Ohtani's participation would be a major boost both to Japan's hopes of victory and to tournament organisers.

Japanese outlets including news agency Kyodo report that Los Angeles Angels general manager Perry Minasian has given Ohtani the green light to make his World Baseball Classic debut next year.

Ohtani is a rare two-way player and this season, as a pitcher, leads his Major League Baseball (MLB) team the Angels in wins, innings pitched and strikeouts, as well as having the best earned run average of the club's starters.

As a hitter, Ohtani leads the team in home runs, runs batted in and runs.

Minasian said he Angels will "not stand in his way" if Ohtani wants to pitch and hit at the World Baseball Classic.

The Los Angeles Times last week reported Minasian had said Ohtani would play in the event if he wanted to, and that Japan manager Hideki Kuriyama this month traveled to Los Angeles to speak with Ohtani.

Ohtani was named the American League's Most Valuable Player (MVP) last season at the end of an unprecedented and record-shattering campaign.

He became the first-ever player to start an MLB All-Star Game as both a pitcher and designated hitter, while becoming the first player to pitch more than 100 innings and also drive in more than 100 runs was another statistical first Ohtani achieved.

This season, Ohtani has joined Babe Ruth as the only player in MLB history with 10 wins as a pitcher and 10 home runs as a slugger in the same season.

The World Baseball Classic is sanctioned by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) and organised in conjunction with MLB.

It serves as the WBSC's World Championship for men's national baseball teams and the United States are the defending champions.

Ohtani was selected to represent Japan in the 2017 tournament but missed out through injury.

The 2023 edition is due to be played in the US, Japan and Taiwan from March 8 to 21.

Japan are in Pool B, alongside South Korea, Australia, China and another qualifier, with those games due to be played at the Tokyo Dome.

Ohanti's Angeles team-mate and three-time American League MVP Mike Trout has signed up to captain the US.

MLB players were not allowed to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics last year, when Japan won the gold medal on home soil.