nothing, Nothing

I’d sell it. 

I just can’t revel in this the way others seem to. I remember when it came out 20 years ago that the Angels were among the final four options for MLB to contract, just eliminate, because reasons. As part of the plan, the A’s would have then been relocated to Anaheim. I was still living in LA at the time, and I was stunned that that could have happened, and the Angels would never have had the chance to win a World Series. The A’s fans have been jerked around for decades by people who can afford to write a check for a new stadium, but want our tax money for it instead. The billionaires want us to pay for their sandboxes as well as tickets to enter those sandboxes we paid to construct. It’s disgusting. The city and Fisher were $97M apart in getting the Howard Terminal stadium built 10 years ago, $97M on a 30-year lease. That’s less than the cost of a journeyman MIF per year. And Fisher said no because he wants a sweetheart deal where the public will pay for it through legislation. He knows, as more and more owners are finding out, that voters won’t approve this stuff. In fact, voters in Jackson County just rejected a sales tax extension to pay for the Royals and Chiefs stadium projects. And now the Cheifs are talking about possible relocation, because of course… No, I can’t revel in this. It almost happened to my favorite team already, and it definitely can at a later date.

Tough play at the plate. It was worth the risk given the lack of offense. 

Adell is possibly the future. Hicks is a warm body and should be treated as depth.

It only took 4 games for the Royals fans to realize how bad Renfroe is:
 

He has a ton of family at the game and I believe a portion of them went to Baltimore as well.
Might be over amped/trying to do too much.

Cannot get over just how bad the new uniforms look around MLB. The names on the back look so bad

I cant even read the names on the backs of the new jerseys... is there anything that isnt getting worse?

Computerized balls and strikes asap please...

Right. This is exactly the problem. They are taking a 72 win team with 82 win upside and running out a 65 win lineup with 70 win upside.

Because it doesn't develop players you need to have for the next 5 years in Moniak and Adell, while Sano struggles to pick up another bench job next season. The same can be said for Hicks. He is another borderline veteran bench guy given playing time over younger guys, with a higher ceiling, that need to be on the field.
Washington is playing too safe thinking this year is about winning a wildcard over creating the finished 2025 roster. They have a very slim chance of a wildcard slot this season and none next year if Moniak and Adell don't get their skills honed this year. 

If we are in a transition year, why in hell are we playing Sano over Adell.

Excerpt:
“He was stealing money from my bank account…he was lying to everyone,” Ohtani said in Japanese, later adding, “I of course have never had anything to do with sports betting and I absolutely have never sent money to a bookmaker. Honestly, I don’t think shock is the right word. I’ve spent the last week in something beyond that, which I can’t express in words. It’s hard to put that into words right now.”
I can put it into several words.
I am queasy with the notion that Mizuhara could mastermind a heist of at least $4.5 million without Ohtani or his accountants or his bankers or somebody noticing the money was missing.
I am skeptical at the idea that any bookie would extend $4.5 million in credit to an ordinary gambler, and then collect that money without confirming its source to ensure that the money was not being stolen.
Above all, I am incredulous at the notion Mizuhara could give a completely plausible Ohtani-approved explanation of the payments in one interview, then, seemingly hours later, be called a liar and accused of theft by the same Ohtani representatives.
It doesn’t add up. Furthermore, it’s amazing that Ohtani’s crisis management teams — some of the same people who represented the likes of Harvey Weinstein and Danny Masterson — would not have realized it doesn’t add up.
By the way, why does Ohtani still employ agent Nez Balelo? If Ohtani truly felt he had been robbed by his interpreter and was truly unaware of the missing money, he should have already fired the guy who is paid to protect him, no? Hmmm.
Somebody is lying somewhere. Somebody is hiding something. I don’t know who is doing what, and I’m surely not alone."

Yup no name yet but it sounds like Ohtani straight up hired a fixer, or sorry a ''crisis management spokesman''. And like everyone else in the timeline he never talked to Ohtani to get his side or iron out the next moves. Kind of strange since it was this fixer person who set up the large Dodgers in house meeting where Ohtani was attending as well. Guy supposedly never talked to Ohtani to tell him what was actually going to be said at the meeting (lol). Quite possibly the worst fixer in the history of fixers. But with the media on their side and Ippei probably getting paid under the table to take full responsibility and more than likely Ohtani not wanting to press charges for the theft it will all just go away. Or well at least until the Bowers guy is facing a long prison sentence and he wants to tell his side of all of this.     

Yup no name yet but it sounds like Ohtani straight up hired a fixer, or sorry a ''crisis management spokesman''. And like everyone else in the timeline he never talked to Ohtani to get his side or iron out the next moves. Kind of strange since it was this fixer person who set up the large Dodgers in house meeting where Ohtani was attending as well. Guy supposedly never talked to Ohtani to tell him what was actually going to be said at the meeting (lol). Quite possibly the worst fixer in the history of fixers. But with the media on their side and Ippei probably getting paid under the table to take full responsibility and more than likely Ohtani not wanting to press charges for the theft it will all just go away. Or well at least until the Bowers guy is facing a long prison sentence and he wants to tell his side of all of this.     

I'm not buying for an instant that Ippei took $4.5M out of Shohei's bank account without him knowing. In order for that to happen:
1. Ohtani would have had to set up his account so that Ippei was an authorized user, which makes no sense.
2. Alternately, Ippei would have had to somehow get the password for Ohtani's online account. Even presuming that this happened, most banks will alert the account holder through text and/or email of any large transactions involving his or her account. I also can't buy that Ippei took out $500K nine or ten times without Ohtani's knowledge. Possibly after the first transfer and definitely after the second one, the bank would have directly called Ohtani and said hey, we have noticed very large transactions on your account. Were they yours?
Knowing how banks work, those funds would not have been released without direct approval from Ohtani.

also sorry but no way in hell is the dodgers top brass showing up in front of the full dodgers team and tell them ippie first story without speaking to ohatni and or his pr team first to make sure that is what ohtani wanted the dodgers players to know. by going this i didn't know route that means the dodgers brass took ippie story and then called a team meeting to explain everything without even talking to ohatni and confirming the story lol 

Ohtani and his mother anytime they logged in to check Ohtani bank balance and or activity. 

The Dodger media people and lawyers must have had some heavy strategy sessions on the weekend to finalize the narrative. They seem to be borrowing strategy from Saul Alinsky's 'Rules for Radicals.'  Specifically this rule. 
"Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it."
Ippei really is an easy target. Marginalized,without the financial resources to defend himself fully. Admittedly breaking some laws. And easily demonized particularly by those invested in the Dodgers and MLB. 
Which in itself doesn't absolve him pending more factual information. But this simple polarization of a 100% good guy victimized by a 100% bad guy seems overly simplistic and intentionally meant to stop further speculation. 

Full interview on MLB network with no interpreter but had no idea what ippei was telling the team in the clubhouse 😂😂

I like how he was writing down "notes" when Ohtani was speaking, as if he didn't have a copy of the script himself

We know how intense Ohtani is about baseball. And how deep he goes with training and conditioning. And his fixation about being the best there is. And seeking championships. Totally committed and proactive about his career.
Yet they now paint him as a naive, trusting  innocent kid who had no knowledge at all about how his finances were being accessed? 
Seems the narrative was tweaked and  reconstructed over the weekend to be an all out full force attack on Ippei. No gray areas or even a tiny hint of awareness. Even though Ippei apparently was gambling long term and was a confidante of Ohtani for years. And therefore kept his gambling issues hermetically sealed from Ohtani. While still finding a devious way to siphon millions from him.
This PR campaign comes straight out of political textbooks. 
Ohtani may indeed be a victim in one way or another. But how the Dodgers and the media are framing this tends to arouse more questions than answers. 

Ohtani and his mother anytime they logged in to check Ohtani bank balance and or activity. 

also sorry but no way in hell is the dodgers top brass showing up in front of the full dodgers team and tell them ippie first story without speaking to ohatni and or his pr team first to make sure that is what ohtani wanted the dodgers players to know. by going this i didn't know route that means the dodgers brass took ippie story and then called a team meeting to explain everything without even talking to ohatni and confirming the story lol 

Lol at Dan O'Dowd on MLB Network going on and on about what a "marvelous" statement this was, how Othani looked "angry," etc.  Not sure what we was watching.