Elias under investigation for "Fraud" (Update: MLB denies)

[Tony-OH]

https://www.bleachernation.com/cubs/2020/10/24/orioles-gm-mike-elias-reportedly-under-investigation-for-pension-fraud/

Moderator note: We would like to apologize. The entire other thread was mistakenly deleted. 

[scOtt]

Don't know, just read this tonight. Been downy Lake Anna all weekend. Out of the loop.

Roch says MLB denied the whole story. Exonerated? National Enquirer stuff?

More news to come?

[scOtt]

38 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

https://www.bleachernation.com/cubs/2020/10/24/orioles-gm-mike-elias-reportedly-under-investigation-for-pension-fraud/

 

Quote

“Assuming this is found to be fact,” the lawyer said, “we’re talking about people being engaged in pension fraud here, something that affects not just the coaches who potentially got screwed but all the baseball retirees. There is certainly going to have to be retribution and, I would think, significant discipline.”

Well that's a BIG assumption, ain't it? But the NYDN goes ahead and prints it anyways!

[HowAboutThat]

Major league baseball already made an announcement, very Clearly saying that the Orioles didn’t do anything wrong. Why are we still talking about this?

[Frobby]

Why even reopen this topic, if the other thread was mistakenly deleted?    The original article was thoroughly discredited. 

[HowAboutThat]

I see no reason to read this article but I did notice that they chose a particularly spooky photo of Elias to use in the article.

nothing like unbiased journalism.

[Tony-OH]

4 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Why even reopen this topic, if the other thread was mistakenly deleted?    The original article was thoroughly discredited. 

I didn't see the rest of the thread. There is no ill intent here. I just saw it was missing and started it back up. If someone can post the part about it being discredited, great. We can have it "on record" here.

[Frobby]

Just now, Tony-OH said:

I didn't see the rest of the thread. There is no ill intent here. I just saw it was missing and started it back up. If someone can post the part about it being discredited, great. We can have it "on record" here.

I didn’t mean to suggest any ill intent.   Here you go:
“Major League Baseball is completely comfortable with the Orioles’ coaching designations for the 2020 season, which are not only consistent with the terms of the pension plan but were approved in advance by MLB and shared prior to the start of the season with representatives from the Major League Baseball Players Association. The suggestion that there is an ongoing investigation that could result in discipline is simply false.”

https://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2020/10/report-elias-and-holt-linked-to-potential-pension-fraud.html

[Tony-OH]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

I didn’t mean to suggest any ill intent.   Here you go:
“Major League Baseball is completely comfortable with the Orioles’ coaching designations for the 2020 season, which are not only consistent with the terms of the pension plan but were approved in advance by MLB and shared prior to the start of the season with representatives from the Major League Baseball Players Association. The suggestion that there is an ongoing investigation that could result in discipline is simply false.”

https://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2020/10/report-elias-and-holt-linked-to-potential-pension-fraud.html

Thanks. Makes sense to me. That's why I was skeptical on the first report.

[Frobby]

3 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Thanks. Makes sense to me. That's why I was skeptical on the first report.

I’d love to know what that reporter was basing his story on.   

[Tony-OH]

16 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I’d love to know what that reporter was basing his story on.   

Journalism is a lost art nowadays in this day and age of blogging and tweeting.

[Obando]

I’m guessing that a claim was probably filed against Elias and the Orioles for pension fraud (possibly by the agent of a coach on the staff that didn’t get the pension benefits), but since MLB approved Holt before the season as one of the 4 coaches designated to receive pension benefits, that’s why this is a non-story.  The quote from the MLB spokesperson said Holt received prior approval from the league and shared it with the MLBPA, so the only possible explanation is that the MLBPA is challenging Holt’s approval since he wasn’t a full-time uniformed coach this year, and that is likely what this botched article by Bill Madden is attempting to convey.  Even if a charge of pension fraud was filed by the MLBPA, or the agent of a coach separate from the MLBPA, it sounds like it’s dead in the water because MLB released a statement saying Holt was approved and there is no ongoing investigation that could result in discipline for Elias/Orioles.  
 

Simply put, Bill Madden did a piss poor job of reporting this accurately, and tried to connect it with the Astros, which is why the article lead with “Ex-Astros” and “fraud” to get readers to click on it.  In reality, all Madden had to do is verify the story with MLB, like our local beat writers did, and he would have been told that this is a non-issue because Holt received prior authorization from the league to receive pension benefits, meaning this was not some covert, fraudulent attempt by Elias to get Holt on the pension plan without going through the proper approval process.  That’s why most of us thought from the very start that this story didn’t pass the smell test, and now we know we were proven correct in that assessment.

[Tony-OH]

30 minutes ago, Obando said:

I’m guessing that a claim was probably filed against Elias and the Orioles for pension fraud (possibly by the agent of a coach on the staff that didn’t get the pension benefits), but since MLB approved Holt before the season as one of the 4 coaches designated to receive pension benefits, that’s why this is a non-story.  The quote from the MLB spokesperson said Holt received prior approval from the league and shared it with the MLBPA, so the only possible explanation is that the MLBPA is challenging Holt’s approval since he wasn’t a full-time uniformed coach this year, and that is likely what this botched article by Bill Madden is attempting to convey.  Even if a charge of pension fraud was filed by the MLBPA, or the agent of a coach separate from the MLBPA, it sounds like it’s dead in the water because MLB released a statement saying Holt was approved and there is no ongoing investigation that could result in discipline for Elias/Orioles.  
 

Simply put, Bill Madden did a piss poor job of reporting this accurately, and tried to connect it with the Astros, which is why the article lead with “Ex-Astros” and “fraud” to get readers to click on it.  In reality, all Madden had to do is verify the story with MLB, like our local beat writers did, and he would have been told that this is a non-issue because Holt received prior authorization from the league to receive pension benefits, meaning this was not some covert, fraudulent attempt by Elias to get Holt on the pension plan without going through the proper approval process.  That’s why most of us thought from the very start that this story didn’t pass the smell test, and now we know we were proven correct in that assessment.

That fact that he pointed out Anthony Sanders and his race as being the one screwed also made me question it.

[scOtt]

10 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

That fact that he pointed out Anthony Sanders and his race as being the one screwed also made me question it.

There are many Yellow Journalistic twists here. Takes a vague suspicion, supposedly from "a lawyer" and spins it in every negative way he can possibly think of. 

Moderator: Edited to remove political spin

[jerios55]

Well, I saw the first link/thread and didn't see the update until this thread, so I am glad the update was posted.