Potential Dodgers World Series date could come with major conflict for Shohei Ohtani

The World Series is the ultimate goal of every team in the MLB. Whether they are buying or selling at the trade deadline, each decision is made with the idea of one day winning the World Series. Yes, this includes the Chicago White Sox who are on a historically bad run right now.

With the World Series being such a big goal and such a big deal, the importance of those seven games can hardly be described in words. The focus and dedication of every single player on each playoff team is needed if the team wants to win the World Series.

For the Los Angeles Dodgers, this idea could really become an issue with the latest schedule release showing some conflicting dates for one of the team's biggest stars.

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Shohei Ohtani's interpreter's sentencing could become a distraction if Dodgers make World Series

Earlier this year, Shohei Ohtani and his interpreter and longtime friend Ippei Mizuhara came under scrutiny as they were investigated for having placed a ton of different illegal bets worth a tremendous amount of money. This is obviously concerning because it calls into question the integrity of Ohtani and every game he's played in.

After the dust settled, the story was that Ippei had been stealing the money and placing the bets, without Ohtani's knowledge. This has resulted in quite a long road that's led to court and will eventually lead to Ippei's imprisonment at the conclusion of the trial.

Speaking of Ippei's eventual imprisonment, that brings us back to the point of this article. Ippei's sentencing lines up directly with the beginning of the World Series.

No, Ohtani wouldn't miss a game or anything like that, if the Dodgers even make it that far. But it can't be denied that this trial and the sentencing would be cause for concern that it could be distracting the Dodgers' Japanese star. A lapse of focus that this could cause could be a huge issue for the Dodgers and Ohtani.

Only time will tell if this ever becomes an actual issue. More than likely, Ippei will be sentenced and Ohtani will remain focused on the task at hand of winning baseball games. But we will have to see how the situation pans out later in the year.