Ohtani's Interpreter Accused of Theft, Fired.

[RZNJ]

15 hours ago, MDK02 said:

Anyone else think this sounds like a cover up for Ohtani being the one who was actually betting on games? Seems pretty suspicious. 

Crossed my mind for sure.  I don't gamble but pretty sure your average gambler isn't given 4.5M in leeway before collecting.    I definitely think there is more to the story than the version Ohtani's representatives are putting out.   

[oriole]

If Ohtani paid off his interpreters debts, then why should anyone care? A cover up looks worse than the act of helping out someone who seems to be a friend of his. Who knows what the actual story is, but this is gonna be a super distracting story for Ohtani in his first year in his mega contract. 

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, oriole said:

If Ohtani paid off his interpreters debts, then why should anyone care? A cover up looks worse than the act of helping out someone who seems to be a friend of his. Who knows what the actual story is, but this is gonna be a super distracting story for Ohtani in his first year in his mega contract. 

Because it's a crime.

 

[Can_of_corn]

7 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Crossed my mind for sure.  I don't gamble but pretty sure your average gambler isn't given 4.5M in leeway before collecting.    I definitely think there is more to the story than the version Ohtani's representatives are putting out.   

I don't think your average gambler is BFF with Ohtani.  That probably bought him a lot of leeway.

 

Mind you I'm sure there is more to come.

Edited March 21 by Can_of_corn

[RZNJ]

3 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I don't think your average gambler is BFF with Ohtani.  That probably bought him a lot of leeway.

 

Mind you I'm sure there is more to come.

It's that easy?  I work for Shohei.   Give me a 4.5M line of credit.    I find it hard to believe.

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

It's that easy?  I work for Shohei.   Give me a 4.5M line of credit.    I find it hard to believe.

Wow even by your standards this is stretch to try and find a reason to argue with me.

The two are known to be very close, well beyond the usual employer/employee relationship.

 

And no, I'm not accepting any of these stories as being the absolute truth.

[interloper]

I have to imagine eventually Ohtani is going to get popped for this. He's kind of screwed. 

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, interloper said:

I have to imagine eventually Ohtani is going to get popped for this. He's kind of screwed. 

I don't think MLB wants to make a big scene about it since they get so much money from sports betting.

If it ends up just being a wire transfer for his friend I think the punishment is going to fall well short of "screwed".  I'm guessing he'll plead out on the crime and end up with a fine and MLB will give him a short suspension.

If he ends up actually being tied to gambling, yea, that will be a huge blow for MLB and if they have any sense (past history shows they don't) they will cover it up.

[interloper]

6 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I don't think MLB wants to make a big scene about it since they get so much money from sports betting.

If it ends up just being a wire transfer for his friend I think the punishment is going to fall well short of "screwed".  I'm guessing he'll plead out on the crime and end up with a fine and MLB will give him a short suspension.

If he ends up actually being tied to gambling, yea, that will be a huge blow for MLB and if they have any sense (past history shows they don't) they will cover it up.

Yeah, I was also thinking fine and suspension. Screwed may have been hyperbole by me, but honestly think of how much he will lose in endorsements, especially from Japan. They view him as a perfect human, so... he stands to lose a lot in legacy and cash. 

MLB will 1000% do its best to sweep this under the rug. 

[Can_of_corn]

3 minutes ago, interloper said:

Yeah, I was also thinking fine and suspension. Screwed may have been hyperbole by me, but honestly think of how much he will lose in endorsements, especially from Japan. They view him as a perfect human, so... he stands to lose a lot in legacy and cash. 

MLB will 1000% do its best to sweep this under the rug. 

I don't understand the Japanese market enough to speak with competence but if this can be spun as him naively helping out a friend I can see him coming out even more popular.

[interloper]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

I don't understand the Japanese market enough to speak with competence but if this can be spun as him naively helping out a friend I can see him coming out even more popular.

Maybe if he doesn't actually get suspended. But if MLB hands down a punishment, he will have to come out and apologize and take some blame, because that's what would be expected culturally, IMO, though of course I'm speculating about this as a white American dude, so perhaps I'm way off base. But if that's the case, I think that could hurt him in the endorsements realm. 

[justD]

2 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

The real question is, with all the money that all the major sports are getting from gambling, how long can this relationship go on before it crashes in a spectacular fashion?

Michael always felt this way.  Only a matter of time. 

[interloper]

[RZNJ]

30 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Wow even by your standards this is stretch to try and find a reason to argue with me.

The two are known to be very close, well beyond the usual employer/employee relationship.

 

And no, I'm not accepting any of these stories as being the absolute truth.

Can I say anything at all without your drama queen routine?

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

33 minutes ago, interloper said:

I have to imagine eventually Ohtani is going to get popped for this. He's kind of screwed. 

I think MLB is more interested in covering this up and getting this story out of the news cycle. The problem will be is if independent journalists get access to information linking Ohtani to gambling on baseball then MLB's hand is going to be forced.

If no new information on this leaks MLB is going to look the other way and say "no comment" when pressed on any investigation into Ohtani.