Major League Baseball, its Players’ Association and Nippon Professional Baseball recently agreed on a new posting system with guidelines that will take effect next offseason. For this winter, the previous rules were grandfathered in, which paved the way for Japanese star Shohei Ohtani to be posted.
All 30 teams were sent a memo by Ohtani and his representatives asking how their team would plan to use the two-way star, among other inquiries, and he quickly narrowed his list down to seven teams, with the Los Angeles Dodgers being among them.
Ohtani met with all seven of those teams this past week, and while the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres may be viewed as the favorites, it was announced Friday that Ohtani is signing with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Ohtani had until Dec. 22 to sign with a team, but it appears he did not need that long. Now that he has chosen where he will be playing, MLB and commissioner Rob Manfred may immediately begin an investigation into how the signing came to be, via Buster Olney of ESPN:
When Shohei Ohtani announces his choice of which Major League Baseball team he wants to play for, a number of MLB officials said they wouldn’t be surprised if it spawned an immediate investigation into how the process played out.
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.
The reason for the investigation is that the league sent teams instructions on what they are allowed to pitch Ohtani on and what is not allowed.
MLB wanted to ensure clubs were not orchestrating any sort of side deals with Ohtani’s representatives or acquaintance, nor making promises for any future, more lucrative contract.
The league is fresh off a recently closed investigation into the Atlanta Braves and their signings of several international amateur free agents. The Braves were found to have acted improperly, which forced them to release 12 prospects and former general manager John Coppollela received a lifetime ban from baseball.
Considering that recent black eye, and the various factors involved with Ohtani’s free agency, it would not come as much of a surprise if MLB takes a shrewd look into his contract with the Angels.
