Los Angeles Dodgers fans woke up Monday to a bit of nightmare fuel from the Los Angeles Times detailing how this reported federal probe into owner Mark Walter’s businesses could lead to the departure of Shohei Ohtani.
Columnist Bill Plaschke penned a piece under the headline “Dodgers fans should still fear a team sale by Mark Walter,” or alternatively titled “Beneath the Dodgers’ latest sweep, the scary rumblings of a team sale persist.”
Why is a Dodgers sale even being talked about?Plaschke is, of course, referencing Dodgers owner Walter’s recent decision to sell the Los Angeles Lakers amid a federal probe into his businesses and his alleged need for billions in cash quickly.
Mar 26, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers owner and chairman Mark Walter walks on the field after the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect (Reuters)Dodgers President Stan Kasten adamantly denied on Friday that the team is being sold.
“I wanted to make sure everyone understood one thing very clearly: The Dodgers are not being sold,” Kasten told reporters. “They’re not gonna be sold. They’re not for sale. There’s no process that has been started to sell it, period. We are planning only to win. That is what we are always doing. And we are still continuing to do that.”
That echoes what Walter has long said, even before the news of the probe became public.
“It’s a multi-generational thing my daughters’ granddaughters will own,” Walter told the Times in 2012, report Melody Gutierrez and Brittany Ghiroli of The Athletic.
What could happen if the Dodgers are sold?Despite Kasten’s comments and Walter’s previous assertions, Plaschke wrote on Monday that “nobody knows” if the Dodgers will be sold, “but a reasonable guess would be yes.”
View this post on InstagramPlaschke further stipulates that if Walter does sell, it will end the “seemingly endless flood of money approved by Walter,” which would then endanger Andrew Friedman’s desire to stay with LA and, by extension, could lead to superstar Shohei Ohtani departing for another team.
“Unless the new owners give Friedman a piece of the team, he could set off to build another dynasty elsewhere,” he wrote. “And Ohtani has a clause famously included in his contract that allows him to leave if Friedman or Walter leaves. If Walters goes, Ohtani could demand a new contract with terms that a new cash-strapped owner cannot afford.”
As indicated by the repeated use of “could” and “if,” this is all theoretical. There’s nothing concrete that says Walter is selling the Dodgers.
But if there’s one thing that would keep Dodgers fans up at night, it’s the possibility of losing Friedman and, by extension, Ohtani.
Are you worried about a potential sale of the Boys in Blue?
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