver during the World Series, the Yanks signed the superstar slugger to a new 10-year contract worth $275 million. his own record tallest players. MLB contract in history.Due to injuries and a suspension for violating MLB’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program that cost him the entire 2014 season, Rodriguez appeared in more than 150 games in a season only once, compared to the remaining nine with the Yankees. 1992: Barry Bonds signs with the GiantsBonds’ departure from Pittsburgh, where he won two National League MVP Awards and achieved status as the best player in baseball, was almost a foregone conclusion given the Pirates’ inability to land a superstar of his caliber once he reached free agency. . After a 1992 campaign in which he posted the best numbers of his career – 1,080 OPS, 34 homers, 127 walks – and led the Pirates to their third straight NL Championship Series, Bonds signed with the ‘team. His father Bobby became a star for two decades. earlier. Bonds signed a seven-year, $43.75 million contract with the Giants and returned to the city that was home to his father and godfather, Willie Mays.
1989: Robin Yount re-signs with Brewers
Yount won his second career MVP Award by posting an .896 OPS with 21 homers and 19 steals for Milwaukee in 1989. He became a free agent that offseason, but re-signed with the only Major League organization he had ever known, inking a three-year, $9.6 million pact.
The future Hall of Famer played another four Major League seasons, all with the Brewers, before calling it a career. He hit .257/.330/.381 with 43 homers and 45 steals over that span.
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