Angels' Shohei Ohtani Wanting to Participate in the Home Run Derby is Exactly What the MLB Needs

It's SHOWtani time!

With an upsetting amount of disinterest among baseball's stars to compete in the MLB Home Run Derby, Shohei Ohtani is among those coming to the rescue. The Los Angeles Angels slugger says he wants to participate in the event during the All-Star break.

What better way to make this a spectacle than to have an international icon competing among the best? What's even better is that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. already agreed to partake, which means Canada AND Japan will be glued to their televisions. MLB wants a younger and more expanded audience? Well, there you go.

Japanese fans already pay a good amount of attention to the MLB given the amount of players that come overseas, but this is a total game-changer. While the league has done a good job in keeping the event entertaining, interest among the best in the game has dwindled, so to have a guy like Ohtani openly wanting to participate will go a long way for MLB.

All the league needs to do now is make sure there are decent fillers around these guys and it'll be must-watch TV.