Winner: Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles Dodgers

Final tally: Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers 420 (all 30 first-place votes), Francisco Lindor, Mets 263, Ketel Marte, Diamondbacks 229, Marcell Ozuna, Braves 134, William Contreras, Brewers 132, Bryce Harper, Phillies 130, Chris Sale, Braves 99, Elly De La Cruz, Reds 89, Jackson Merrill, Padres 57, Willy Adames, Brewers 54, Matt Chapman, Giants 37, Zack Wheeler, Phillies 31, Mookie Betts, Dodges 24, Jurickson Profar, Padres 23, Kyle Schwarber, Phillies 15, Manny Machado, Padres 12, Freddie Freeman, Dodgers 6, Luis Arraez, Padres 4, Paul Skenes, Pirates 3, Teoscar Hernández, Dodgers 3, Ezequiel Tovar, Rockies 3, Jackson Chourio, Brewers 1, Luis Arraez, Padres 4.

Experts' pick: Ohtani (9 votes; unanimous)

Doolittle's take: Ohtani has made the impossible seem almost routine. In doing so, he continues to race down previously uncharted paths. With his unanimous win in the balloting, Ohtani becomes the first three-time unanimous MVP. No one else has done it more than once. He joins Barry Bonds as the only players to win back-to-back MVPs with different teams. He joins Frank Robinson as the only players to win the award in both leagues. Ohtani also won an MVP award in Japan.

And yet all of this barely does justice to describing what we've just seen. No one had ever reached 43 homers and 43 steals in the same season. Ohtani obliterated those barriers, going for 54 homers and 59 steals. That translates to a power-speed number (56.4) that is far and away the highest in history. He drove in 130 runs despite spending more than half the season batting leadoff.

Ohtani did all of this while becoming the biggest star on the most star-laden franchise in the majors and leading it to a championship. He did all of this entirely as a designated hitter even though he remains at heart a starting pitcher, one who spent the 2024 season rehabbing from surgery. It just boggles the mind.

Ohtani will return to the mound next season and Philip K. Dick would have a hard time imagining what he might do from her