Former White Sox manager peddles completely false, debunked Shohei Ohtani narrative

Former Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillén has never been afraid to speak his mind. It’s a quality that made him a tremendous teammate during his playing career when he was a three-time All-Star, Rookie of the Year, and Gold Glover with the White Sox. It’s also a quality that helped Guillén hold players accountable as a volatile, but World Series-winning manager in Chicago.

But from time to time, Guillén’s unfiltered nature has gotten him in trouble. That could be the case with the completely false narrative that he continues to peddle about Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani.

Ozzie Guillén spreads Dodgers conspiracy theory about Shohei Ohtani

During a recent interview, Guillén came after Major League Baseball for how they handled the investigation regarding the gambling scandal involving Ohtani and interpreter Ippei Mizuhara.

"Everyone knows that Shohei Ohtani gambled and was protected (by Major League Baseball)," he told Fernando Ballesteros.

Guillén, who is the manager of the Aragua Tigers in the Venezuelan League, is also a TV analyst on the pregame and postgame shows for Chicago White Sox games.

There are still some conspiracy theorists out there who legitimately believe MLB is protecting Ohtani for the money that he brings the league every year. These people seem to ignore the evidence at hand, which include text messages and recordings as well as a guilty plea from Mizuhara.

Mizuhara is paying restitution to Ohtani, who was cleared by the Department of Justice and Major League Baseball offices of any wrongdoing.

When you are given a platform on television, you are a formative voice in the way people view teams, players, and Major League Baseball as a whole. It is your duty to be informed and Guillén is clearly a little misguided if he is making comments like this on the record.

It is damaging to the sport for commentators to give legitimacy to conspiracy theories about the game's best player. It's not fair to Ohtani or the Dodgers, who did nothing wrong, and it's not fair to Major League Baseball, who already debunked these rumors.