Cause I'm the fireman, fire fuhhhh fire fireman!!

Love that song!

The Mets have signed J.D. Martinez to a one-year deal worth $12 million, a league source confirmed to The Athletic. https://t.co/ZQVTr06diP

— Will Sammon (@WillSammon) March 22, 2024

Not yet....

Shohei Ohtani is not currently facing any discipline or believed to be under investigation by the league for the Ippei Mizuhara gambling situation, per @FabianArdaya pic.twitter.com/pHAbLIRJAQ

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 21, 2024

I personally think Ohtani just covered the guys debt. I know a lot of people want him to be guilty because he's a Dodger but I'd have to see some hard evidence that he was the one gambling first

07ag said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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tjack16 said:

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I personally think Ohtani just covered the guys debt. I know a lot of people want him to be guilty because he's a Dodger but I'd have to see some hard evidence that he was the one gambling first

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Gun to my head, I think this is the most likely story.

But we have 2 major issues
1. Ohtani paid the bookie directly from his account. Does he have proof it wasn't him?
2. If he just paid off a friends debt, he's now lying about it and calling his friend a thief.

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on 2, i think the story changed because they realized wiring an illegal bookie is a federal crime.

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The rangers have all you can eat tickets and they're only like $15-$20 more than comparable seats.

My understanding is the story changed to theft. If that is true charges will be filed and interpreter will be arrested.
Since we all know that won't happen it is not theft.
Video of the two of them laughing in dugout the day before it breaks. That was after he "paid" the debt.
If he paid the bookie directly, he is in on it.
This all occurred while at the Angels. This might explain their lack of effort signing him.

3B Paul 97 said:

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tjack16 said:

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I personally think Ohtani just covered the guys debt. I know a lot of people want him to be guilty because he's a Dodger but I'd have to see some hard evidence that he was the one gambling first

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Nah. Folks have evidence that Altuve was not a participant with the trash cans and he is still seen as a villain. Let it burn.

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Baseball could have stepped in and helped by acknowledging that themselves but they did not. It was a big story and I am betting it was a draw to some to buy tickets to a game when the Astros were in town just to heckle them.

That will not happen with Ohtani, he is a golden boy and will be protected through out this whole thing with his image and baseball. Can't have a generational talent like him suspended or tarnished. Especially after the Dodgers just spent that much money on him.

I think the MLB waits until next offseason to investigate this, or at least to publicly announce they are, because they want Ohtani's first season as a Doyer to be as distraction free as possible.

EastCoastAgNc said:

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07ag said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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tjack16 said:

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I personally think Ohtani just covered the guys debt. I know a lot of people want him to be guilty because he's a Dodger but I'd have to see some hard evidence that he was the one gambling first

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Gun to my head, I think this is the most likely story.

But we have 2 major issues
1. Ohtani paid the bookie directly from his account. Does he have proof it wasn't him?
2. If he just paid off a friends debt, he's now lying about it and calling his friend a thief.

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on 2, i think the story changed because they realized wiring an illegal bookie is a federal crime.

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ain't nobody got time to watch all that,, what's the bottom line?

All I do is Nguyen said:

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I think the MLB waits until next offseason to investigate this, or at least to publicly announce they are, because they want Ohtani's first season as a Doyer to be as distraction free as possible.

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I don't think they are going to be able to dictate the narrative now that the feds are involved

All I do is Nguyen said:

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I think the MLB waits until next offseason to investigate this, or at least to publicly announce they are, because they want Ohtani's first season as a Doyer to be as distraction free as possible.

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Unless the feds investigate and possibly revoke his green card.

I forgot the Sporcle quiz yesterday for the most unlikely reason of all time, I was too focused on work!

Today's a fun one, Astros who have received MVP votes from 1990-2023. The link says 2012, but they updated it.

https://www.sporcle.com/games/dabbas/astros-players-who-have-received-mvp-votes-1990-2012

I got 71/77. Amazingly missed one from 2022 and one from the late 90s that made me feel dumb.
1992 is a real pull, so kudos if you get it. It's a bit confusing because some the percentages say 0%, but that just means they got 1 or 2 votes, so not quite 1%.

Also retuning our Astros' wasteland theme, zero MVP votes for anyone on the team from 2010-2014.

This was in my wheelhouse

76/77

I missed 1992 Doug Jones

Column 1 - 10 years
Column 2 - 15 years
Column 3 - 8 years

I think we know when the golden age took place.

DrZ said:

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This all occurred while at the Angels. This might explain their lack of effort signing him.

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The Angels were never going to resign him regardless of this issue. He was always going to be a Dodger.

It was the worst kept secret in sports.

Ag_07 said:

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MLB rules aside...

Even if he's just covering debts does him directly paying a bookie violate federal law?

If the feds are after this bookie can they also come after him?

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For starters, how is this huge transfer being accounted? Is it compensation that the interpreter is now paying tax on? It can't be a gift. It's not debt or equity. It may not be illegal but it's still problematic in some form. The most convenient thing for everyone except for the interpreter is "theft" so that's how it's going to go down most likely. Shohei will probably not press civil charges or cooperate with criminal charges and it will get worked out quietly somehow.

Why can't it be a gift?

Project Gemini said:

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Ag_07 said:

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MLB rules aside...

Even if he's just covering debts does him directly paying a bookie violate federal law?

If the feds are after this bookie can they also come after him?

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For starters, how is this huge transfer being accounted? Is it compensation that the interpreter is now paying tax on? It can't be a gift. It's not debt or equity. It may not be illegal but it's still problematic in some form. The most convenient thing for everyone except for the interpreter is "theft" so that's how it's going to go down most likely. Shohei will probably not press civil charges or cooperate with criminal charges and it will get worked out quietly somehow.

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Except it is illegal because the bookie "they" were using was an illegal bookmaker (Bowyer). AND sports betting is still illegal in California (as it is in Texas)

Farmer1906 said:

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If you gift anything over 18k in a year then you have to pay taxes on it.

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And?

I don't think money is an issue here.


Also, don't you also not owe the tax until after you have exceeded the lifetime limit?

BMX Bandit said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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If you gift anything over 18k in a year then you have to pay taxes on it.

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And?

I don't think money is an issue here.

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Yeah that's why I said problematic. It's going to cost 40% more if it's a taxable transaction.

See my edit,

Don't you not owe the tax until you have exceeded the lifetime gift limit?

BMX Bandit said:

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See my edit,

Don't you not owe the tax until you have exceeded the lifetime gift limit?

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Correct. That limit is currently around $12 million or so.