Is the Ohtani Story Over? Don't Bet on It.

Onions have layers

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Well, that was tidy. Almost the instant that Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud on Tuesday in Southern California, Major League Baseball pronounced Ohtani completely cleared in the gambling scandal that roiled the sport only months earlier. Case closed.

Interesting timing: On the same morning, MLB announced the suspensions of five players for violating its rules on gambling, including a lifetime ban for one former Major Leaguer whose bets included a few dozen on his own team. (He was injured at the time.)

At any rate, the lords of baseball couldn’t slam shut the book fast enough.