Yahoo Sports senior MLB analyst Jordan Shusterman and senior MLB analyst Jake Mintz talk about how the two best plays in MLB, Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, are going head-to-head in the World Series, and what that means for fans and the sport of baseball. Hear the full conversation on the “Baseball Bar-B-Cast” podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.

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The other big narrative that's on my mind is the MVP versus the MVP.

Some great stat production from Friend of the show, Sarah Langs.

First time that the two presumptive mvps are facing off in the World Series since 2012, Buster Posey and Miguel Cabrera.

First time the mvps are gonna face off in the World Series for top seeds since Thurman Munson and Joe Morgan in 1976.

Now, I know that sounds like cherry picking, but here's what it really means.

This is the first time that the two best teams have the two best players and are playing in the World Series.

I have spent a lot of the season being annoyed by Yankees fans being sensitive about how much attention Otani is getting because it's like you don't have to argue about this anymore.

Like they're not in the same league judge and Otani are not competing for the same award.

They will both win, they're breathing different air.

Exactly.

And so while that is still true and we expect them both to win now it's in now.

It's just unavoidable.

Now.

It's like, ok, well, here they are both in the world series and only one of them can win and whether one of them, every time one of them strikes out and one of them doesn't strike out, it's just gonna become, oh, well, he's obviously better.

Well, he obviously better now, I will maintain that like, uh one of them pitches and one of them doesn't.

And Aaron Judge himself referred to Otani as the best player in the game at this point that will continue, both fan bases will insist that their MVP is the superior player and not that this series will determine that it will for a lot of people.

Uh whether that's fair or not, I actually kind of love it the because these are both really difficult players to hate, I think because they don't, besides being on the teams that people hate and being really good, they're not overtly hable.

Like they both seem like pretty nice jets and are respected around the game.

And so to watch these fan bases contort themselves into fake hate for a week that I'm excited for like, yes, we will get a lot of and we got this in Queens.

I don't know if we talked about this.

Ohtani comes up to the plate in Queens guy screens.

What's the spreads show?

Hey, like we'll get a lot of that.

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