ORLANDO, Fla. — Shohei Ohtani poses a wonderful problem for Major League Baseball. A 23-year-old superstar in Japan, Ohtani has announced his intention to join a team in North America next year, and the suitors are lining up to court him. They are also trying to figure out whether they can accommodate his desire to do something no major leaguer has managed in generations: play two ways, as a starting pitcher and an everyday batter.

A left-handed slugger and a right-handed pitcher, Ohtani has played in the outfield or as a designated hitter on the days he did not pitch for his current team, the Nippon Ham Fighters, and did it well enough to become known as Japan’s Babe Ruth. But Ohtani’s plan to continue double duty could drag his American employers far outside their comfort zones, tampering with modern rituals of caring for an M.L.B. starting pitcher as if he were a piece of fine crystal.

“The traditional line of thinking is that it’s extremely difficult to do either pitching or hitting,” Thad Levine, the Minnesota Twins’ general manager, said recently. “That’s why teams haven’t tried it. But I think you’re going to see it happen here very soon.”

Several M.L.B. executives have said they would be happy to craft a plan to keep Ohtani healthy as a two-way player. They know that his choice of team may depend on the club’s willingness to accommodate his multiple skills, and they are reluctant to stifle creativity in their traditionally slow-to-evolve sport. They would rather see how far Ohtani can take his audacious experiment.