On the same day Major League Baseball banned a player for life for betting on baseball, the league formally cleared its biggest star from any involvement in 
Within an hour of Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara pleading guilty to bank and tax fraud charges Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, the league issued a statement absolving Ohtani.
“Based on the thoroughness of the federal investigation that was made public, the information MLB collected, and the criminal proceeding being resolved without being contested, MLB considers Shohei Ohtani a victim of fraud,” the statement read, “and this matter has been closed.”
Four other players — including Oakland Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly and Arizona Diamondbacks minor leaguer Andrew Saalfrank, who pitched in the World Series last year — were suspended for one year, for betting on baseball games in which their teams did not play.
The lifetime suspension for betting on baseball is the first since 1989, when Pete Rose agreed to such a ban while managing the Cincinnati Reds, and the first time since Major League Baseball opened its wallets to an onslaught of advertisements from and partnerships with sports betting outlets.
On Monday, Bloomberg reported that the Bally Sports channels — home to 12 MLB teams, including the Angels — soon could be renamed by FanDuel, which calls itself “the undisputed leader in American online sports betting and daily fantasy sports.”
The league said it was tipped off by “a legal sports betting operator” in March and corroborated the players’ betting with other sports books.
The league also said none of the five players appeared in any games on which they had bet and said no evidence, including betting data and interviews with players, indicates games were “compromised, influenced, or manipulated in any way.”
Leave a Reply