Why the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes may trigger an MLB investigation
標題： 為何這次大谷爭奪戰可能會讓聯盟啟動調查
Japanese star Shohei Ohtani has chosen the Los Angeles Angels for his much-tal
ked-about jump to the Major League Baseball, but it’s not all going to be a p
arty now — a probe from Major League Baseball may follow.
大谷翔平在大家的熱烈討論聲中選擇加盟天使，但現在不是大肆慶祝的時候，接續而來的
可能會是由大聯盟發起的調查行動。
As ESPN’s Buster Olney and Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan noted Friday before Oht
ani made his choice public, the league is on alert for teams acting outside th
e rules in their courtship of the two-way star known as “The Japanese Babe Ru
th.” Because of that MLB may launch an investigation into things. This isn’t
to impugn the Angels, it would be the league doing its due diligence. Reports
say it would have been the same with the six other finalists in the Ohtani sw
eepstakes.
根據ESPN的Buster Olney和Yahoo Sports的Jeff Passan在星期五也就是大谷還未對外公
布他將加盟何隊的時候，聯盟已對各隊為了追求這位二刀流的「日本版貝比魯斯」而使出
違規奧步的意圖有所警覺，所以可能啟動調查，這樣做是聯盟的份內職責，不是為了修理
天使隊。消息指出在決選名單的其他六隊也會被調查。
The increased scrutiny is warranted since we haven’t really seen anything lik
e the Ohtani sweepstakes. He’s not a true free agent because he’s not over 2
5 years old. At 23, Ohtani is considered an international amateur and triggers
international bonus pool limits, which means teams have a firm cap of how muc
h money they can offer him.
聯盟祭出更嚴格的審查標準是因為大谷翔平爭奪戰的情況非常特殊。因為大谷只有23歲而
不是滿25歲，故其不具有自由球員的資格。他被當作是可用國際球員簽約金額度簽下的國
際業餘好手，這代表球隊球隊要簽他的話，得照著白紙黑字的額度規範來走，無法砸大錢
。
His talent is worth upward of $200 million on the open market, most experts ag
ree, but the most any team could offer him was $3.5 million. The Angels had $2
.32 million to give Ohtani. Because of these under-market-value numbers, MLB w
ill be looking closely for any behind-the-scenes funny business.
大多數專家都覺得大谷的天賦值得球隊花超過兩億元簽下他，綜觀所有球隊，最多也只能
用350萬元簽下他，而天使只花了232萬就搞定大谷翔平，由於這數字真的差太多，聯盟可
能會仔細檢查在這筆有趣的生意中，背後是不是有「不能說的秘密」。
From Olney’s story:
Teams were told, again, that they could attempt to persuade Ohtani to join bas
ed on the merits of their respective organizations and their cities, but they
were warned against discussing future contracts and business relationships, an
d against third-party machinations — paying off someone who might have influe
nce with Ohtani, for example, or making quid-pro-quo promises outside of the r
ules.
“The commissioner’s attention on this has been unprecedented,” a team execu
tive told ESPN. “There’s a lot of avenues for cheating, and I think [MLB is]
well-aware of that.”
Olney說：聯盟不斷告知球隊可以強調各自組織的強項和城市的優點去說服大谷為其為其
效力，也針對未來在討論合約、商業細節和向與大谷親近且對其具有影響力，也就是所謂
的第三人出手，例如：私下進行條件交換給予嚴厲警告。
一位球隊高層向ESPN透露：「聯盟對大谷翔平爭奪戰的關注是前所未有的。「要作弊的方
法有很多啦，我覺得聯盟也是相當清楚的」。
Ohtani will now get the same type of contract a draft pick would get. It will
start low, increase through arbitration and he’ll hit free agency in six year
s. Teams often try to sign such young stars to extensions before they hit free
agency. Think Mike Trout and Clayton Kershaw, who both signed extensions year
s before hitting the open market.
大谷現在的薪水一切照規矩走。一開始會領低薪，並透過薪資仲裁來增加薪水，並在六年
後成為自由球員。像這種超級新星，球隊通常都會趁他們成為自由球員前，用延長合約把
他們綁住，Mike Trout跟Clayton Kershaw就是例子。
For example: a team could have promised to give Ohtani a $200 million deal in
two years if he signed with them and such a deal would be within the norm in 2
020. But in this case, MLB would be looking to make sure teams didn’t promise
Ohtani that right now.
（球隊就可以在這種延長合約上動手腳）例如：承諾在兩年內會端出兩億的（延長）合約
給大谷，這招在到2020年時也是符合規範的。而聯盟正急欲確保不會有這種情形發生。
To prove that MLB is serious, Passan says it threatened teams with big penalti
es if they skirted the rules with Ohtani.
Passan說聯盟為了證明其是在玩真的，對違規的情形祭出了非常嚴厲的懲罰條款。
On the heels of the Braves’ penalty for international rule-breaking — their
GM quit and they had 12 international prospects declared free agents — it doe
sn’t sound like MLB is playing around.
在國際球員簽約事件後，勇士失去了12名國際球員，總經理還被永ban，這證明大聯盟不
是玩假的。
來源：https://goo.gl/gAkVjh