If you were to open our mixed league cheat sheet, you'll find a number that pops off the page: Shohei Ohtani's salary-cap value is $83.
Eighty-three dollars?!?!
That's no misprint. Ohtani is expected to return to the mound this season, having nearly fully recovered from his September 2023 elbow operation -- not quite a Tommy John procedure, not quite an internal brace, but still a procedure that demands as lengthy a recovery time. He has resumed bullpen sessions early in spring training and appears on track to rejoin the Los Angeles Dodgers' rotation by May.
Add that to his established hitting excellence -- he scored an MLB-leading 653 fantasy points last season -- and Ohtani appears ready to reclaim his status as fantasy baseball's clear-cut No. 1 overall player. At least, he will recapture that status in leagues like ESPN's standard format, which affords near-maximum roster flexibility in starting him.
Still ... an $83 valuation, meaning not only 32% of a fantasy team's total budget, but also nearly $30 more than any other player?