2024 MLB Season (1 Viewer)

[MartinP.]

Something I read in a CBS Sports article:

At minimum, it's clear that professional baseball's attitude toward gambling has changed a lot as sports betting has become legal across the country. Whereas any kind of association with a casino used to be enough to get a beloved retired player placed on the ineligible list(*), the league itself is now partnered with the gambling industry. Indeed, Commissioner Rob Manfred named MGM Resorts the first "Official Gaming Partner of Major League Baseball" back in 2018. And, last March, MLB touted a multi-year agreement with FanDuel that made it "a co-exclusive Official Sports Betting Partner of MLB." Whether that's for the better or the worse is to be determined over the long haul. If nothing else, it ensures that professional baseball and gambling will remain more than mere acquaintances.

(*) Commissioner Bowie Kuhn took any ties between baseball and gambling seriously. Consider how he placed (in 1980 & 1983) both retired Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle on the permanently ineligible list after they took ambassador jobs with casinos. Kuhn even told Mays "a casino is no place for a baseball hero and Hall of Famer," according to a 2020 article by Craig Calcaterra. Mays and Mantle would remain unable to work in baseball for the rest of Kuhn's tenure. Kuhn's successor, Peter Ueberroth, reinstated them in 1985 -- albeit, notably, without taking any issue or exception with Kuhn's original ruling.

 

[David Norman]

There are money transfers involved that came from Ohtani's bank accounts. Anybody that knows anything about money transfers from banks is that they checked a few times with that person before sending any money. At 500K a pop, there had to be some follow up from the bank to Ohtani himself. So, call me skeptical about Ohtani being ignorant about the money used to pay off those gambling debts due to the fraud protections, financial institutions use today.

No idea how his accts are set up, but plenty of these celebrity's seem to have multiple Business Managers/Finacial People/Agents who have permission to pay bills out of the acct. This interpreter seems to be much more intertwined with the Ohtani Corp than just a hired translator. I guess it wouldn't be the first time an Insider helped themselves to corporate funds (term used as a general not legal term).

What appears to be known -- the bets were made through an Illegal Bookmaker and funds transferred to him as payment.
As I understand -- If the bets were made through the legal gambling channels and didn't involve baseball bets then it's all OK even if Ohtani was directly involved

Unknown -- whether any bets involved baseball at all, who was responsible for the actual bets, who authorized the payments

 

[Robert Crawford]

That’s part of the problem. It’s against the CBA rules to place any bet with an illegal bookie.

 

[David Norman]

That’s part of the problem. It’s against the CBA rules to place any bet with an illegal bookie.

Understood. Still too many missing pieces

 

[Robert Crawford]

Understood. Still too many missing pieces

This scandal has just broken, a lot more will be revealed in the coming months.

 

[Malcolm R]

I'm wondering (and probably not the only one) if Ohtani is the one with the gambling problem and the interpreter is being offered as the sacrificial lamb to try and protect Ohtani's reputation. One would hope the investigation(s) will reveal the truth, though I read yesterday that federal authorities are seemingly taking a backseat to the MLB investigation which has me a little worried that we'll get the real "truth" or just the "truth" MLB wants us to get.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I'm wondering (and probably not the only one) if Ohtani is the one with the gambling problem and the interpreter is being offered as the sacrificial lamb to try and protect Ohtani's reputation. One would hope the investigation(s) will reveal the truth, though I read yesterday that federal authorities are seemingly taking a backseat to the MLB investigation which has me a little worried that we'll get the real "truth" or just the "truth" MLB wants us to get.

The FBI or law enforcement will supersede the MLB investigation if Ohtani's people keep insisting the 4.5M was stolen from Ohtani. If that happens then the authorities will take the lead. Furthermore, major news outlets will be crawling all over this investigation. NY Times, WSJ, Washington Post, LA Times, ESPN, CNN and anybody else I didn't name here.

 

[David Norman]

I'm wondering (and probably not the only one) if Ohtani is the one with the gambling problem and the interpreter is being offered as the sacrificial lamb to try and protect Ohtani's reputation. One would hope the investigation(s) will reveal the truth, though I read yesterday that federal authorities are seemingly taking a backseat to the MLB investigation which has me a little worried that we'll get the real "truth" or just the "truth" MLB wants us to get.

Possible, but everything I've read about Ohtani in the past (and recently) indicates he is pretty anti-gambling of any sort so that part seems unlikely though wouldn't be the first "Do as I say, not as a I do athlete." The more detailed releases from ESPN all seem to center on the interpreter --organized legal poker games and descending to the rest.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Huh, had not really heard before the Orioles got sold last month (pending final league approval)... plus Peter Angelos apparently just passed away...

Orioles Owner Peter Angelos Passes Away

Peter Angelos passed away today at age 94, as per an official statement from the Orioles and the Angelos family. …

www.mlbtraderumors.com

_Man_

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Oh yeah! Something doesn’t smell right here.

A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

 

[t1g3r5fan]

A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

Not unless you call it a "stench blossom" or a "crap weed".

I've been waiting to use that "Simpsons" reference for quite some time.

 

[Robert Crawford]

So, Ohtani spoke to the media today and basically denied any wrongdoing. That his former interpreter stole the 4.5 million dollars from him. Now, we'll see where that takes us because law enforcement will have to investigate because charges will have to be file against that individual for stealing the money.

 

[MartinP.]

Right from the start I've wondered how Ohtani's interpreter could wire $4.5 million to pay off a debt. Someone else had to know. Doesn't Ohtani have a bookkeeper? No one noticed? He's got so much money that $4.5 million is like $5 being spent?

 

[Malcolm R]

Yes, it's very suspicious that such a large amount didn't require any interaction between Ohtani and his bank, or that he didn't notice millions missing before now. Is he that hands-off and ignorant about his personal finances?

 

[David Norman]

These massive corporate type accts are a different animal that the type accts mere mortals are used to. It wouldn't surprise me if the acct was used to transfer fairly large sums fairly regularly to/for real estate, business ventures, brokerages, charities, international transfers etc . Business managers, agents, financial advisors all may have access to legally move funds around. How much true access his decade long interpreter and personal friend/advisor had is unclear.

 

[Robert Crawford]

These massive corporate type accts are a different animal that the type accts mere mortals are used to. It wouldn't surprise me if the acct was used to transfer fairly large sums fairly regularly to/for real estate, business ventures, brokerages, charities, international transfers etc . Business managers, agents, financial advisors all may have access to legally move funds around. How much true access his decade long interpreter and personal friend/advisor had is unclear.

That’s for the investigation to determine and if that interpreter did indeed steal that 4.5M then criminal charges needs to happen in order to clear Ohtani from any type of gambling allegations.

 

[David Norman]

That’s for the investigation to determine and if that interpreter did indeed steal that 4.5M then criminal charges needs to happen in order to clear Ohtani from any type of gambling allegations.

For the legal part - yes. I was just commenting on what appears to be the general process of these accts being different for these Athlete/Celebrity/Actors/Musicians mega-millionaires. There is just a reason so many of them end up on the wrong end of unscrupulous agents/business managers/lawyers/friends. These are not business people by trade, many of them have limited educational backgrounds esp in the realm of Finance so it seems far too many trust and leave all that to others and regularly get burned for it,

 

[Malcolm R]

One would think they'd hire a professional, licensed, accounting firm to handle their affairs when it involves these huge amounts, rather than a "buddy". Friendship is one thing, but I wouldn't trust any of mine to handle my affairs if I had millions of dollars.

 

[David Norman]

You would think, but over and over you hear the same story of associates robbing their friend blind

 

[MartinP.]

OPENING DAY!

Dodgers columnist Bill Plaschke wrote an article in the L.A. Times today worth reading.

Plaschke: Do you still believe in Shohei Ohtani? I'm not sure

The Dodgers would love for us to move on from the Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara gambling allegations, but there are still too many questions.

www.aol.com

And in Houston Mitchell's Dodgers Newsletter today he first writes, and I wearily agree:
Opening Day! Here we go again. Enjoying a probable division title while dreading the postseason for the entire season.