Yeah just came to post …. is that the craziest contract ever …. even more so than Magic’s 20 year deal when one million dollars went a whole lot further …. by far. https://theathletic.com/5129913/202...ontract-explained/?source=user_shared_articleShohei Ohtani’s massive deferrals, Dodgers contract explained
Other agents react …. it’s not all criticism and sour grapes ….. after all Shohei’s not pitching for awhile. https://theathletic.com/5133065/202...i-ohtani-contract/?source=user_shared_articleMLB agents, executives react to Shohei Ohtani’s wild Dodgers contract
Ohtani helping to woo Yamamoto. https://theathletic.com/5135001/202...hinobu-yamamoto-2/?source=user_shared_articleShohei Ohtani’s first pitch: Helping Dodgers woo Yoshinobu Yamamoto: Sources
Well, finally got a new starting pitcher who can hopefully be an ace: Glasnow has great stuff, but his durability is more questionable than AD...
Lol fair enough. The flip side is that it means his arm is "fresher" than the average 30 year old pitcher. I guess Dodgers brought out a video of Kobe asking Ohtani to join the Dodgers:
Shohei Ohtani sends Ashley Kelly, wife of Dodgers reliever Joe, a Porsche as thank you for husband's jersey number https://www.yahoo.com/sports/shohei...you-for-husbands-jersey-number-192918596.html
Uggghhh!!!! Say it isn't so regarding this Ohtani / interpreter embezzling millions story. Was in the car listening to KFI and there's some odd stuff about this that doesn't line up. Host had a reformed habitual gambler on and while not remembering all or hearing all of the conversation, he was calling into question the ability of something about size of bets and whatever, frequency(?) to have happened by this guy on his own. As well as how does this guy get access to Ohtani's account to make those size withdrawals in the first place. And the scary part from a gambler's perspective .... if you're in a big hole you tend to think you can get "whole" by placing larger bets on things you feel more certain about. Such as maybe betting on baseball with insider information. Hopefully just a lot of radio talk BUT the implication was that unless this guy was truly acting on his own, OR is willing to fall on multiple swords for Shohei like some ex high ranking Washington official's dudes (), that Ohtani might have even had knowledge or been somehow involved, which could lead to suspension. Apparently the L.A. Times did some investigating uncovering the story due to someone on the gambling business end noting (irregularities with the large monies involved). Story had already broken, yet this interpreter cat was still interpreting for Ohtani for at least a game.
I’m one of those who think Rose should be in the Hall. We’ll see what happens here. Hopefully, Ohtani didn’t know. Even if he did, it might not mean the end of his career. But it might.
CNN story today via Apple News. I’ll say it again, Uggghhh!!!! Is there an out on that massive Dodgers contract if this is what it’s looking like it might be? Their freaking story changed. Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter fired amid accusations of ‘massive theft’ Updated 1:01 PM EDT March 21, 2024 The longtime interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani was fired Wednesday after being accused by Ohtani’s attorneys of “massive theft” that the attorneys allege is tied to gambling, the Los Angeles Times reported. Ohtani’s legal team accused former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara of stealing millions of dollars and placing bets with a bookmaker under federal investigation, according to the newspaper and ESPN. The details were first reported by the Los Angeles Times. “In the course of responding to recent media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft and we are turning the matter over to the authorities,” Ohtani’s law firm, Berk Brettler LLP, told CNN. The Dodgers “can confirm that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara has been terminated,” the Dodgers said in a release. The Dodgers also are “aware of media reports and are gathering information.” The team added it had no further comment. It’s unclear how the interpreterallegedlystole the money. A complicated story However, the “massive theft” wasn’t originally referenced as such by the parties involved. According to ESPN, Ohtani’s spokesman initially told the outlet that the Japanese superstar was covering the gambling debts of his longtime friend and interpreter. Additionally, in an interview with ESPN on Tuesday, Mizuhara originally said wire transfers from Ohtani’s bank account to an alleged bookmaking operation were to cover his losses, but that Ohtani had zero involvement in the betting. According to ESPN, Mizuhara said he didn’t know his gambling was illegal and that, despite being unhappy about the situation, Ohtani agreed to pay the debts. However, as ESPN was getting ready to publish its story Wednesday, Ohtani’s lawyers released the statement saying he was a victim of theft. On Wednesday, Mizuhara then walked back on much he had previously told ESPN, saying Ohtani had no knowledge or involvement in the gambling activities, or his efforts to repay the debt. Mizuhara was seen smiling in the LA dugout and was talking to Ohtani before translating for the star in the team’s 5-2 win over the San Diego Padres in the MLB season-opening game in Seoul, South Korea, on Wednesday. The Dodgers then fired Mizuhara once the story came out. Mizuhara and Ohtani worked together from 2013 to 2017 at Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball League team Nippon-Ham Fighters, where Mizuhara worked as an interpreter for non-Japanese speaking players, according to MLB.com. After Ohtani asked Mizuhara to join him in Los Angeles, Mizuhara became Ohtani’s interpreter in his rookie season with his former team, the Los Angeles Angels, in 2018. The 29-year-old two-time American League MVP signed a historic 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers this past offseason. CNN has sought comment from Ohtani’s agent, further comment from the Dodgers and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, but did not immediately hear back. MLB had no comment to CNN on the issue as of Thursday morning. CNN has also sought comment from Mizuhara. Baseball’s murky past Baseball has a troubled history with gambling. The most famous – or infamous – incident is the ‘Black Sox Scandal.’ During the 1919 World Series, the heavily-favored Chicago White Sox were stunned 5-3 in a best-of-9 series by the Cincinnati Reds. However, a year later, eight White Sox players were accused of conspiring with gamblers to lose the Fall Classic on purpose. They were all acquitted in a 1921 trial but were banned for life from professional baseball by then-commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. Another involved MLB’s all-time hits leader Pete Rose, who received a lifetime ban from the sport in 1989 for betting on Cincinnati Reds games while he was a player/manager for the team. Rose, whose ban makes him ineligible for election to baseball’s hall of fame, admitted in his 2004 autobiography that he bet on baseball while Reds manager and, three years later, told ESPN Radio that he bet on the Reds to win every night. In 2023, Americans gambled a record $119.84 billion on sports, a 27.5% increase from the previous year, according to the American Gaming Association’s Commercial Gaming Revenue Tracker.
I'm not worried about Ohtani in this at all at the moment. He is a private, respectful and loyal dude (from what I can tell). I think they initially said it was to cover it to protect the friend/interpreter but because it is Ohtani the media was going to dig more so they told the truth (maybe?) about it being taken without knowledge. I def understand skepticism in that though because it wasn't 100 bucks but a couple million which at my level of income would be easy to notice lol. My speculation is that Ohtani and his team were going to handle it privately but the news broke and the Dodgers told him they had to let the dude go immediately. No one in the Dodgers org wants gambling even remotely associated with the team. It doesn't help that the Dodgers are the only news on the season (padres too) because of the Korea series and that Ohtani is the face of MLB. In the end, unless the story really changes, I don't think MLB will do anything with the Dodgers or Ohtani.
My take: I doubt Ohtani is dirty. Just doesn't seem like his style. But, I also think it's nobodies business what he does with his money UNLESS they find he was specifically betting against his own team.
My thought is what the interpreter originally said to ESPN in an interview was true. Shohei used the money to cover “his” debts and wasn’t involved. BUT then everyone realized once the Times story broke from the illegal bookmaking investigation, that peripherally linked him to the gambling and would be a bleep show with investigations, so they changed the story? This guy is willing to fall on his sword and do some potential jail time for Ohtani to keep him from being involved? But that's even worse as far as causing investigations now.
Got more clarification from KFI while in the car awhile ago. Seems like the original story could very well be true that Shohei’s interpreter/friend got himself in deep in gambling debt and Ohtani agreed to help him out with like 9 wire transfers of 500,000G over some period of time to this bookie operation. There’s just NO way that any bank is going to watch that happen from someone other than the owner of the account without checking with that owner. The problem is wiring money for even an honest reason to help his friend out of a serious jam …. to an illegal gambling operation is a federal crime. So after this guy talked to ESPN with the first probably true story everyone had an oh s*** moment and they tried to change the story. IF that’s what comes out and MLB decides it was ignorance of that law I would guess he should be OK and hopefully not suspended. But lying in a federal investigation might bite him for some kind of sanction or punishment?
