Cup of Coffee: June 5, 2024

Hi everyone.

it became fairly clear early yesterday that a number of you did not receive the newsletter. Unlike past instances in which this has happened, this does not seem to be a sending issue as, per the site metrics, Beehiiv mailed out the newsletter to the exact number of subscribers I have on record. When I checked the accounts of everyone who notified me of a non-delivery, however, I was able to see that the newsletter was bounced by their email servers. There was no pattern I could discern for the bouncing. The newsletter was not only bounced by one email provider. Multiple email providers bounced it.

I do not know why this happened. All I can think is that because yesterday’s newsletter contained a whole lot more photos than usual that something looked odd about it to many servers and they rejected it for that reason. I have notified Beehiiv of the problem, but I don’t yet have an answer. My hope is that today things get delivered as normal but, as I will be flying back home to Ohio this AM, I will not be able to monitor things as they’re happening.

I am very sorry about these sorts of hiccups, the sort of which seem to be happening with increasing frequency and affecting more and more subscribers each time they occur. To say I am displeased about it is an understatement, but please know that I am committed to figuring out what has been going wrong. And if I cannot do so, figuring out where to go next, because in such a case it will be clear that Beehiiv is inadequate to what should be the straightforward task at hand.

With that out of the way . . .

As mentioned, I am traveling back to Ohio this morning, so today we have one more not-as-intense as usual newsletter before things return to normal tomorrow.

Settling the Scores

The Yankees won their sixth in a row, the Mariners and Diamondbacks won their fourth in a row, the White Sox lost their 12th in a row, the Giants lost their sixth in a row, and everyone else is on some other journey in between. Individually speaking:

• Frankie Montas of the Reds had himself a game last night, tossing seven innings of one-hit ball in Cincinnati’s win over the Rockies;
• Luis Gil was only one inning off of that pace, tossing six innings of one-hit ball for the Yankees;
• Bobby Witt Jr. hit two homers and drove in four in a losing cause for the Royals; and
• Ryan Mountcastle of the Orioles and Brandon Lowe of Tampa Bay each knocked in five runs.

As far as the scores go:

Guardians 8, Royals 5
Pirates 1, Dodgers 0
Phillies 2, Brewers 1
Rays 9, Marlins 5
Mets 6, Nationals 3
Yankees 5, Twins 1
Orioles 10, Blue Jays 1
Atlanta 8, Red Sox 3
Cubs 7, White Sox 6
Tigers 3, Rangers 1
Astros 8, Cardinals 5
Reds 4, Rockies 1
Angels 4, Padres 2
Mariners 4, Athletics 3
Diamondbacks 8, Giants 5

The Daily Briefing

Tucupita Marcano gets permanent ban for gambling

Major League Baseball announced yesterday that San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano has been permanently banned after violating the league's gambling policy. A league investigation found that Marcano placed nearly 400 bets on baseball games — 400! — including major league and international contests, including games involving the Pittsburgh Pirates, by whom he was employed at the time. 

Four other players received one-year bans yesterday: Oakland Athletics reliever Michael Kelly and minor-league players Jay Groome of the Padres, José Rodríguez or the Philadelphia Phillies, and Andrew Saalfrank of the Arizona Diamondbacks. As is the case with Marcano, MLB received data from a legal sports book that all four bet on either baseball or softball, which is against the league’s gambling policy. The difference between them and Marcano is that none of them bet on games involving their own team.

Marcano is the eighth person Rob Manfred has permanently banned during his tenure. He joins Jenrry Mejía (PEDs), Chris Correa (hacking), John Coppolella (violations of international signing rules), Brandon Taubman (being a jackass), Roberto Alomar (sexual misconduct), Mickey Callaway (sexual misconduct), and Jared Porter (harassing a reporter).

Ippei Mizuhara pleads guilty

As expected, Ippei Mizuhara, Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud charges yesterday morning. The counts carry a maximum sentence of 33 years in prison, though it’s doubtful he’ll get anywhere near that much. His sentencing is set for October 25.

Within an hour of Mizuhara’s plea, Major League Baseball officially cleared Shohei Ohtani of any potential wrongdoing. The league’s statement said, “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 and this matter has been closed.”

Ohtani issued a statement as well:

"Now that the investigation has been completed, this full admission of guilt has brought important closure to me and my family. I want to sincerely thank the authorities for finishing their thorough and effective investigation so quickly and uncovering all of the evidence. This has been a uniquely challenging time, so I am especially grateful for my support team - my family, agent, agency, lawyers, and advisors along with the entire Dodger organization, who showed endless support throughout this process. It's time to close this chapter, move on and continue to focus on playing and winning ballgames."

Kudos for all of this going down on the same day multiple players were suspended for gambling.

The Athletics want to play multiple games a year outside of Las Vegas

According to the Nevada Independent, the Oakland Athletics have proposed playing up to eight home games a season at neutral sites away from the team's future $1.5 billion Las Vegas ballpark. The request appears in the team’s draft agreement with the Las Vegas Stadium Authority pertaining to the A’s pledge not to relocate again following the move to Nevada. The request of up to eight of-site games is double that typically allowed by Major League Baseball.

According to the article the A’s want to do so in order to build the franchise's brand and to attract players and sponsors. It’s not at all clear how the A’s think (a) this is something that would benefit the team; or (b) that it would do anything to benefit Las Vegas, which would stand to lose a lot of money by there being 10% fewer games in town. The Stadium Authority is also spinning this as a good thing saying that it would free up the stadium for other events like concerts, is set to vote on the A’s proposed agreement on July 18.

However the A’s and the Authority wanna spin this, it only bolsters my preexisting opinion that the A’s have no real plan in mind regarding the move to Las Vegas. Indeed, it almost makes me feel like they’re trying to sabotage the deal at this point.

Bad news for the Astros 

The Athletic reports that Houston Astros starter Cristian Javier is going to Tommy John surgery. It was reported earlier this week that his teammate José Urquidy could also be headed for Tommy John surgery as well.

The Astros were already without Luis Garcia, who had Tommy John surgery last May, and Lance McCullers Jr. McCullers who had flexor surgery last summer. The Astros are seven games under .500 and seven games out of first place. This does not make improving that any easier.

With that I’m gonna have to cut things short today, as a morning flight counseled both an early bedtime and an early rise, cutting into the usual nonsense. Sorry for that and sorry, once again, for the delivery issues from yesterday. Tomorrow should see things back to normal around these parts.

Have a great day everyone.

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