NEW YORK — The 2024 MLB season promises plenty of drama, on and off the diamond.

Shohei Ohtani’s twist-filled interpreter scandal, the MLB Players Association’s intense internal feud and a much-hyped heavyweight fight for the National League crown represent only a few of the topics dominating discussions before baseball season gets into full swing.

As the Yankees and Mets attempt to rebound from last year’s disappointments, the other 28 MLB teams will be navigating their own 162-game grinds — and it all starts Thursday.

Here are some of the top 2024 storylines happening outside of New York:

Shohei scandal

Ohtani’s Dodgers career got off to a less-than-ideal start, with the hitting-and-pitching superstar accusing his now-fired interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, of stealing money from his account to pay off a gambling debt.

Mizuhara claimed to ESPN last week that Ohtani agreed to pay off the debt, reported to be at least $4.5 million. Before that interview was published, Ohtani’s lawyers claimed the athlete was the victim of “massive theft” — an allegation Ohtani furthered Monday in his first public comments about the scandal.

“I never bet on baseball or any other sports or never have asked somebody to do it on my behalf,” Ohtani said. “I never went through a bookmaker to bet on sports.”

Ohtani, a two-time American League MVP with the Angels, joined the Dodgers in December on a 10-year, $700 million contract featuring heavily deferred money. He went 3 for 10 with two RBIs in last week’s season-opening two-game series in Seoul, which the Dodgers split with the Padres.

Yamamoto mania

Also adding intrigue to a pivotal Dodgers season is the arrival of Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, whom they signed to a 12-year, $325 million to win a sweepstakes also involving the deep-pocketed Yankees and Mets.

The total value of the 25-year-old Yamamoto’s deal is the most ever for an MLB pitcher, exceeding the contract Gerrit Cole signed with the Yankees four years ago by $1 million.

Yamamoto struggled throughout spring training and was even worse in his MLB debut, surrendering five runs in only one inning during a loss to the Padres in Seoul.

NL slugfest

The Dodgers’ offseason spending spree — which also included trading for and extending pitcher Tyler Glasnow — bolstered last year’s 100-win team, yet they still face considerable competition at the top of the NL.

That’s because the Braves, fresh off a 104-win campaign, bring back the same All-Star core, plus a big-name reclamation project in the oft-injured Chris Sale, who looked like his old strikeout-machine self during an encouraging spring.

The Phillies, meanwhile, hope to finally finish off a playoff run after trips to the World Series and NLCS the last two years. A healthy season from Bryce Harper — now a full-time first baseman and 16 months removed from elbow surgery — would help.

Union unrest

Hanging over opening day is an unresolved spat within the MLBPA in which some members want to remove deputy director Bruce Meyer after a slow-moving free agency that ended with multiple stars taking short-term deals.

Some supported Harry Marino, a 33-year-old lawyer who helped organize the minor league players’ unionization, though the union’s executive subcommittee has since seemed to reject him.

“We still have issues to discuss, but one thing clear among the MLB executive subcommittee members is that this is no longer a Harry Marino discussion, in any respect,” MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said in a recent statement.

Blake Snell, Cody Bellinger and Matt Chapman each took short deals with opt-outs after spring training began, while Jordan Montgomery remains unsigned. All four are represented by agent Scott Boras, who ripped Marino’s union push as a “coup d’etat.”

Rangers repeat?

Making Montgomery’s prolonged unemployment particularly puzzling is the left-hander played a starring role on the Rangers’ first-ever World Series title team last fall.

The Rangers, who made their championship run as a 90-win wild-card team, did little to retool their pitching staff this offseason, signing reliever David Robertson and starter Michael Lorenzen to one-year deals but losing Aroldis Chapman and possibly Montgomery.

Former Mets aces Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer are expected to miss multiple months as they recover from surgeries, making Texas’ rotation even thinner.

The Rangers have high hopes for top prospect Wyatt Langford, the 2023 first-round pick poised to open the season as their designated hitter. Still, Texas’ relative inactivity opens the door for other AL contenders, including the AL West-winning Astros, who just signed top-tier closer Josh Hader to help prolong their championship window.

No team has repeated as champions since the Yankees from 1998-2000.

Orioles upswing

No conversation about AL contenders is complete without mentioning the Orioles, whose ultra-talented young core fueled an earlier-than-expected 101-win season and an AL East title in 2023.

Baltimore filled a huge need atop its rotation by trading for former Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes, while MLB’s top prospect, 20-year-old infielder Jackson Holliday, appears close to making his MLB debut for the O’s.

If the Orioles take another step in 2024, the AL may be theirs to lose.

Franco and Bauer

Rays star Wander Franco, accused of a relationship with a 14-year-old minor, remains under investigation in the Dominican Republic and, according to the Tampa Bay Times, is expected to begin the season on MLB’s restricted list or under administrative leave.

Franco, who turned 23 this month, missed time under both designations last season after the allegation emerged in August.

A first-time All-Star last season, Franco signed an 11-year, $182 million extension in 2021. He could face between two and five years in prison if found guilty of sexual and psychological abuse.

Bauer, meanwhile, wants to make an MLB return after serving a league-record 194-game suspension under the league’s domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse policy. The suspension stemmed from a woman’s allegation that Bauer sexually abused and beat her. Bauer denied the claim.

Bauer, who won the 2020 NL Cy Young Award with the Reds, was originally suspended 324 games before the ban was reduced by an independent arbitrator in 2022.

The 33-year-old spent last season with Japan’s Yokohama DeNA BayStars and has since signed with Mexico’s Diablos Rojos, with whom he pitched three scoreless innings Sunday in an exhibition against the Yankees.

Kershaw’s club candidacy

There isn’t much Clayton Kershaw hasn’t accomplished in his future Hall of Fame career, but the three-time Cy Young Award winner appears poised to join another exclusive club this year.

The Dodgers left-hander enters the season 56 strikeouts away from 3,000, which would make him only the 20th pitcher to achieve the milestone. Kershaw, 36, hopes to return from offseason shoulder surgery during the summer.

Other players with round numbers within reach include the Pirates’ Andrew McCutchen, who is one home run away from 300; the Yankees’ Anthony Rizzo, who is five away; and Aaron Judge, who is 43 away.