OT: Uh Oh Ohtani

[Knight Shift]

Something seems fishy with this story:

"Initially, a spokesman for Ohtani told ESPN the slugger had transferred the funds to cover Mizuhara's gambling debt. The spokesman presented Mizuhara to ESPN for a 90-minute interview Tuesday night, during which Mizuhara laid out his account in great detail. However, as ESPN prepared to publish the story Wednesday, the spokesman disavowed Mizuhara's account and said Ohtani's lawyers would issue a statement."

Ohtani's interpreter fired, 'massive theft' alleged

The interpreter for the Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani was fired Wednesday after questions surrounding at least $4.5 million in wire transfers sent from Ohtani's bank account to a bookmaking operation set off a series of events.

www.espn.com

What if Ohtani was gambling or in on his interpreter's gambling? What happens?

It also raises a fair point about Pete Rose. Hasn't he served punishment long enough?

 

[tico brown]

NOTHING will happen to Ohtani.
MLB already spinning that he had NOTHING to do with this.

 

[e5fdny]

This will be the interpreter's biggest win ever...the payoff/hush money.

 

[RUPete]

This story is pretty wild. Not looking into at all? I mean, at least conduct a window dressing investigation if you're going to cover up something.

 

[rutgersdave]

Was the interpreter hired by the Dodgers? Fired by the Dodgers?

 

[DJ Spanky]

Sounds like the interpreter should be set for life.

 

[RUPete]

This will be the interpreter's biggest win ever...the payoff/hush money.

Will it be deferred to align with Ohtani's contract?

 

[Knight Shift]

 

[SouthJerseyRU]

Too much smoke here for Ohtani to not be involved in some way. However, in terms of MLB punishment, the huge difference with Rose is that as of now there are not any reports saying the "interpreter" bet on baseball. Betting on other sports is allowed, if done legally.

He may be in trouble for violating the Wire Act and/or California gambling laws. We'll see how that plays out

 

[hankee18]

What makes zero sense to me is ok, Ohtanis interpreter wracked up some huge gambling debts...ok

Then why is Ohtani paying the $4.5M? How is it his problem?

Logical conclusion is its obviously Ohtanis gambling debts, no?

This is just getting started....

 

[retired711]

What makes zero sense to me is ok, Ohtanis interpreter wracked up some huge gambling debts...ok

Then why is Ohtani paying the $4.5M? How is it his problem?

Logical conclusion is its obviously Ohtanis gambling debts, no?

This is just getting started....

The allegation is that the interpreter stole the money to pay his own gambling debts. We'll see if that proves to be the case.

 

[retired711]

Was the interpreter hired by the Dodgers? Fired by the Dodgers?

I think I read that the interpreter has long been with Ohtani. I don't know if he is or was on the Dodgers' payroll.

 

[Joey Bags]

There’s no comparison between rose and ohtani. Rose was penalized back in the 80s when the amount of money at stake was a drop in the bucket compared to now. A player like Ohtani nowadays can do whatever they want short of killing someone.

 

[Rutgers Chris]

Doesn’t make sense to me that a guy with this kind of gambling problem would agree to a contract that pays him $2 million/year for 10 years and defers the other $680 million. A real gambler would want that money now.

 

[hankee18]

The allegation is that the interpreter stole the money to pay his own gambling debts. We'll see if that proves to be the case.

Thanks for the clarification. This is gonna get juicy

 

[RUhasarrived]

Wait until some little kid yells at him:"Say it ain't so,Sho."

 

[mikemarc1]

What makes zero sense to me is ok, Ohtanis interpreter wracked up some huge gambling debts...ok

Then why is Ohtani paying the $4.5M? How is it his problem?

Logical conclusion is its obviously Ohtanis gambling debts, no?

This is just getting started....

Sports gambling is illegal in ca..so MLB would be able to punish him for betting illegally.

We’ll see what happens

 

[RUPete]

What makes zero sense to me is ok, Ohtanis interpreter wracked up some huge gambling debts...ok

Then why is Ohtani paying the $4.5M? How is it his problem?

Logical conclusion is its obviously Ohtanis gambling debts, no?

This is just getting started....

He's just a swell boss. 😂

 

[gmay8]

Sports gambling is illegal in ca..so MLB would be able to punish him for betting illegally.

We’ll see what happens

MLB absolutely does not want to "punish" their highest paid most popular international generational player. My guess is this all goes away very soon.

 

[Brisket and Bourbon]

If I had to wager (too soon?) this goes away fast…no way mlb wants this to be an issue. There’s a better chance Biden gets asked a real question by a reporter before anything bad happens to Saint O

 

[mikemarc1]

MLB absolutely does not want to "punish" their highest paid most popular international generational player. My guess is this all goes away very soon.

Absolutely agree. Hence the “he was a victim” narrative so quickly.

But b/c he may have been involved in illegal gambling (even though maybe not on baseball)..MLB can punish.

 

[tico brown]

MLB absolutely does not want to "punish" their highest paid most popular international generational player. My guess is this all goes away very soon.

***WILL NOT PUNISH

 

[rurichdog]

If he had signed with the Mets, he'd already be banned for life

 

[Rutgers Chris]

Sports gambling is illegal in ca..so MLB would be able to punish him for betting illegally.

We’ll see what happens

Assuming he gambled in California. Vegas is an easy hour flight away.

 

[voltz99]

There’s no comparison between rose and ohtani. Rose was penalized back in the 80s when the amount of money at stake was a drop in the bucket compared to now. A player like Ohtani nowadays can do whatever they want short of killing someone.

Right. Rose got screwed for doing what others have done and get no punishment.

 

[Knight Shift]

If he had signed with the Mets, he'd already be banned for life

And if he was Vogelbach, the Mets fans would be like:

 

[Knight Shift]

Too much smoke here for Ohtani to not be involved in some way. However, in terms of MLB punishment, the huge difference with Rose is that as of now there are not any reports saying the "interpreter" bet on baseball. Betting on other sports is allowed, if done legally.

He may be in trouble for violating the Wire Act and/or California gambling laws. We'll see how that plays out

Agree there is a difference but FFS, it's been 35 years, and Rose is a legend.

There’s no comparison between rose and ohtani. Rose was penalized back in the 80s when the amount of money at stake was a drop in the bucket compared to now. A player like Ohtani nowadays can do whatever they want short of killing someone.

Yup.

MLB absolutely does not want to "punish" their highest paid most popular international generational player. My guess is this all goes away very soon.

Easy to punish Rose make it stick because he was not an international player?

 

[retired711]

Agree there is a difference but FFS, it's been 35 years, and Rose is a legend.

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Yup.

Easy to punish Rose make it stick because he was not an international player?

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It may be worth remembering that Rose was a manager. Having a manager (who has inside information) bet on games is even worse than a player doing it.

I hope it's OK to point out that there is at this point no evidence that Ohtani was anything but a victim of theft.

 

[voltz99]

It may be worth remembering that Rose was a manager. Having a manager (who has inside information) bet on games is even worse than a player doing it.

I hope it's OK to point out that there is at this point no evidence that Ohtani was anything but a victim of theft.

There is ZERO distinction in the rules.

Is it now permitted for players to bet on baseball?

 

[rutgersdave]

There is ZERO distinction in the rules.

Is it now permitted for players to bet on baseball?

I think I read players can bet legally but not in their sport. We don’t know what type of bets were made.

Shohei Ohtani interpreter scandal: Piecing together the timeline with Ippei Mizuhara facing federal charge

A lot went down before Ippei Mizuhara was charged.

sports.yahoo.com

It should be noted that everyone involved in the story has said Ohtani does not gamble, including Mizuhara and the alleged illegal bookmaker involved in the story. MLB players are allowed to gamble on sports that are not baseball — but not through illegal means. ESPN cited sources in the gambling operation that claimed Bowyer dealt directly with Mizuhara for bets on soccer and other non-baseball sports.

 

[retired711]

There is ZERO distinction in the rules.

Is it now permitted for players to bet on baseball?

Oh, I realize that there's no distinction in the rules. But it might make a difference in thinking about the appropriate punishment. Perhaps a manager should be punished worse than a player -- that was the only point I was trying to make.

 

[voltz99]

I think I read players can bet legally but not in their sport. We don’t know what type of bets were made.

Shohei Ohtani interpreter scandal: Piecing together the timeline with Ippei Mizuhara facing federal charge

A lot went down before Ippei Mizuhara was charged.

sports.yahoo.com

It should be noted that everyone involved in the story has said Ohtani does not gamble, including Mizuhara and the alleged illegal bookmaker involved in the story. MLB players are allowed to gamble on sports that are not baseball — but not through illegal means. ESPN cited sources in the gambling operation that claimed Bowyer dealt directly with Mizuhara for bets on soccer and other non-baseball sports.

We wont know since they wont do much of an investigation. MLB does not want to know.

PS> If a player owes money to organized crime does it really matter in which sport the debt was incurred?

 

[MADHAT1]

Ohtani's interpreter hasn't been arrested to my knowledge.
You would think charges would have been filed if he embezzled like claimed

 

[voltz99]

Oh, I realize that there's no distinction in the rules. But it might make a difference in thinking about the appropriate punishment. Perhaps a manager should be punished worse than a player -- that was the only point I was trying to make.

What punishment? Does they league even investigate anyone other than Pete Rose?

Nobody really cares.

Different sport but Barkley bet on basketball. That is against the NBA rules. Nobody cares. He got a slap on the wrist.

Jordan probably bet on basketball. He bets millions on a golf put. He used to hang with one of the people associated with Pete Rose. Nobody really cared about Jordan's million dollar gambling habit.

 

[mikemarc1]

Assuming he gambled in California. Vegas is an easy hour flight away.

Yes..but he paid an illegal bookie. Again, this is not allowed per MLB.

Hence why they’re alleging he was robbed. They’re not gonna take down their biggest international superstar

 

[SHUSource]

Yes..but he paid an illegal bookie. Again, this is not allowed per MLB.

Hence why they’re alleging he was robbed. They’re not gonna take down their biggest international superstar

But only after first saying it was Ohtani paying off the interpreter's debt to the bookie. The "theft" story was only concocted once Ohtaini's lawyers got involved, because they realized that Ohtani's original (and likeliest) story would still have him facing considerable legal trouble, as well as disqualification from MLB. But the truth -- whatever it is -- is going to be pretty apparent, pretty soon.

 

[mikemarc1]

But only after first saying it was Ohtani paying off the interpreter's debt to the bookie. The "theft" story was only concocted once Ohtaini's lawyers got involved, because they realized that Ohtani's original (and likeliest) story would still have him facing considerable legal trouble, as well as disqualification from MLB. But the truth -- whatever it is -- is going to be pretty apparent, pretty soon.

Agree. That’s what I’m saying.

He was involved in illegal gambling. He was funding an illegal bookie. Even though he wasn’t gambling on baseball (so he says)…it’s still subject to major MLB discipline.

 

[RUPete]

There is going to be so much attention on this that MLB will be forced to investigate. They are kidding themselves if they think this will go away with the “move along, nothing to see here…” approach.

 

[yesrutgers01]

Rose doesn’t get a pass. He was given an option and he chose his poison.

Ohtani- anyone that thinks he wasn’t the actual gambling culprit is nuts…his interpreter will be getting paid a nice sum.
Ohtani paid a gambling debt from his own account for his interpreter is crazy. And now, no one is admitting to anything.
And of course MLB isn’t going to do anything.

 

[rutgersdave]

I think everyone on this board is speculating the situation and just need to wait for some facts. I don't think some care about the facts.