Lost (Bets) In Translation

[cl smooth]

 

[Bertz]

Wasn't Ippei like his best friend even outside of baseball?  This is like Grizz or Dotcom stealing millions from Tracy Jordan.

[Bertz]

Ohhhh this is real messy

 

[Transmogrified Tiger]

 

[soccer10k]

I’d love to know what changed in between the Ohtani rep saying Ohtani transferred the money on behalf of the interpreter to then accusing him of massive theft.

Theres got to be way more to this story than we know.

[jersey cubs fan]

So the insinuation is ohtani bet illegally and is covering it up to avoid punishment from mlb? 

[Wilson A2000]

Is it legal per MLB’s rules for Ohtani to pay off his interpreter’s gambling debts? Just a stab, but I wonder if Ohtani’s spokesperson might have changed the story if that’s true. 

Edited March 21, 2024 by Wilson A2000

[Wilson A2000]

1 minute ago, jersey cubs fan said:

So the insinuation is ohtani bet illegally and is covering it up to avoid punishment from mlb? 

I haven’t heard anyone take that angle yet

[cl smooth]

1 minute ago, Wilson A2000 said:

I haven’t heard anyone take that angle yet

 

[Ding Dong Johnson]

20 minutes ago, jersey cubs fan said:

So the insinuation is ohtani bet illegally and is covering it up to avoid punishment from mlb? 

And he bet on Angels games, earning him a lifetime ban after signing that massive contract.

That’s the rumor I am starting.

[UMFan83]

10 minutes ago, Ding Dong Johnson said:

And he bet on Angels games, earning him a lifetime ban after signing that massive contract.

That’s the rumor I am starting.

And the Ricketts family caught wind of this, which is why they didnt go through with the $750m contract they were about to offer

Source: Crane Kenney

Edited March 21, 2024 by UMFan83

[Ding Dong Johnson]

BREAKING: Shohei to opt out after this season

 

[Andy]

On one level it would be a total catastrophe for the sport if MLB's most popular star were in some horrible gambling scandal.

Yet there's part of me that would find it completely hilarious, especially mere months after he signed this game-changing deal. I guess I'm a strange bird.

[sweetpeteman]

56 minutes ago, Andy said:

On one level it would be a total catastrophe for the sport if MLB's most popular star were in some horrible gambling scandal.

 

So he's going to retire and chase his dream of playing professional basketball for a couple years then.

[Proven Veteran]

9 minutes ago, sweetpeteman said:

 

So he's going to retire and chase his dream of playing professional basketball for a couple years then.

Came here to make the same joke.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

 

[jersey cubs fan]

R.I.P. to Ohtani’s dad 

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

 

[DrCub]

What bookie lets a guy making roughly $300K per year rack up $4.5M in debt?  

[CubinNY]

On 3/20/2024 at 11:06 PM, Andy said:

On one level it would be a total catastrophe for the sport if MLB's most popular star were in some horrible gambling scandal.

Yet there's part of me that would find it completely hilarious, especially mere months after he signed this game-changing deal. I guess I'm a strange bird.

The Cubs own a sports book. That’s the irony of this story. 

[mul21]

7 hours ago, DrCub said:

What bookie lets a guy making roughly $300K per year rack up $4.5M in debt?  

One who knows he works for an uber rich guy who may bail him out.  Or, it was actually Ohtani placing the bets and this is a really bad coverup that's going to blow up in MLB and Ohtani's faces.  I personally think option B is a lot more likely. 

[cl smooth]

 

[Bertz]

Really good rundown of the entire timeline.  The most likely explanation is that the initial story was true and no one (including the crisis handler) realized Ohtani covering Ippei's debts was super illegal until Wednesday.  That said this exchange set off major alarms in my head

 

Quote

 

Asked if he intended to pay back Ohtani, Mizuhara says he told his friend he would. He adds that Ohtani has never gambled and "thinks gambling is terrible."

"He sees that people, teammates would be gambling all the time, and he'll be like, 'Why are they doing this? Gambling is not good.' He would make comments like that. People would ask him to go to casinos on road trips, and he would never go. No, he's not into it."

 

That's such a sadly transparent lie it makes me more strongly consider the more sinister variations of this story.

[JHBulls]

It would be a sensational turn of events if Ohtani gets a lengthy suspension and the other night is exactly who Yamamoto is, after all the circlejerking in Dodgers nation

[Rob]

5 hours ago, JHBulls said:

It would be a sensational turn of events if Ohtani gets a lengthy suspension and the other night is exactly who Yamamoto is, after all the circlejerking in Dodgers nation

Very close to zero chance, here.

MLB has a vested interest in keeping the image of one of its few marketable superstars squeaky clean. As do the Dodgers, since he's obviously still capable of performing at a high level. What's more, Ippei seems willing to fall on his sword here.

So I would guess that, unless the Feds swoop in with some sort of indictment against Ohtani himself, MLB will sweep this under the rug.