Why the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes may trigger an MLB investigation
标题： 为何这次大谷争夺战可能会让联盟启动调查
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.
大谷翔平在大家的热烈讨论声中选择加盟天使，但现在不是大肆庆祝的时候，接续而来的
可能会是由大联盟发起的调查行动。
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.
根据ESPN的Buster Olney和Yahoo Sports的Jeff Passan在星期五也就是大谷还未对外公
布他将加盟何队的时候，联盟已对各队为了追求这位二刀流的“日本版贝比鲁斯”而使出
违规奥步的意图有所警觉，所以可能启动调查，这样做是联盟的份内职责，不是为了修理
天使队。消息指出在决选名单的其他六队也会被调查。
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.
联盟祭出更严格的审查标准是因为大谷翔平争夺战的情况非常特殊。因为大谷只有23岁而
不是满25岁，故其不具有自由球员的资格。他被当作是可用国际球员签约金额度签下的国
际业余好手，这代表球队球队要签他的话，得照着白纸黑字的额度规范来走，无法砸大钱
。
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.
大多数专家都觉得大谷的天赋值得球队花超过两亿元签下他，综观所有球队，最多也只能
用350万元签下他，而天使只花了232万就搞定大谷翔平，由于这数字真的差太多，联盟可
能会仔细检查在这笔有趣的生意中，背后是不是有“不能说的秘密”。
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说：联盟不断告知球队可以强调各自组织的强项和城市的优点去说服大谷为其为其
效力，也针对未来在讨论合约、商业细节和向与大谷亲近且对其具有影响力，也就是所谓
的第三人出手，例如：私下进行条件交换给予严厉警告。
一位球队高层向ESPN透露：“联盟对大谷翔平争夺战的关注是前所未有的。“要作弊的方
法有很多啦，我觉得联盟也是相当清楚的”。
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.
大谷现在的薪水一切照规矩走。一开始会领低薪，并透过薪资仲裁来增加薪水，并在六年
后成为自由球员。像这种超级新星，球队通常都会趁他们成为自由球员前，用延长合约把
他们绑住，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.
（球队就可以在这种延长合约上动手脚）例如：承诺在两年内会端出两亿的（延长）合约
给大谷，这招在到2020年时也是符合规范的。而联盟正急欲确保不会有这种情形发生。
To prove that MLB is serious, Passan says it threatened teams with big penalti
es if they skirted the rules with Ohtani.
Passan说联盟为了证明其是在玩真的，对违规的情形祭出了非常严厉的惩罚条款。
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.
在国际球员签约事件后，勇士失去了12名国际球员，总经理还被永ban，这证明大联盟不
是玩假的。
来源：https://goo.gl/gAkVjh