The mystery sounding Shohei Ohtani’s recruitment reportedly isn’t sitting well with Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred.
Ohtani, the Japanese two-way phenom, signed with the Los Angeles Angels on Friday, ending a truly bizarre recruitment saga. Due to the nature of the posting system agreed upon by MLB and Japan’s Nippon Profession Baseball, as well as Ohtani coming to the United States under the age of 25, teams were only able to offer the 23-year-old the remaining money in their international bonus pool allocations. The team with the most to offer was the Seattle Mariners, with $3,557,500.
Given that teams really weren’t able to outbid the competition, MLB executives –especially Manfred — have been fearful that cheating would become an issue during Ohtani’s recruitment, ESPN’s Buster Olney reports. And, because of that concern, it’s expected that the MLB will conduct a thorough investigation.
“Even before Shohei Ohtani decided on the Los Angeles Angels on Friday afternoon, a number of MLB officials told ESPN that they wouldn’t be surprised if his decision, regardless of the team, spawned an immediate investigation into how the process played out,” Olney reported Friday.
“Commissioner Rob Manfred and other MLB officials have been giving the Ohtani case extraordinary scrutiny, with repeated warnings of bans and penalties for anyone found in violation.”
Olney added that one MLB executive told him the commissioner’s attention on the issue has been “unprecedented.”
So, what kind of cheating are we talking about?
“Teams were told, again, that they could attempt to persuade the two-way pitching and hitting star from Japan to join their team based on the merits of their respective organizations and their cities,” Olney wrote, “but they were warned against discussing future contracts and business relationships, and against third-party machinations — paying off someone who might have influence with Ohtani, for example, or making quid-pro-quo promises outside of the rules.”
To make matters worse, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported this week that clubs had been suspicious of Ohtani, worried he’d had his mind made up on where he’d sign all along.
So, who knows where this whole thing winds up. But something sure smells pretty fishy.
