CC Sabathia believes that Shohei Ohtani, and not former teammate Aaron Judge, should be the American League MVP this season.

"He's the best player to ever play baseball," Sabathia said of Ohtani. "He's the MVP every year that he's healthy. He continues to get better as a pitcher. You have to give him the MVP."

Entering Tuesday, Ohtani had a 12-8 record, 2.55 ERA and 188 strikeouts as a pitcher. At the plate, the Los Angeles Angels' star is hitting .267 with 34 home runs.

"He's having a better year than last year. I understand everything that Judge is doing," Sabathia added. "I think it's going to be incredible to watch him chase down 61 home runs in a Yankees uniform. If it wasn't for him, they probably wouldn't be in the playoff picture. This guy (Ohtani) is literally the best player that we've ever seen."