When the All-Stars took the field Tuesday in Philadelphia, many of the biggest names in the sport were center stage. And with them, some of the loudest tools in the game. There was extreme velocity, incredible power and breathtaking speed.This spring, as part of our annual anonymous MLB Player Poll, The Athletic asked 100 major-league players across 23 teams a simple but impossible question: If you could have any tool from one current player, which would you choose? The players were granted anonymity to speak candidly (and perhaps be more willing to admit wanting to steal a rival’s skill).The responses were an All-Star collection, with a few predictable standouts.“I feel like all the answers are going to be a combination of (Shohei) Ohtani and (Aaron) Judge just because they’re gross,” one NL West player said. “They are gross at baseball.”Indeed, New York Yankees right fielder Judge was mentioned 14 times, meaning his name came up in nearly one out of every seven responses. Some players wanted his overall hitting ability — “Everything involved with his bat, period,” one former first-round draft pick said — but most specifically longed for Judge’s mammoth power.“Wouldn’t it be nice to hit 50 home runs a season?” one fellow New Yorker said.“It just looks so easy,” said an NL East starter.“I don’t even hit,” one NL pitcher said, “but that would be fun.”Ohtani’s name came up slightly less often — 10 times — perhaps because the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar has a uniqueness that requires more than one tool. Ohtani’s power was mentioned most often — “Shohei’s pop, that would be amazing. It would be sick.” — but it was hard to ignore his standalone ability to do it all.“To pitch and hit, you get the best of both worlds,” one NL Central player said. “What baseball player wouldn’t want to do that?”All of them, surely, want a bit of Ohtani’s magic, but five different players singled out Luis Arraez’s ability to make contact — “I’d be a .330 hitter with 30 bombs!” one position player fantasized — and even non-hitters seemed in awe of Juan Soto’s eye and approach at the plate.“I get I’m a pitcher,” one NL player said. “But maybe that’s why I’m so impressed by it.”Another player put the Soto appreciation in deeper perspective.“He wants you to think he’s in control of what’s going on,” one lefty reliever said, “when our whole life, we think the pitcher’s in charge, the pitcher’s in control. He tries to flip that on you, and I think that’s impressive.”What tool would the All-Star Game players take from each other?Jayne Orenstein, Rebecca Tauber and moreFour players mentioned Ronald Acuña Jr., but two longed for his power and two wanted his speed. Four also mentioned Bobby Witt Jr., two singling out his speed, one wanting his first-step quickness on defense, and another requesting all of the above.“All of (his) tools,” an NL Central outfielder said, “power, speed, arm strength, all of it. Him. … he’s incredible.”
Ohtani’s duality? Soto’s eye? The skills MLB players said they’d most want to steal
Yoshinobu Yamamoto's flexibility. Bobby Witt Jr.'s speed. Jose Altuve's ... flick? Players had a lot to appreciate about their peers.









