In Hokkaido, where Shohei Ohtani got his start in pro baseball, a staple of every Fighters game’s entertainment is the Fighters Girls dancing to “What Does the Fox Say?” Ironically, this year’s big conundrum involves what Ohtani, arguably the GOAT – or greatest of all time – is saying, or more specifically, is not saying, about his former interpreter and payments of millions of dollars to an illegal bookmaker.
Somewhere, there are truths behind the accusations that have swirled around Ohtani’s longtime former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, and these truths, if revealed, will lead to either embarrassment or criminal liability for Ohtani.
On Tuesday, Nikkan Sports first reported that Major League Baseball, concerned about the appearance of impropriety, has told its teams to terminate all working agreements with the four foreign pro baseball organizations it recognizes.
The impropriety mentioned in the order, was that of MLB teams making contact with players under contract with or reserved by foreign clubs that violate the protocol agreements MLB has with Nippon Professional Baseball, the Korea Baseball Organization, the CPBL, Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League, and Liga Mexicana de Beisbol.
That’s the kind of thing that got the Los Angeles Dodgers fined when, according to Adrian Gonzalez, Andrew Friedman and the club’s brass asked him to bring Dodgers gifts to Shohei Ohtani in 2016.
Shohei Ohtani with Edgar and Adrian Gonzalez at Tokyo Dome in 2016.
“‘Hey, if we give you a care package for him, will you present it to him? Because we cannot pursue him, it’s against the rules, but you as a person can obviously take whatever you want to any player. Of course, the Dodgers got fined and in trouble for that. But they paid their fines. They knew there was a possibility and the team paid their fines.”
The March 4 order from the office of the commissioner forced teams to suspend all existing agreements and prohibited them from creating new ones. It also ended any exchange of coaches, something that has alerted both MLB organizations and Japanese coaches to different ways baseball can be taught and learned.
Such beneficial exchanges are now over, because the commissioner’s office says that they create a situation where tampering with players can occur.
