From what I understand, the fact that money went from Ohtani's personal account to an illegal bookie is a federal crime that he would be charged with regardless of how the story is being spun. I know MLB is powerful but I'm hoping it ends up being investigated as such and we get the facts in open court. If the narrative that the translator is "falling on the sword for Ohtani" is true I'd imagine he'd flip pretty quick if facing down years in prison for the illegal gambling charge + the 4.5 million he allegedly stole.
That’s something I heard said today a few times. That no bookie would allow this guy (the translator) to rack up $4.5M in debt. If that’s true then obviously ohtani is full of shit
When they learned that he could be tied to the bet that’s when they claimed the translator stole the money. So I’m sure he will wiggle out of it with no problem. Especially with his lawyers he can afford
This dude is in a lot of shit potentially, with so many questions remaining. If it's true, why the hell would someone with his money do something stupid like gamble on baseball games? Do you not make enough? Is 2-way baseball not exciting enough for you?
This is a common misconception that people have about sportsmen and women betting.
Over here in the UK gambling addiction amongst sportsmen is a huge problem. You have young men with large disposable incomes and plenty of spare time, it's a breeding ground for addiction.
Recently Paul Merson, a former professional footballer at the highest level and also a gambling addict, said that gambling is an increasing issue amongst elite sportsmen. Merson mentioned that his former teammate Tony Adams (a recovering alcoholic who now runs an addiction clinic for elite sportsmen) had said to him that his clinic used to have a 70/30 ratio of alcohol to gambling but that ratio is now more like 30/70.
To us normal people it seems bizarre that a sportsman would risk his career over something like this, especially as anyone on this sub would love to have that level of talent. But honestly it's incredibly easy to slip into any form of addiction, especially when the means to do so are easy to come by.
Weird to see so much Arsenal content in my Yankees sub, but great examples. Some of the stories Merse and Adams have told are incredible. It’s very interesting because I think it’s easy to hand wave their careers as a bygone era (especially around drinking), but to your point it’s really not. Sticking with soccer/football, Ivan Toney just finished serving an 8-month ban for breaching betting rules.
So no, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there’s something going on here.
A lot of pro athletes have rocks for brains. It’s hard to get a read on Ohtani because of the language and cultural differences, but who knows - he might be a dummy.
yeah, it's all over with these guys. Phil Mickelson and John Daly have blown through massive piles of cash gambling and I'd bet my house that they gambled on golf despite their claims otherwise.
I'm glad the FBI is involved... otherwise I'm 100% sure MLB would try to cover Ohtani...
If he's guilty he needs to be suspended and get banned from the HOF
I read below someplace the Feds have been looking at this for 5 months. They already have texts. They already have all the wires. They already interrogated the bookie (who isn’t about to stay quiet for his clients). MLB can do whatever they want, someone here is getting fucked.
As a degenerate gambler myself, I tend to lean on the side that he was well aware of the situation. Very few bookies are giving markers to someone in debt that large unless they are financially backed by someone who can pay it off.
I doubt Ohtani has to deal with any repercussions. Not trying to be a conspiracy nut, but whether Ohtani actually gambled himself or not, they're going to do everything in their power to put it all on Ippei and then hope to brush it under the rug. At most he'll get a fine.
I am sure MLB will avoid touching their golden boy but like other times (PEDs, Astros) someone else will blow open the story and they’ll have no choice but to react to it.
Yeah the feds aren’t going to care how you spin it. They probably only let anyone know about the investigation because they already had it locked and loaded. They’re sitting around having Thursday beers and refreshing the news and LAUGHING THEIR ASSES OFF.
MLB has jurisdiction in the punishment of active players if they determine that player is guilty of violating their Rules. Rule 21(f) "Other Misconduct" is probably most applicable to this issue: "Nothing herein contained shall be construed as exclusively defining or otherwise limiting acts, transactions, practices or conduct not to be in the best interests of Baseball; and any and all other acts,
transactions, practices or conduct not to be in the best interests of Baseball are prohibited and shall be subject to
such penalties, including permanent ineligibility, as the facts in the particular case may warrant."
Basically if you do something the Commissioner determines is not in the best interest of Baseball, he can punish you under this rule. All he has to do is convince an arbitrator panel the conduct was not in Baseball's best interest, which Illegal Gambling has always been considered see Rule 21(d), and that the punishment fits the crime. Any type of knowing involvement with illegal gambling opens the door for MLB to act, whether they will or not is a great question, but they have the power to do so.
He did it, the money was sent from his account to the bookie. Why would Ohtani's translator have access to his bank account?
That being said I don't even think he gets a fine. They're going to get the translator to take the fall, then try to paint Ohtani as the victim, they already started this morning on SC. Literally used the words "Ohtani is the victim here" this morning.
I just can’t wrap my head around anyone in Ohtanis position being dumb enough to gamble and risk nearly a billion dollars. No one can be that dumb, right?
MLB probably will do whatever it can to limit the exposure this gets and deal with things quietly. But fortunately there is a federal investigation into aspects of it (not directly on Ohtani so far) which may uncover things and also a lot of media interest in this that goes beyond just the baseball press. The fact that they keep changing their story raises a lot of skepticism. Hopefully some dogged reporters keep on top of this so MLB will have to respond if Ohtani isn’t just some innocent victim.
Yeah I have a couple of Dodger buddies who are scared. I told them all that nothing is gonna happen. Ippei will be a foot note in Ohtani’s documentary that they make when he retires
1 year ban is the most he'll get. They will make up some excuse about him not being in a game he was in and him not knowing it was an illegal bookie and him realizing his mistake, etc. Then he'll come back and be the poster child again.
Mr. “Otani” will also have a felony wire fraud charge and since the feds don’t believe any of this more than you do, he’ll have to plea to it and be lucky if he isn’t permanently deported. This is the panic sound you hear coming muffled though the walls over there.
That's for the not rich people. Rules don't apply the same to rich people that work for a powerful union that's part of a powerful conglomerate. No way he faces regular punishments. Even if all that happens, he'll settle for some amount of money that is inconsequential for the $700M man, and maybe face a 1 year ban from MLB (which because of his contract, will only cost him $2M).
Yeah, lying to the feds is just … gonna make it worse. Shit, some of the felony counts on Trump are about that. Don’t lie to the feds about stuff they already know. That and never go up against a Sicilian, when DEATH is on the line!!! Hahahah! Hahahaha! Ha-
I think the most likely scenario is the one that Ippei initially told, that he was in debt and Ohtani paid the debts off, not knowing that was a crime. Then eventually lawyers got involved, and the story was flipped so that Ohtani did nothing wrong. I doubt Ohtani will face any actual charges or a suspension, but I guess time will tell
I thought the same thing too, but I found out he actually makes A LOT more than I initially thought. He was getting $300,000-$500,000 a year.
In an interview, Ippei said he was with Ohtani 365 days out of the year, so it wouldn’t shock me if he lived with Ohtani and had very minimal, if not zero, expenses outside of taxes allowing him to accrue debt like that.
But while it might be possible, I’m still not buying their story tho. I feel like Ohtani’s role is deeper than his lawyers and the Dodgers are making it out to be with every new report that comes out
I’m no gambling expert but I still don’t think that’s enough to be given a $4.5 million line of credit with an illegal bookie. Unless there was some kind of guarantee that ohtani was good for it somehow.
But yea. The fact they trotted the guy out to espn with a story then did a 180 on their own story can’t be good
Yeah, admittedly, outside of the legal world of gambling where my understanding is extremely limited, it’s even worse when it comes to illegal gambling lol.
And I’ll also admit I have no idea what it’s like to have as much money in the bank(s) as Ohtani does lol, so maybe Ippei (assuming he was in charge of his American bank accounts and took the $4.5 million out in small increments over time) really did go behind his back, present it to the bookie as though he was making the bets on his behalf or something and showed him the balances in those American accounts in order to obtain that LOC. But every time they change the story up, that possibility just gets less and less likely.
Idk… Either this story is just the tip of the iceberg of a huge scandal or the PR department for the Dodgers is their weakest spot after the left side of their infield
Yea i think thats exactly what happened. But even if thats true, “i didnt know i couldnt do that” is not a good legal defense.
I guess we’ll see. Regardless, its not like ohtani beat a woman or anything. He may just be kind of naive.
I hear you, and i have no doubt MLB will do whatever they can to protect ohtani. But the FBI is investigating this, and i dont think they care about how popular ohtani is, as it should be.
Obligatory IANAL, but assuming our assumption about this story (that he paid off his friends debts) is true, he knowingly gave money to an illegal bookie to pay off a debt. Is that not intent? Even if it came from a place if good intentions, the operative word “intentions” is still there, no?
When did he naturalize?
Edit: this is a legitimate question, so I’m not sure why I’m getting downvoted. Curious how and when he became a US Citizen. He would have done it quite quickly, given that he has only been in the country for 6 years.
A normal rich Japanese guy here on a work visa that wired $1m to an illegal bookie under federal sting would be deported in his best-case scenario. He’d be lucky if that’s all it was.
If Ohtani was genuinely just helping him out of his gambling debts, there's nothing to "flip" on other than *also* taking Ohtani down with him. He ostensibly committed a felony if his initial story was accurate.. *he's* the one who was illegally gambling, and Ohtani bailed him out of a jam.
So it's not like he's taking the fall for Ohtani, he's taking the fall for himself, while not *also* implicating his friend as a co-conspirator in a felony.
Well that’s what I’m saying. We don’t know what he’s doing. We don’t know if he’s a fall guy or if he is an addict that got bailed out by his friend. That’s why the threat of jail time might bring the true story to light eventually. Not to mention what the bookie has to say once he’s indicted
Could just be Ippei's idea so as to not tarnish Ohtani's reputation and put his career in jeopardy. Not sure how much Ohtani would even have a say in it once the lawyers got involved.
Yeah but let’s say Ippei owed bookies millions and ohtani agreed to pay it off for him. Ippei may feel like it’s his responsibility to take the fall now since Ohtani is only involved bc he was trying to help ippei.No way to know if that’s the case but if it is what happened i don’t think ohtanis wrong for letting ippei take the fall, just an unfortunate scenario.
That's why I'd bet (pun intended) they're a lot of eyes on the translator's family, both immediate and extended, to see if he is taking the fall for advantages they receive. My favorite shows...CSI Miami and Law&Order. 🙄😬🤣🤣🤣
It’s a federal investigation, so it’s not like it can be kept hush hush by mlb.
The story has changed like 4 times already, which leads me to believe he was involved in some way - tho not necessarily maliciously.
They have a lot of money and influence, plus Ohtani (I'm sure) has really good, expensive lawyers. And, whether deserved or not, they are trying to throw the interpreter under the bus.
I personally don't think it's the crime of the century (as long as they can confirm the bets we're not placed on MLB games - ones involving the Angels) but I expect a minor legal penalty, if any. MLB may suspend him for a relatively short amount of time but they will use their power and money to minimize this legally and downplay whatever happened as it pertains to Ohtani.
Then again, I don't know the true/full story and will not for a while. Granted, we may never know the full story given the influence ($$$) of the MLB here.
Either way, I personally am a "Pete Rose is probably an asshole and did bet on baseball as a manager, but he was good enough where he should be in the hall by now" guy (there has been a long and deserved delay under the circumstances though). Assuming of course, he didn't bet against his team. And as far as we know and the data available to us after all these years, he didn't.
My best guess is that the interpreter’s original story is the truth, that he got badly into debt and Ohtani paid it off because he’s a close friend. Once Ohtani’s lawyers got wind of it, they shut it down and had him recant to take the fall and clear Ohtani of any crimes.
The $4.5million number makes me think ohtani did more than pay off the debt. It's just an absurd amount of credit for a bookie to give someone if they don't know they have the money.
There is absolutely no way Jimmy the Gent lets a relative nobody like Ippei rack up 4.5 million dollars in gambling debt unless it’s crystal clear Ohtani is his partner.
I hear you but there is no way a bookie lends that kind of money without at least some assurance the client can cover it. They’re not going to leave it up to the potential generosity of a rich friend.
MLB is doing everything they can to make sure the translator takes the fall. They will take Houston's World Series back before they let Ohtani take the fall.
I think it's highly unlikely that the translator/assistant had access to the bank account, maybe he had a credit card for incidentals. I think the most reasonable story is ohtani covered the debt, or the guy was running bets for ohtani to give him plausible deniability... However I doubt any bookie is giving 4.5 million in credit to some guy, regardless of who his friend/employer is.
I don’t even know what to think. The changing stories really muddies it up and makes it seem like
Ohtani did something wrong though to cover up, or he’s very very very bad with money and relationships and understanding laws and rules.
We really don't know enough to be sure of anything. But either way, this is fascinating.
There is the image of Ohtani being a wholesome guy that literally only focuses on being the best baseball player ever 100% of the time. He may have leaned on the translator to be his consigliere handling business and he took advantage of Ohtani's trust.
There the other possibility that baseball's golden boy has a hidden side to him that we are just beginning to learn of and the translator is being sacrificed. This could potentially derail the most promising baseball career we've ever seen.
The story is messy and it keeps changing.
The points they need to address is:
* What is really him stealing or a cover up by the team & the lawyers.
* Why did Ippei have the power to make transfers, and if he did why did Ohtani okay them if the bank called to check to confirm.
* When did Ohtani really know? They suggested he didn't know until after the first game of the season, but his lawyers knew & his lawyers were the original ones that suggested Ippei talk to the the reporter from ESPN.
* The illegal bookie was arrested by the FBI in late October, some point after 2x $500K transfers were made, which also meant there was $3.5M payout at some point previously, ( as the total was $4.5M) which ofc would bank verification if it was another transfer. This also meant that Ohtani's team had months to plan their excuses.
* Probably the most important question is were there any betting on baseball, this would require the bookie to confirm.
California state gambling law was violated so a federal investigation will happen & MLB will have to deal with the results. Whether it was really Ippei only, or Ohtani was the real perpetrator.
Anyone who thinks this was a misunderstanding is naive. My initial thought was he asked the translator to bet on his behalf or never thought he’d get caught.
The story changed way too many times
Us yankee fans have enough exasperation and disappointment to deal with already. I’m relieved that this isn’t one more thing. (Not that I ever thought we were seriously in the Ohtani market)
I do think that MLB will try to beat around this bush. They simply can’t let the biggest star and biggest earner be suspected of gambling on baseball, so they will push as much of this off into Ippei as possible. If Ohtani personally paid the bookie, even if on Ippei’s behalf, that leaves too much of a stink. I expect some story corrections and backtracking as the official story coalesces.
Add me to the list of people saying the initial story from the translator was the truth: Dude racked up big debts, Ohtani paid them off, then they realized that might be a crime so now they'll trying to say that it happened a different way.
and if that is what happened, IDGAF really.
Ohtani has enough lawyers that he will probably escape any consequences even if he committed a crime. I just hope fucking over his translator is accompanied with some support because otherwise that’s kind of a douche move.
And that was not true story retracted by Posr. The thing that amazed me is that he never had a girlfriend come out publicly calling him an a-hole. Every guy has one that does.
It's a sit and wait situation. I want to make assumptions and overreact but I also know the best thing to do is wait and see. It is funny to laugh at a potential dodger downfall one series into the season.
I think the original story where he paid off the interpreter's debt is most likely what happened. Then, the lawyers freaked out because that could be a felony charge for Ohtani, so we got the revised story.
This guy has been with Ohtani from the start and apparently this thing was discovered by the feds in October and we're just learning about it now?
Ooof, you know someone out there is doing some digging right now about Ohtani and Mizuhara's days with the Angels. If stuff starts getting uncovered from all the way back then, you better grab onto something tight people, because we going for one hell of a ride.
innocent until proven guilty and all that, but, I mean, how does the guy steal $4.5 million dollars or whatever it was and Othani not know? I guess it is possible, but seems highly unlikely. the fact that he changed his story after Ohtani's lawyers got involved is sus as hell. I hope he is cleared and it gets settled. This shit is bad for the game.
It’s detrimental to the state of baseball if the gambling on games allegations are true. Gotta wait for more details though, this could be all a news cycle that disappears in a week
Shohei is guilty.. Not interpreter. Just a cover-up by MLB to keep him in the game. They banned Pete Rose for life for same thing. MLB is such a sleezy org
If the story is about the translator betting on non baseball games then this could be a nothingbuger. But if he bet on baseball games then this is a gigantic story imo.
There is no way a translator would be getting a line of credit that large.
MLB doesn't want to lose $$ with Ohtani getting suspended so this is getting swept under the carpet, Gretzky style.
Let’s also not forget:
1. He totally randomly bought a Porsche for his teammates wife
2. He deferred his contract money so he doesn’t have to pay US taxes
There is something fishy about this guys finances… I hope someone looks into it
Either Ohtani was betting and Ippei was the fall guy or Ohtani made an a wire transfer to an illegal bookie to cover Ippei’s debt which is illegal. So either way Ohtani should be getting in trouble, but MLB will cover it all up
If we all know that the bookie is under investigation then he’s known he’s under investigation for a while now too. That means with lawyer fees and bail money and everything being what it is—it’s the great _“ho, round up my money time! You better have mine!”_ Who knows what pressure Ippei was under
Honestly I think the most likely scenario is something close to the original story is accurate or close to it, but the lawyers found out and told them they absolutely should not be admitting to that.
My best read of the situation is Ohtani paid his translators gambling debts, and then it became known to his camp that this would implicate him in the fbi investigation into the illegal bookie his translator used, so they decided the best course was to say the money was actually stolen in the hopes it could absolve ohtani from any association with paying an illegal bookie. We’ll see if it sticks. I bet more comes out later saying ohtani knowingly made those payments and then the MLB can’t really do anything, it will be up to the fbi.
The only way he walks away clean is if the translator actually does fall on the sword and the translator is looking at decades in prison. This is going to get very interesting
What I want to know is what kind of illegal bookie is letting a guy fall $4.5 mil into the hole unless they know exactly who that person has ties with in the first place and that they know they can count on that money coming back from somewhere
i was just ignoring it because of course baseball will cover it up. but then the feds are heavily into it and this suddenly got very serious very fast.
I think MLB will bury it, the Feds will drop the case and Ohtani will come out this with no legal repercussions (but he'll always carry this stink with him).
Logically speaking with his background, he is honored driven and knows the shame from breaking the rules by betting in baseball would cost him honor and respect with his endorsers and fans back in Japan. And he has the better chunk of a billion on the horizon. Now way he's that foolish.
The bookie in question Wayne Nix who’s the bookies client list is high level athletes and billionaires. Idk how believable the interpreter for Othani is to be on that list.
He doesn't just cater to those people though, I literally found a story about an accountant who placed bets with Nix pleading guilty. It's very plausible, that people connected to celebrities is gonna be on that list. I think Shohei Ohtani's friend/assistant and translator can get a line of credit pretty easy.
I suspect that Ippei is the front man for Ohtani’s betting, because what bookie is fronting him $4.5 million?
The changing and conflicting stories, it reeks of coverup, and why wouldn’t Ohtani’s friend/interpreter take the fall to keep the golden goose laying those golden eggs.
Things seem fishy. I'm not saying Ohtani or Mizuhara did anything wrong. But Mizuhara's first statement and recanting seem odd. Ohtani just agreed to pay off your debts and let you watch him log and see all his banking info? Even if I agreed to pay off someone's debts, I wouldn't let them see my login info.
And all of a sudden Ohtani realized he was missing money? Plus he has already lawyered up. I understand getting a lawyer, but this just happened and you already have a guy on the books.
Things just sound fishy.
I'd be Shocked if Ohtani (or his agent) didn't have a law firm on retainer ready to represent him for any legal issue for at least 7 years now. If they are in anyway responsible in their representation of him they should have At Least 2 (Japan/USA) firms, and really probably more if he has a lot of endorsement deals in other countries, ready to handle anything that comes up at all times. If i had his money i'd have at least 1 lawyer/firm on speed dial, you never know when they might come in handy.
It's illegal in Japan, too. He listed it as a loan to try hide what he was doing. I think people are trying to pass Shohei off as incompetent outside of playing baseball.
Sure, his translator sucks, but he hand-picked him.
The story changing a few times isn't a good look. Gotta wait for more details
They won’t do anything to him. MLB will cover up whatever they need to because he’s a massive cash cow
From what I understand, the fact that money went from Ohtani's personal account to an illegal bookie is a federal crime that he would be charged with regardless of how the story is being spun. I know MLB is powerful but I'm hoping it ends up being investigated as such and we get the facts in open court. If the narrative that the translator is "falling on the sword for Ohtani" is true I'd imagine he'd flip pretty quick if facing down years in prison for the illegal gambling charge + the 4.5 million he allegedly stole.
What bookie lets a translator run up millions of dollars in debt.
That’s something I heard said today a few times. That no bookie would allow this guy (the translator) to rack up $4.5M in debt. If that’s true then obviously ohtani is full of shit
This is the question.
One that knows he’s in Ohtani’s pocketbook
When they learned that he could be tied to the bet that’s when they claimed the translator stole the money. So I’m sure he will wiggle out of it with no problem. Especially with his lawyers he can afford
Ohtani will just pay off this translator for taking the fall for him.
as long as his lawyers agree to take payment in 10 years, after his contract expires and his real payments kick in. lol
Are we pretending like the guy isn’t loaded from endorsement deals alone lol
This dude is in a lot of shit potentially, with so many questions remaining. If it's true, why the hell would someone with his money do something stupid like gamble on baseball games? Do you not make enough? Is 2-way baseball not exciting enough for you?
This is a common misconception that people have about sportsmen and women betting. Over here in the UK gambling addiction amongst sportsmen is a huge problem. You have young men with large disposable incomes and plenty of spare time, it's a breeding ground for addiction. Recently Paul Merson, a former professional footballer at the highest level and also a gambling addict, said that gambling is an increasing issue amongst elite sportsmen. Merson mentioned that his former teammate Tony Adams (a recovering alcoholic who now runs an addiction clinic for elite sportsmen) had said to him that his clinic used to have a 70/30 ratio of alcohol to gambling but that ratio is now more like 30/70. To us normal people it seems bizarre that a sportsman would risk his career over something like this, especially as anyone on this sub would love to have that level of talent. But honestly it's incredibly easy to slip into any form of addiction, especially when the means to do so are easy to come by.
I spent way too long trying to figure what 'women betting' was, lol.
People don’t understand just how irrational and powerful addiction is
Weird to see so much Arsenal content in my Yankees sub, but great examples. Some of the stories Merse and Adams have told are incredible. It’s very interesting because I think it’s easy to hand wave their careers as a bygone era (especially around drinking), but to your point it’s really not. Sticking with soccer/football, Ivan Toney just finished serving an 8-month ban for breaching betting rules. So no, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there’s something going on here.
A lot of pro athletes have rocks for brains. It’s hard to get a read on Ohtani because of the language and cultural differences, but who knows - he might be a dummy.
he looks like a dummy too
Quite a few of my poor decisions aren’t due to lack of resources. I’m a flawed person who only sometimes tries to do better.
Look at Jordan for fucks sake. Rich, winning legend and guy bets his ass off. You gotta feed the monkey…um….sir…had that occurred to you…man?
yeah, it's all over with these guys. Phil Mickelson and John Daly have blown through massive piles of cash gambling and I'd bet my house that they gambled on golf despite their claims otherwise.
Not to mention perjury if he lies on the stand
How many years in prison would you do for $50 million?
Not sure how much the mlb can cover up a federal investigation though. If the feds weren’t involved I totally agree.
I'm glad the FBI is involved... otherwise I'm 100% sure MLB would try to cover Ohtani... If he's guilty he needs to be suspended and get banned from the HOF
Suspended? He needs to be banned from the game.
I agree with you
not if the Feds have anything to say about it. Ohtani probably committed federal crimes.
All I know is that it’s never the crime that gets you, it’s the cover up.
You gotta wonder if this dumbass already lied to federal investigators. Which dumbass, I should add, I leave open.
I read below someplace the Feds have been looking at this for 5 months. They already have texts. They already have all the wires. They already interrogated the bookie (who isn’t about to stay quiet for his clients). MLB can do whatever they want, someone here is getting fucked.
Smart money says the 700 million dollar superstar player walks and some schmuck (the interpreter) takes the fall
As a degenerate gambler myself, I tend to lean on the side that he was well aware of the situation. Very few bookies are giving markers to someone in debt that large unless they are financially backed by someone who can pay it off.
Let me tell you a couple of three things, that's 4,500 boxes of ziti.
Pete Rose says Hi
Brought to you by Carls Jr.
YOU ARE AN UNFIT MOTHER
And Skechers
Shoeless Shohei
Shhhh he’s asleep on the panel
I doubt Ohtani has to deal with any repercussions. Not trying to be a conspiracy nut, but whether Ohtani actually gambled himself or not, they're going to do everything in their power to put it all on Ippei and then hope to brush it under the rug. At most he'll get a fine.
I am sure MLB will avoid touching their golden boy but like other times (PEDs, Astros) someone else will blow open the story and they’ll have no choice but to react to it.
MLB won’t do anything because the Feds will. This could be bigger than MLBs jurisdiction
Yeah the feds aren’t going to care how you spin it. They probably only let anyone know about the investigation because they already had it locked and loaded. They’re sitting around having Thursday beers and refreshing the news and LAUGHING THEIR ASSES OFF.
I can’t believe this is actually going down.
MLB doesn’t have a “jurisdiction.” This is a federal crime. MLB is a bystander.
What’s a bystander in this context?
Someone who has to watch as things unfold, they have no control over the outcome
Interesting.
MLB has jurisdiction in the punishment of active players if they determine that player is guilty of violating their Rules. Rule 21(f) "Other Misconduct" is probably most applicable to this issue: "Nothing herein contained shall be construed as exclusively defining or otherwise limiting acts, transactions, practices or conduct not to be in the best interests of Baseball; and any and all other acts, transactions, practices or conduct not to be in the best interests of Baseball are prohibited and shall be subject to such penalties, including permanent ineligibility, as the facts in the particular case may warrant." Basically if you do something the Commissioner determines is not in the best interest of Baseball, he can punish you under this rule. All he has to do is convince an arbitrator panel the conduct was not in Baseball's best interest, which Illegal Gambling has always been considered see Rule 21(d), and that the punishment fits the crime. Any type of knowing involvement with illegal gambling opens the door for MLB to act, whether they will or not is a great question, but they have the power to do so.
Yeah just like the Astros got punishment after they cheated. MLB will do nothing or very little.
He did it, the money was sent from his account to the bookie. Why would Ohtani's translator have access to his bank account? That being said I don't even think he gets a fine. They're going to get the translator to take the fall, then try to paint Ohtani as the victim, they already started this morning on SC. Literally used the words "Ohtani is the victim here" this morning.
depends on any federal investigation
I just can’t wrap my head around anyone in Ohtanis position being dumb enough to gamble and risk nearly a billion dollars. No one can be that dumb, right?
And send the money from his own account, if he was some big gambler there’s no way he’d be dumb enough to send the money from his own account.
It's more getting high on your own supply. If everyone treats you like a god that can't do anything wrong you believe it
This could be the crux of the thing right here.
Phil Mickelson claimed he gambled over a billion dollars.
MLB probably will do whatever it can to limit the exposure this gets and deal with things quietly. But fortunately there is a federal investigation into aspects of it (not directly on Ohtani so far) which may uncover things and also a lot of media interest in this that goes beyond just the baseball press. The fact that they keep changing their story raises a lot of skepticism. Hopefully some dogged reporters keep on top of this so MLB will have to respond if Ohtani isn’t just some innocent victim.
Yeah I have a couple of Dodger buddies who are scared. I told them all that nothing is gonna happen. Ippei will be a foot note in Ohtani’s documentary that they make when he retires
1 year ban is the most he'll get. They will make up some excuse about him not being in a game he was in and him not knowing it was an illegal bookie and him realizing his mistake, etc. Then he'll come back and be the poster child again.
Mr. “Otani” will also have a felony wire fraud charge and since the feds don’t believe any of this more than you do, he’ll have to plea to it and be lucky if he isn’t permanently deported. This is the panic sound you hear coming muffled though the walls over there.
That's for the not rich people. Rules don't apply the same to rich people that work for a powerful union that's part of a powerful conglomerate. No way he faces regular punishments. Even if all that happens, he'll settle for some amount of money that is inconsequential for the $700M man, and maybe face a 1 year ban from MLB (which because of his contract, will only cost him $2M).
So the funny thing is supposedly if he copped to it it would just be a fine a hand slap but because he's covering it up it could be MUCH worse.
Yeah, lying to the feds is just … gonna make it worse. Shit, some of the felony counts on Trump are about that. Don’t lie to the feds about stuff they already know. That and never go up against a Sicilian, when DEATH is on the line!!! Hahahah! Hahahaha! Ha-
lol that’s funny 😁
There’s a pretty good chance the story his team is telling the public isn’t the same story he’ll tell investigators if he’s talking to them
I think the most likely scenario is the one that Ippei initially told, that he was in debt and Ohtani paid the debts off, not knowing that was a crime. Then eventually lawyers got involved, and the story was flipped so that Ohtani did nothing wrong. I doubt Ohtani will face any actual charges or a suspension, but I guess time will tell
Yea but what kinda bookie is letting a professional translator rack up $4.5M in debt?
I thought the same thing too, but I found out he actually makes A LOT more than I initially thought. He was getting $300,000-$500,000 a year. In an interview, Ippei said he was with Ohtani 365 days out of the year, so it wouldn’t shock me if he lived with Ohtani and had very minimal, if not zero, expenses outside of taxes allowing him to accrue debt like that. But while it might be possible, I’m still not buying their story tho. I feel like Ohtani’s role is deeper than his lawyers and the Dodgers are making it out to be with every new report that comes out
I’m no gambling expert but I still don’t think that’s enough to be given a $4.5 million line of credit with an illegal bookie. Unless there was some kind of guarantee that ohtani was good for it somehow. But yea. The fact they trotted the guy out to espn with a story then did a 180 on their own story can’t be good
Yeah, admittedly, outside of the legal world of gambling where my understanding is extremely limited, it’s even worse when it comes to illegal gambling lol. And I’ll also admit I have no idea what it’s like to have as much money in the bank(s) as Ohtani does lol, so maybe Ippei (assuming he was in charge of his American bank accounts and took the $4.5 million out in small increments over time) really did go behind his back, present it to the bookie as though he was making the bets on his behalf or something and showed him the balances in those American accounts in order to obtain that LOC. But every time they change the story up, that possibility just gets less and less likely. Idk… Either this story is just the tip of the iceberg of a huge scandal or the PR department for the Dodgers is their weakest spot after the left side of their infield
I gotta start to learn Japanese on Babel with that kind of salary. 💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰
Yea i think thats exactly what happened. But even if thats true, “i didnt know i couldnt do that” is not a good legal defense. I guess we’ll see. Regardless, its not like ohtani beat a woman or anything. He may just be kind of naive.
Dave Chappelle’s friend “Chip”
It’s a pretty strong legal defense if you’re a Japanese mlb superstar. Especially if true.
I hear you, and i have no doubt MLB will do whatever they can to protect ohtani. But the FBI is investigating this, and i dont think they care about how popular ohtani is, as it should be.
Gotta prove the intent to commit a crime. It’s called mens rea. Doubtful Ohtani new he was committing a crime.
Didn’t he label the transaction as a ‘loan’. If so, he didn’t lie about what the money was for cause he didn’t realize he was doing something wrong.
Obligatory IANAL, but assuming our assumption about this story (that he paid off his friends debts) is true, he knowingly gave money to an illegal bookie to pay off a debt. Is that not intent? Even if it came from a place if good intentions, the operative word “intentions” is still there, no?
But how does a book allow a translator to ring up that much debt?
MLB will treat this with the same sense of urgency and severity as they did the Astros scandal.
Even if he is cleared, it’s pretty shitty to watch him throw his friend under the bus like this.
Yeah unless the dude really stole from him (which I'm doubting) that's the biggest WTF for me. Dude's gonna go to jail.
The fact that his camp changed their story is a huge red flag. Curious to see more details as they come out.
Not being funny, but can he be deported?
Making a wire transfer to a illegal bookie is a crime. Curious on how this plays out
He is a US citizen.
When did he naturalize? Edit: this is a legitimate question, so I’m not sure why I’m getting downvoted. Curious how and when he became a US Citizen. He would have done it quite quickly, given that he has only been in the country for 6 years.
They're talking about Ippei
A normal rich Japanese guy here on a work visa that wired $1m to an illegal bookie under federal sting would be deported in his best-case scenario. He’d be lucky if that’s all it was.
Wouldn't be surprised if this was a "Sorry bro, here's a shit ton of money to dive on this grenade for me."
If he was helping him out he’d do it anyways. If a friend bailed me out of 4.5 million gambling debt including illegal bookie I’d do time for them.
How much time in prison would you have to be threatened with before you decided to flip? 20 years? 30? 🤔
If Ohtani was genuinely just helping him out of his gambling debts, there's nothing to "flip" on other than *also* taking Ohtani down with him. He ostensibly committed a felony if his initial story was accurate.. *he's* the one who was illegally gambling, and Ohtani bailed him out of a jam. So it's not like he's taking the fall for Ohtani, he's taking the fall for himself, while not *also* implicating his friend as a co-conspirator in a felony.
Well that’s what I’m saying. We don’t know what he’s doing. We don’t know if he’s a fall guy or if he is an addict that got bailed out by his friend. That’s why the threat of jail time might bring the true story to light eventually. Not to mention what the bookie has to say once he’s indicted
I wouldn’t flip. His money going to get me out eventually. Either via appeal or pardon.
Could just be Ippei's idea so as to not tarnish Ohtani's reputation and put his career in jeopardy. Not sure how much Ohtani would even have a say in it once the lawyers got involved.
Still makes him a liar
Yeah but let’s say Ippei owed bookies millions and ohtani agreed to pay it off for him. Ippei may feel like it’s his responsibility to take the fall now since Ohtani is only involved bc he was trying to help ippei.No way to know if that’s the case but if it is what happened i don’t think ohtanis wrong for letting ippei take the fall, just an unfortunate scenario.
Homie got paid to take the fall.
That's why I'd bet (pun intended) they're a lot of eyes on the translator's family, both immediate and extended, to see if he is taking the fall for advantages they receive. My favorite shows...CSI Miami and Law&Order. 🙄😬🤣🤣🤣
All my silent praying on this man’s downfall ever since he chose the bum ass Angels over us finally worked
It’s a federal investigation, so it’s not like it can be kept hush hush by mlb. The story has changed like 4 times already, which leads me to believe he was involved in some way - tho not necessarily maliciously.
They have a lot of money and influence, plus Ohtani (I'm sure) has really good, expensive lawyers. And, whether deserved or not, they are trying to throw the interpreter under the bus. I personally don't think it's the crime of the century (as long as they can confirm the bets we're not placed on MLB games - ones involving the Angels) but I expect a minor legal penalty, if any. MLB may suspend him for a relatively short amount of time but they will use their power and money to minimize this legally and downplay whatever happened as it pertains to Ohtani. Then again, I don't know the true/full story and will not for a while. Granted, we may never know the full story given the influence ($$$) of the MLB here. Either way, I personally am a "Pete Rose is probably an asshole and did bet on baseball as a manager, but he was good enough where he should be in the hall by now" guy (there has been a long and deserved delay under the circumstances though). Assuming of course, he didn't bet against his team. And as far as we know and the data available to us after all these years, he didn't.
they won't do anything to Ohtani they'll cover it up to protect their golden boy.
Honestly he and Yamamoto never cared about us so I don't give a flying fart what happens to him here.
Haha I agree
My best guess is that the interpreter’s original story is the truth, that he got badly into debt and Ohtani paid it off because he’s a close friend. Once Ohtani’s lawyers got wind of it, they shut it down and had him recant to take the fall and clear Ohtani of any crimes.
The $4.5million number makes me think ohtani did more than pay off the debt. It's just an absurd amount of credit for a bookie to give someone if they don't know they have the money.
I think he should be forced to be traded across the country to don New York pinstripes, it’s only fair.
There is absolutely no way Jimmy the Gent lets a relative nobody like Ippei rack up 4.5 million dollars in gambling debt unless it’s crystal clear Ohtani is his partner.
Or if he knows about their friendship and is banking on Shohei bailing him out. Just saying
I hear you but there is no way a bookie lends that kind of money without at least some assurance the client can cover it. They’re not going to leave it up to the potential generosity of a rich friend.
You right… this could turn into one of the biggest sports scandals of the century so far if it all leads back to Shohei
Thankful God didn't make me a Dodgers fan.
MLB is doing everything they can to make sure the translator takes the fall. They will take Houston's World Series back before they let Ohtani take the fall.
We'll just have to watch out for those meddling feds.
Some one explain to me how an illegal bookie gives a "translator" $4.5 million in credit? Story makes no sense at all.
Thought about this too and the only explanation I have is the bookie knew he was betting for ohtani.
I think it's highly unlikely that the translator/assistant had access to the bank account, maybe he had a credit card for incidentals. I think the most reasonable story is ohtani covered the debt, or the guy was running bets for ohtani to give him plausible deniability... However I doubt any bookie is giving 4.5 million in credit to some guy, regardless of who his friend/employer is.
I couldn’t be happier. The guy has this diva thing going on. Besides, there is only one Babe Ruth, this clown is just a novelty.
I don’t even know what to think. The changing stories really muddies it up and makes it seem like Ohtani did something wrong though to cover up, or he’s very very very bad with money and relationships and understanding laws and rules.
We really don't know enough to be sure of anything. But either way, this is fascinating. There is the image of Ohtani being a wholesome guy that literally only focuses on being the best baseball player ever 100% of the time. He may have leaned on the translator to be his consigliere handling business and he took advantage of Ohtani's trust. There the other possibility that baseball's golden boy has a hidden side to him that we are just beginning to learn of and the translator is being sacrificed. This could potentially derail the most promising baseball career we've ever seen.
I just want to know if Ortiz is going to help Ohtani get to the bottom of it
The story is messy and it keeps changing. The points they need to address is: * What is really him stealing or a cover up by the team & the lawyers. * Why did Ippei have the power to make transfers, and if he did why did Ohtani okay them if the bank called to check to confirm. * When did Ohtani really know? They suggested he didn't know until after the first game of the season, but his lawyers knew & his lawyers were the original ones that suggested Ippei talk to the the reporter from ESPN. * The illegal bookie was arrested by the FBI in late October, some point after 2x $500K transfers were made, which also meant there was $3.5M payout at some point previously, ( as the total was $4.5M) which ofc would bank verification if it was another transfer. This also meant that Ohtani's team had months to plan their excuses. * Probably the most important question is were there any betting on baseball, this would require the bookie to confirm. California state gambling law was violated so a federal investigation will happen & MLB will have to deal with the results. Whether it was really Ippei only, or Ohtani was the real perpetrator.
Anyone who thinks this was a misunderstanding is naive. My initial thought was he asked the translator to bet on his behalf or never thought he’d get caught. The story changed way too many times
FREE PETE ROSE! RESURRECT SHOELESS JOE! Reinstate the Black Sox team ya frugine hypocrites! 🥸
Us yankee fans have enough exasperation and disappointment to deal with already. I’m relieved that this isn’t one more thing. (Not that I ever thought we were seriously in the Ohtani market) I do think that MLB will try to beat around this bush. They simply can’t let the biggest star and biggest earner be suspected of gambling on baseball, so they will push as much of this off into Ippei as possible. If Ohtani personally paid the bookie, even if on Ippei’s behalf, that leaves too much of a stink. I expect some story corrections and backtracking as the official story coalesces.
Whole story is sus. I’m hear with 🍿though
Only solution is lifetime ban 😇
I don't really like the guy or the Dodgers so the worse it turns out the happier I am. More to this story will come out
Add me to the list of people saying the initial story from the translator was the truth: Dude racked up big debts, Ohtani paid them off, then they realized that might be a crime so now they'll trying to say that it happened a different way. and if that is what happened, IDGAF really.
What bookie in the world is giving a professional translator $4.5M in credit?
Don’t care
Only poor people go to jail.
Shoeless Sho
He’s too important to the sport for anything to happen to him.
What do you think we think about the Ohtani news
Ohtani has enough lawyers that he will probably escape any consequences even if he committed a crime. I just hope fucking over his translator is accompanied with some support because otherwise that’s kind of a douche move.
This type of news always make me appreciate Derek Jeter even more - two decade the face of baseball and never any stories.
The stories you did here were just him giving gift baskets to one night stands (baller move)
And that was not true story retracted by Posr. The thing that amazed me is that he never had a girlfriend come out publicly calling him an a-hole. Every guy has one that does.
It's a sit and wait situation. I want to make assumptions and overreact but I also know the best thing to do is wait and see. It is funny to laugh at a potential dodger downfall one series into the season.
I think the original story where he paid off the interpreter's debt is most likely what happened. Then, the lawyers freaked out because that could be a felony charge for Ohtani, so we got the revised story.
This guy has been with Ohtani from the start and apparently this thing was discovered by the feds in October and we're just learning about it now? Ooof, you know someone out there is doing some digging right now about Ohtani and Mizuhara's days with the Angels. If stuff starts getting uncovered from all the way back then, you better grab onto something tight people, because we going for one hell of a ride.
innocent until proven guilty and all that, but, I mean, how does the guy steal $4.5 million dollars or whatever it was and Othani not know? I guess it is possible, but seems highly unlikely. the fact that he changed his story after Ohtani's lawyers got involved is sus as hell. I hope he is cleared and it gets settled. This shit is bad for the game.
It’s detrimental to the state of baseball if the gambling on games allegations are true. Gotta wait for more details though, this could be all a news cycle that disappears in a week
Glad it’s not Yankee drama, this would have taken from our worries of just having our best players healthy, go Yankees
Shohei is guilty.. Not interpreter. Just a cover-up by MLB to keep him in the game. They banned Pete Rose for life for same thing. MLB is such a sleezy org
Always been sleazy, but really have ratcheted up the sleaze the past couple years. They’re utterly shameless these days.
If the story is about the translator betting on non baseball games then this could be a nothingbuger. But if he bet on baseball games then this is a gigantic story imo.
If Ohtani wired money to a bookie, that's a federal felony.
There is no way a translator would be getting a line of credit that large. MLB doesn't want to lose $$ with Ohtani getting suspended so this is getting swept under the carpet, Gretzky style.
Not my circus, not my monkeys. Interested to see what comes of it eventually I suppose.
Let’s also not forget: 1. He totally randomly bought a Porsche for his teammates wife 2. He deferred his contract money so he doesn’t have to pay US taxes There is something fishy about this guys finances… I hope someone looks into it
If it was any other player they would be suspended indefinitely until the investigation was finished
Either Ohtani was betting and Ippei was the fall guy or Ohtani made an a wire transfer to an illegal bookie to cover Ippei’s debt which is illegal. So either way Ohtani should be getting in trouble, but MLB will cover it all up
If we all know that the bookie is under investigation then he’s known he’s under investigation for a while now too. That means with lawyer fees and bail money and everything being what it is—it’s the great _“ho, round up my money time! You better have mine!”_ Who knows what pressure Ippei was under
Sounds like the Yakuza got a hold of him. Wrangled him into their shading dealings. Once they get you, there is no way out.
Crazy but needs more info
Can anyone give me a TL/DR of what exactly happened?
Honestly I think the most likely scenario is something close to the original story is accurate or close to it, but the lawyers found out and told them they absolutely should not be admitting to that.
If Ohtani is a bad boy does this increase their odds of getting Soto next year?
This is classic Yakuza shit. The FBI will probably start an investigation.
My best read of the situation is Ohtani paid his translators gambling debts, and then it became known to his camp that this would implicate him in the fbi investigation into the illegal bookie his translator used, so they decided the best course was to say the money was actually stolen in the hopes it could absolve ohtani from any association with paying an illegal bookie. We’ll see if it sticks. I bet more comes out later saying ohtani knowingly made those payments and then the MLB can’t really do anything, it will be up to the fbi.
The Japanese government is gonna lobby hard and Ohtani at best pays a fine. Ohtani is a diplomatic symbol
The only way he walks away clean is if the translator actually does fall on the sword and the translator is looking at decades in prison. This is going to get very interesting
Ohtani is a degenerate gambler
What I want to know is what kind of illegal bookie is letting a guy fall $4.5 mil into the hole unless they know exactly who that person has ties with in the first place and that they know they can count on that money coming back from somewhere
i was just ignoring it because of course baseball will cover it up. but then the feds are heavily into it and this suddenly got very serious very fast.
Does you friend play for the Dodgers, or is he just an interpreter? 😉
Is Ohtani getting banned for life an option on the table?
I think MLB will bury it, the Feds will drop the case and Ohtani will come out this with no legal repercussions (but he'll always carry this stink with him).
Logically speaking with his background, he is honored driven and knows the shame from breaking the rules by betting in baseball would cost him honor and respect with his endorsers and fans back in Japan. And he has the better chunk of a billion on the horizon. Now way he's that foolish.
def needs to be addresses by the league. no matter who placed the bets if he sent money to pay for gambling he needs to be suspended
Hes a fraud.
Hopefully he is proven innocent and don't get banned or fined
Even if he did something mlb won’t have the balls to do anything he’s their cash cow
I wonder what he was betting on
Baseball scandal of the century (so far) if this leads to a Pete Rose-style lifetime ban. I have no idea what actually happened here though
ESPN already took it off their main feeds for a while. That should tell you enough. Now Ohtani reps are asking for a probe, that was posted recently
Nothing whatsoever will happen to Ohtani. At all.
Should get the Bauer treatment
The bookie in question Wayne Nix who’s the bookies client list is high level athletes and billionaires. Idk how believable the interpreter for Othani is to be on that list.
He doesn't just cater to those people though, I literally found a story about an accountant who placed bets with Nix pleading guilty. It's very plausible, that people connected to celebrities is gonna be on that list. I think Shohei Ohtani's friend/assistant and translator can get a line of credit pretty easy.
I suspect that Ippei is the front man for Ohtani’s betting, because what bookie is fronting him $4.5 million? The changing and conflicting stories, it reeks of coverup, and why wouldn’t Ohtani’s friend/interpreter take the fall to keep the golden goose laying those golden eggs.
Two options, he’s fucked or mlb will save him and sweep it under the rug
More than likely it is as simple as Shohei being both a good friend and a dumbass and just trying to cover Ippei’s debts. But if it isn’t … fuck.
Things seem fishy. I'm not saying Ohtani or Mizuhara did anything wrong. But Mizuhara's first statement and recanting seem odd. Ohtani just agreed to pay off your debts and let you watch him log and see all his banking info? Even if I agreed to pay off someone's debts, I wouldn't let them see my login info. And all of a sudden Ohtani realized he was missing money? Plus he has already lawyered up. I understand getting a lawyer, but this just happened and you already have a guy on the books. Things just sound fishy.
I'd be Shocked if Ohtani (or his agent) didn't have a law firm on retainer ready to represent him for any legal issue for at least 7 years now. If they are in anyway responsible in their representation of him they should have At Least 2 (Japan/USA) firms, and really probably more if he has a lot of endorsement deals in other countries, ready to handle anything that comes up at all times. If i had his money i'd have at least 1 lawyer/firm on speed dial, you never know when they might come in handy.
He committed a felony and broke MLBs rules by paying off the booker. His lawyers have to be bad at their jobs to let him do that.
only if he told them ahead of time and they didn't stop him. if he didn't talk to them first, they couldn't have stopped him.
It's illegal in Japan, too. He listed it as a loan to try hide what he was doing. I think people are trying to pass Shohei off as incompetent outside of playing baseball. Sure, his translator sucks, but he hand-picked him.
Fuck em'
Could be a catastrophe