Dodgers take a large gamble

[filosofy29]

On Shohei Ohante

 

[calsnowskier]

Did they do something today?

 

[calsnowskier]

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

LOL

 

[filosofy29]

Ohtani is looking into trying to defer his jail time

 

[calsnowskier]

This looks super sketchy. If Shohei wasn’t “Shohei”, he would be getting a 1 year suspension AT MINIMUM Right now. But because he IS “Shohei”, MLB will look the other way.

 

[filosofy29]

Now betting, for the Los Angeles Dodgers #17…

 

[tzill]

Maybe Los Doyers don't quite have the pitching they thought they did?

 

[Sandisfan]

Now betting, for the Los Angeles Dodgers #17…

This has to be the Best Comment of the Year Here on SportsHoopla forum. I officially nominate this for Post of the Year.

 

[calsnowskier]

This has to be the Best Comment of the Year Here on SportsHoopla forum. I officially nominate this for Post of the Year.

And we all know you read, AND LIKE, just about every coment that gets posted…

 

[Robotech]

This looks super sketchy. If Shohei wasn’t “Shohei”, he would be getting a 1 year suspension AT MINIMUM Right now. But because he IS “Shohei”, MLB will look the other way.

I'd like to think that there will be a real investigation and that it will find that Ohtani did nothing wrong, but yeah, I can totally see MLB investigating this in way that gives all benefits of the doubt to Othani.

 

[calsnowskier]

I'd like to think that there will be a real investigation and that it will find that Ohtani did nothing wrong, but yeah, I can totally see MLB investigating this in way that gives all benefits of the doubt to Othani.

Currently, my understanding is that this is a federal investigation, not an MLB investigation. Kinda out of MLBs hands. Not to say they don’t have influence, but they aren’t necessarily the final say.

 

[stanford the manford]

I'd like to think that there will be a real investigation and that it will find that Ohtani did nothing wrong, but yeah, I can totally see MLB investigating this in way that gives all benefits of the doubt to Othani.

What's the over/under on whether he'll publicly respond?

I'm in a <10% (as with the Giants '24 w/l record, I'm optimistic today)

 

[calsnowskier]

What's the over/under on whether he'll publicly respond?

I'm in a <10% (as with the Giants '24 w/l record, I'm optimistic today)

The dodgers had handlers all over him this am so no media was able to get anywhere near him.

 

[msgkings322]

Saw this from a Dodger fan who seems to be following it closely:

So far, the story is that Ohtani knew nothing about it and was a victim. They said that Ippei Mizuhara (the interpreter) stole $4.5 million from him to cover gambling debts. The interpreter at first said that Ohtani was really mad, but agreed to cover his debt for him if he stopped gambling...but now he says Ohtani didn't know about any of it and that he stole the money.

Saw part of an interview with an interpreter and Ohtani not knowing seems plausible because interpreters get access to a lot of a players sensitive information because they help them set up bank accounts, buy houses and cars, etc.

On the other hand, it's being said that Ohtani and Mizuhara had become close friends, so Mizuharas original story about Ohtani agreeing to cover his debt seems plausible as well.

Andrew Friedman said that the Dodgers got word that something was happening and brought in Ohtani and Mizuhara. Apparently, Mizuhara "immediately apologized" and said he has a gambling addiction. Friedman said that Ohtani doesn't understand much English and really wasn't able to fully understand what had happened, but he understood enough that he started asking questions. They got a 2nd interpreter for Ohtani who explained it to him and that's when Ohtani realized the money was missing from his account.

Apparently, MLB isn't investigating it but is "monitoring" the situation. They're apparently waiting to see what becomes of the criminal investigation first.

 

[Stokes1931]

Saw this from a Dodger fan who seems to be following it closely:

Yeah, I rarely pay attention to my account shrinking by anything less than $5 million....

 

[stanford the manford]

The dodgers had handlers all over him this am so no media was able to get anywhere near him.

I’m revising to < 0.1%

 

[msgkings322]

Yeah, I rarely pay attention to my account shrinking by anything less than $5 million....

My wild ass guess is the friend was a gambling addict and ran up a ton of losses and Ohtani knowingly covered it. The thief story seems like the friend taking the fall for his friend. I do not believe Ohtani was the gambler or that he gambles. No proof but that’s my take.

 

[trojanfan12]

My wild ass guess is the friend was a gambling addict and ran up a ton of losses and Ohtani knowingly covered it. The thief story seems like the friend taking the fall for his friend. I do not believe Ohtani was the gambler or that he gambles. No proof but that’s my take.

Heard a little more on what happened in the meeting with the Dodgers, Mizuhara and Ohtani.

Apparently, Mizuhara didn't quite apologize immediately. At first, he was pretty evasive and vague with his answers and that's when Ohtani had his "wtf?" moment, started asking questions and a 2nd interpreter was brought in. Then, Mizuhara said he stole the money and that Ohtani didn't know.

What's kind of weird is that after it came out, Mizuhara had an interview with ESPN where he said that Ohtani agreed to cover the debt for him. I didn't catch the whole thing on ESPN when they were talking about it because Stephen A joined the report and started asking questions that had already been answered like the annoying dumbass that he is. Which forced me to change the channel. lol

It seems odd to me that Mizuhara was even allowed to be interviewed right after the story broke. Apparently, ESPN was just about to come out with Mizuharas original story when they were informed that Mizuharas story had changed..

 

[trojanfan12]

Yeah, I rarely pay attention to my account shrinking by anything less than $5 million....

lol

I wish I made so much money that I couldn't keep track of it.

I've known 1 person/family that made at least close to Ohtani level money. According to the son, who I am friends with, you are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars from multiple sources spread across multiple accounts with several different banks. In Ohtani's case, he likely has accounts in both Japan and the U.S.

From what he said, at that income level, what was missing from Ohtani's account would be about like a regular person looking at the balance in their checking account and seeing there's $10 less than they thought...probably not going to spend much time tracking down that $10.

I find that hard to wrap my head around because $4.5 million is life changing money for me. But for someone making hundreds of millions, not so much. $4.5 million could be a shopping spree by his new wife. lol

 

[PolarVortex]

I'd like to think that there will be a real investigation and that it will find that Ohtani did nothing wrong, but yeah, I can totally see MLB investigating this in way that gives all benefits of the doubt to Othani.

Ohtani will get the Michael Jordan treatment. MLB can't really send him to a NBA minor league for a year, even if he does buy the team a fancy bus, so they will just the interpreter be the fall guy. But. at least Ohtani is paying his bookies and his father didn't have to pay the ultimate price.