Shohei Ohtani hasn't been the same since his shoulder injury

Shohei Ohtani gets a lot of respect for his game, but he's clearly not 100 percent healed yet after suffering a left shoulder subluxation just four days ago.

“Running is the most painful thing,” one Dodgers person said. “He should just slap it on the seats!”

Other Dodgers people estimate he's 80-90 percent of himself, which is still better than 99.99 percent of mortals.

An old scout from an opposing team gives him no excuse. “He’s having problems right now.”

The Yankees desperately wanted Tommy Edman, but felt “outboxed” as the Cardinals, White Sox and Dodgers had been working on a three-peat for weeks. Big loss.

The White Sox, who lost 121 games, pulled off a coup when they hired the Rangers' seemingly untouchable backup, Will Venable, as their new manager.

Venable declined an interview with the Mets (and others) the year before. People thought he was the heir apparent to Rangers manager Bruce Bochy because he was a sought-after coach and was close to Rangers boss Chris Young from their time together on the Princeton baseball and basketball teams. He also interviewed on the South Side (but never in New York) when they hired Pedro Grifol (perhaps he prefers deep dish).

The Mets people were shocked. Venable took a job with a team undergoing a major shakeup after turning down an interview a year ago. But it's okay, Carlos Mendoza was great.

Former Marlins manager Skip Schumaker retired some time ago. Like everyone interviewed, he was impressed by White Sox GM Chris Getz. But let's be honest, he just broke free from the Marlins.

Follow the Post's coverage of the Yankees in the postseason:

Craig Albernaz is considered Miami's favorite.

The early smart money has led the Mets to re-sign Jose Iglesias, aka Candelita, this time to a major league deal. Iglesias was a delight both in the Mets' clubhouse and on the field, where he hit .337 (he's the hitter with enough plate appearances).

Speaking of batting champions, Luis Arraez was on the field with a bandaged left hand. He had to undergo surgery to repair ligament damage he sustained over the summer. No matter, he kept playing and won his third straight batting title.

A sweep would have been a shame in this World Series when the teams with the best records in each league (the fifth time in the wild card era in 30 years, via Jayson Stark), the two MVPs (Aaron Judge and Ohtani) and the two home run leaders (also Judge and Ohtani).