TBNL: Las Vegas groundbreaking; Ohtani returns while Ippei reports

A groundbreaking ceremony has been scheduled for June 23 to officially mark the beginning of construction for the A’s new stadium in Las Vegas.

The ceremony appears to be mostly a PR maneuver, as the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Mick Akers reports that work on the site began in late April. Crews began drilling to lay a proper foundation built on reinforced steel and concrete for the 33,000-seat stadium.

Plans call for the ballpark to be complete in time for Opening Day 2028.

The proposed complex will cost close to $1.75B (that’s billion, with a b), according to initial estimates. It is unclear how much that cost will change due to new tariff restrictions. Las Vegas, Clark County, and the state of Nevada agreed to provide up to $380M towards that cost, with the team expected to cover the remainder.

Shohei returns, Ippei reports

Shohei Ohtani returned to the mound for the first time in almost 22 months on Monday night. The 28-pitch, one-inning outing also marked his long-awaited Dodgers pitching debut.

Ohtani allowed a pair of singles to Fernando Tatis Jr. and Luis Arraez. Manny Machado flew out, letting Tatis come in and score from third. Ohtani then got the next two hitters to ground out to get out of the frame without any more damage.

Coincidentally, the same day Othani made his return to the mound, his former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, reported to prison (a low-security facility in Allenwood, PA) to begin his 57-month sentence for fraud and tax evasion. Mizuhara stole nearly $17M from Ohtani, losing most of it through an illegal sportsbook.

More Devers trade fallout

The baseball world was still buzzing about the Rafael Devers trade throughout much of Tuesday.

• Over the Monster’s Dan Secatore wrote an excellent piece looking at how the Red Sox front office (and ownership) is to blame for the entire messy situation.

• Boston had not made Devers publicly available to all teams. Still, several clubs reached out over the last few weeks with an interest in trading for him. San Francisco’s willingness to absorb the entirety of Devers’s remaining salary put them ahead. The Boston and San Francisco front offices have reportedly been discussing the deal's details for the past few weeks.

• Red Sox president of baseball operations Craig Breslow held a press conference with the media Monday night, during which he placed most of the blame on Devers. In short, the team expected more from him considering his contract and “Devers repeatedly failed to put the team first.”

• The Giants plan to use Devers at DH and first base, which he seems open to (unlike in Boston).

Elsewhere, around the sport …

• MLB provided the first official update on All-Star voting on Monday. To no surprise, Aaron Judge and Ohtani are leading all players in early voting totals. Each player has already received more than 1.3 million votes (and counting).

More words

The Cubs received good news on Shota Imanaga, who could return to the rotation by month’s end.