The Braves’ Opening Day is scheduled for next week in Philadelphia, the same city where Atlanta’s season has ended due of division rivalry the previous two years.
But that’s not the topic of conversation among Braves Country residents. Ronald Acuna Jr. defending his MVP award, Spencer Strider’s pursuit for domination, or the team’s enormous expectations aren’t the main plot points. Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers are the talk of the Major League Baseball community.
Controversy envelops the face of baseball, and perhaps the biggest brand in the sport. If you haven’t been paying attention, this is probably a horrible rundown of what has happened.
– Ohtani’s agent is quoted by ESPN as saying that Ohtani paid a bookmaker $4.5 million personally on behalf of his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, who was let off earlier in the week.
– Ohtani’s spokesperson brings Ippei to ESPN so he can make a statement. Ippei claims that Ohtani settled his debt and never gambled.
– After Ippei gives his 90-minute statement to ESPN, an Ohtani representative claims that Ippei is lying.
– Ohtani’s attorneys accuse Ippei of “massive theft.”
– Ippei continues by saying that Ohtani was unaware of either his debt or his overall gambling habit.
Here’s ESPN’s more thorough explanation of what happened.
Many thought the Phillies would be the Braves’ biggest challenge in climbing to the top of the mountain at the start of the offseason, as they prepared for another shot at a World Series.
The Dodgers then raced to the top of the National League when their adversary on the west coast acquired Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani for a GDP equivalent to a small nation. To put it mildly, the Japanese superstar’s career gets off to a rough start.
It’s an absolute mess that Rob Manfred wants to be cleared up as soon as possible, ideally without punishing Ohtani in any way because he isn’t involved at all. However, it might not be the case.
The worst case scenario for the Dodgers would be a suspension for Ohtani, which would mean losing their finest player for a long while—possibly forever. In the best-case scenario, Ohtani would be found not guilty, but the team would still be mired in scandal and distracted from the upcoming season.
Of course, everyone wants Atlanta to win the World Series again, and right now, Los Angeles is a huge roadblock. Having stated that, Ohtani should be a part of the baseball team for everyone. That’s the better method. Even so, it’s hard to avoid making predictions about the opposition Braves team.
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