MLB 2024 Thread

[alias_rice]

1 down, 161 to go. As expected, the Dodgers have the best record in baseball.

[BmillsSkier]

Not since the pandemic have I been so keenly aware of baseball in South Korea.

[alias_rice]

Not since the pandemic have I been so keenly aware of baseball in South Korea.

If I ever become independently wealthy, I’ll spend a year traveling around watching international baseball. Start with the Dominican winter league and end in Japan watching the Koshien tournament.

[BmillsSkier]

If I ever become independently wealthy, I’ll spend a year traveling around watching international baseball. Start with the Dominican winter league and end in Japan watching the Koshien tournament.

That actually sounds awesome.

[stealurface831]

Which begs the question, does Bauer get picked up before the season or does he never put on another big league uniform again? The guy can still pitch apparently, is willing to play for league minimum, and from my cursory knowledge of his situation, was vindicated/exonerated in his sex assault saga. That said, he still seems to be a pretty terrible person and the PR hit is enough to keep many GMs at bay.

bauer is a well documented piece of shit, grade A weirdo (and not in an endearing way), and clubhouse cancer going back to his high school days. if none of that was the case, i think he would absolutely 100% have a job right now. marcel ozuna still has a job. domingo german still has a job. odubel herrera had a job until his play fell off a cliff. reyes had a job until he retired. and urias would have re-signed in light of his dv arrest had he not been veritably awful last year. i think one could argue that what bauer was found to have done was objectively lesser than what any of those guys were suspended/arrested for. difference is, bauer seems to be an insufferable cunt on and off the field.

[dunfree]

So, uh, is Shohei Ohtani gonna make it through the season? Because this wasn’t the gambling scandal I was expecting.
”Dodgers fire Shohei Ohtani's interpreter amid allegation of 'massive theft'
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...er-fired-theft

[alias_rice]

So, uh, is Shohei Ohtani gonna make it through the season? Because this wasn’t the gambling scandal I was expecting.
”Dodgers fire Shohei Ohtani's interpreter amid allegation of 'massive theft'
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...er-fired-theft

I am guessing he will be just fine. Considering he he made $62 million in endorsements last year I find it hard to believe he would be using an illegal bookie. But who knows?

One thing is for sure, though we can expect to see more and more of this as gambling is basically the number one advertiser with every major sport league.

[Woodsy]

1 down, 161 to go. As expected, the Dodgers have the best record in baseball.

Dodgers on pace for a history making year.
Most wins ever recorded by a team to lose in the NLDS...

[dunfree]

I am guessing he will be just fine. Considering he he made $62 million in endorsements last year I find it hard to believe he would be using an illegal bookie. But who knows?

One thing is for sure, though we can expect to see more and more of this as gambling is basically the number one advertiser with every major sport league.

legal gambling options are relatively restricted in Japan, so totally possible happened there or via a bookie there. Can’t imagine anyone wracked up that debt in 4 months, so it raises some eyebrows about the Angels organization.

[stealurface831]

legal gambling options are relatively restricted in Japan, so totally possible happened there or via a bookie there. Can’t imagine anyone wracked up that debt in 4 months, so it raises some eyebrows about the Angels organization.

The bookie has been named and he is from SoCal.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[Woodsy]

From the Athletic:

"Ohtani’s involvement initially was described as aiding Mizuhara, as a spokesman for Ohtani said the player transferred the funds to cover Mizuhara’s gambling debt. Mizuhara reportedly gave his account in a 90-minute interview with ESPN on Tuesday in which he said Ohtani paid off gambling debts totaling roughly $4.5 million and did not give the money to Mizuhara directly because he didn’t trust his interpreter to not “gamble it away.” Before Mizuhara’s interview published, the spokesman disavowed Mizuhara’s account and said Ohtani’s lawyers would issue a statement."

This guy and Ohtani have been super close for years, he is more than just an interpreter for him. He drives him, has a catch with him, films him, etc.

[ex-powderbroker]

pads atop the west and cy young candidate michael king has yet to take the mound this season.

[Bunion 2020]

Prediction time.

Braves win 107 and again get eliminated in R1.

[GiBo]

I am guessing he will be just fine. Considering he he made $62 million in endorsements last year I find it hard to believe he would be using an illegal bookie. But who knows?

Ya, because there's no history of uber competitive athletes with gambling problems.
https://www.gatewayfoundation.org/ad...etes-gambling/

And the interpreter had access to his bank account to steal $4.5m? No one noticed the transfer of $4.5M? Come on man, that's preposterous. I don't care how much you make, that's a lot of money. I think Ohtani made the bets through his is interpreter. Of course, MLB and the Dodgers just want this to go away, but this thing stinks to high heaven. I don't think we've heard the last of this.

[Woodsy]

pads atop the west and cy young candidate michael king has yet to take the mound this season.

Celebrating in March!

Typical for a team with a below .500 record since inception and a total of 16 winning seasons in franchise history & the only MLB team based in California not to have won a World Series and the oldest team in MLB to have yet to win the World Series.

Kind of like how you won the offseason last year.


see you in the fall.

[alias_rice]

Ya, because there's no history of uber competitive athletes with gambling problems.
https://www.gatewayfoundation.org/ad...etes-gambling/

And the interpreter had access to his bank account to steal $4.5m? No one noticed the transfer of $4.5M? Come on man, that's preposterous. I don't care how much you make, that's a lot of money. I think Ohtani made the bets through his is interpreter. Of course, MLB and the Dodgers just want this to go away, but this thing stinks to high heaven. I don't think we've heard the last of this.

First off, MLB doesn't actually stop their players from gambling. It just has to be done through a legal source and can't be on baseball. Knowing this, why would he decide to place illegal bets through his interpreter instead of just placing legal bets on his own? And if he really wanted to hide it, why would he "hide it" by creating 1 degree of separation and then wiring directly to the bookie from his own account? This is one of the most famous athletes in the world and he was able to not just completely keep everyone in the dark throughout his free agency, but also getting married without anyone even knowing he was dating. But I am supposed to believe he was doing illegal betting in this manner? It doesn't make sense.

It also should be noted that the interpreter has been with him for a decade and seemed to have been one of his best friends. I don't think it's that big of a reach that he would have access to some accounts. Athletes get scammed by their "best friends" all the time. Good chance it happened here. I would guess one of two things happened, either Ippei stole the money or he was deep in debt and Shohei helped him out. Either way, not a big deal. If it was the second option, he may get a small slap on the wrist but I doubt it.

In the spirit of the issue though, we should place a friendly wager on whether or not he gets suspended. What do you think?

[Danno]

In the spirit of the issue though, we should place a friendly wager on whether or not he gets suspended. What do you think?

This is the way.

[Timberridge]

Brilliant if he structured his contract this way to only loose 2MM/yr on a suspension.

[CascadeLuke]

First off, MLB doesn't actually stop their players from gambling. It just has to be done through a legal source and can't be on baseball. Knowing this, why would he decide to place illegal bets through his interpreter instead of just placing legal bets on his own? And if he really wanted to hide it, why would he "hide it" by creating 1 degree of separation and then wiring directly to the bookie from his own account? This is one of the most famous athletes in the world and he was able to not just completely keep everyone in the dark throughout his free agency, but also getting married without anyone even knowing he was dating. But I am supposed to believe he was doing illegal betting in this manner? It doesn't make sense.

It also should be noted that the interpreter has been with him for a decade and seemed to have been one of his best friends. I don't think it's that big of a reach that he would have access to some accounts. Athletes get scammed by their "best friends" all the time. Good chance it happened here. I would guess one of two things happened, either Ippei stole the money or he was deep in debt and Shohei helped him out. Either way, not a big deal. If it was the second option, he may get a small slap on the wrist but I doubt it.

In the spirit of the issue though, we should place a friendly wager on whether or not he gets suspended. What do you think?

You make some fair points but how does an interpreter on say $100-150k max salary - rack up 4.5M in gambling debt extended to him? Couldn’t be due to the uber athlete next to him, no?
Also anyone who’s executed a wire for say even $40k recently knows shit is very convoluted to do with all the fraud prevention measures taking place.. let alone 100x that amount.

[Danno]

I've seen reports that the interpreter was paid $300-500k/year. And if that guy has a gambling problem, it's not hard to imagine how the debt would go up. Especially if the bookie knew who he was employed by.

[GiBo]

Where did I say he'd get suspended? I think the MLB and the Dodgers will do everything in their power to make this go away. And they will probably succeed.

And I'm sure you're right. Just a good buddy with access to a multiple million dollar bank account making highly regulated and tracked wire transfers. Totally common. Nothing to see here.

And the "he's so smart that he was able to hide his marriage so why would he be so dumb to do this" defense is exactly why he would do it. He thinks he's smart. But at the end of the day, he's just a baseball player.

[CascadeLuke]

Yah. Sneaky guy with history of hiding key facts about his life - not likely to hide large gambling issue. 🤣
Everyone thought young Tiger Woods was squeaky clean once too. I lean there’s more to the story here.

[mcski]

Pete Rose and Tim Donaghy have entered the chat. They will be hosting a podcast w Shohei next offseason

[BmillsSkier]

I feel like we need to flag this thread now

RECKLESS SPECULATION

[alias_rice]

Yah. Sneaky guy with history of hiding key facts about his life - not likely to hide large gambling issue. 藍
Everyone thought young Tiger Woods was squeaky clean once too. I lean there’s more to the story here.

I am putting my money on the "He was bailing out his friend" route being that actual truth. Still not great optics, but he will probably be fine. I would still be shocked to find out that Shohei was gambling. As long as I get to watch 162 games of Shohei though, I am good. What helps is that based on what I know about Japanese culture, they very highly value loyalty. So if Ippei needs to take the fall for his good friend and a hero to his country, I am hopeful he will do it.

Off topic, but I worked in the call center at Directv back in 2000, and basically on day 1 you would get told to check out Tiger's pay per view purchases. The dude had a wild porn addiction. He would rent multiple hard core porn movies every single day. No one who worked there was surprised to find out he was banging his way across America.