The Week That Was: Nov 25 – Dec 1

Let’s look at some drama with Shohei Ohtani, and the Rays.

Welcome to December everyone! Last week was a lighter week with Thanksgiving, so a lot of sites were taking time off reporting for a few days, but we’ve still got a few items to catch up on, so we’ll touch on all the highlights.

Ohtani Demands Return of Cards

Shohei Ohtani hasn’t spoken out much about the situation with his former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, but that doesn’t mean he’s not still dealing with that situation actively. Ohtani has filed suit to regain certain baseball cards. there is a collection valued over $300K for cards that Mizuhara acquired with money fraudulently taken from Ohtani. There are also collectible cards that feature Ohtani that were not meant to be in Mizuhara’s possession that Ohtani is suing to get back.

This ongoing saga can’t be fun for the All-Star, but at least he got over $400,000 as a bonus pool for winning the World Series .

• A link to break down the basics of what Ohtani is asking for .

Rays State Their Case

Mid-last week the Pinellas County Court Commission sent a letter to the Rays demanding the team make their intentions clear whether they plan to proceed with their new stadium build or not. The team was given an ultimatum to reply by Sunday with their intentions.

The county claims in its letter that they were not late in any deliverables as the Rays had suggested, and that the team had failed to meet their prerequisites in order to receive the county bond funds. The goal for the 1st was to receive either a formal Notice of Termination or an official statement the Rays planned to move forward with the new build.

The Rays responded with a letter that said the deal is still “in effect” but the rest was just kind of reiterating old points. (There’s an in-depth review of the letter linked below). So, it’s safe to say this isn’t the last of the drama we’ll be seeing about this over the winter.

• The Rays had until yesterday to state their intentions to commit to their new stadium deal .
• Our sister site DRaysBay explains the Rays response to the county . They also explain the county’s stance .

Hot Stove Updates

• Nolan Arenado might be on the radar for several teams as a trade target. And yes, that does include the Tigers.
• Tommy Edman has agreed to a five-year extension with the Dodgers for $74 million .
• Keith Law explains why the Blake Snell deal is good for both Snell and the Dodgers . ($)

General Roundup

• Some of Derek Jeter’s greatest moments were commemorated at Art Miami .
• Brandon Crawford has announced his retirement .
• Jared Porter has admitted to sending inappropriate texts during his time with the Cubs .

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