You know where this post is going. Shohei Ohtani is done pitching for 2023, and possibly heading for his second Tommy John surgery. I’m not going to say, “I told you so,” but earlier this month, I made the case for Ohtani to step away from pitching for the rest of 2023 and protect himself — and his potential forecasted most lucrative contract in baseball history. Instead, we watched Ohtani go out there in meaningless games for a team that probably wasn’t going to even bother making a contract offer. Now, Ohtani’s got a partially torn UCL and — at the time of writing — has been considering whether he’ll get his second Tommy John surgery.

The sports stations are now filled with reels discussing whether Ohtani loses his bid for AL MVP, and how much he’ll lose in his contract negotiations. Most surprising to me: the take that Ohtani, now hobbled by injury and made more affordable, might return to the Angels instead of going to a team that knows how to hire physicians and trainers. But hey, maybe my beloved Twins end up with Ohtani now (not a chance). 

Let’s jump in and figure out how this messes up your fantasy teams for this year and next.