MLB Officially Opens Investigation Amid Ippei Mizuhara and Shohei Ohtani Gambling Scandal
Shohei Ohtani, a baseball icon since his signing with the Los Angeles Angels in December 2017, has been a force to be reckoned with on the field. He was one of the most hyped players in recent history, and he has lived up to every bit of it both on the mound and at the plate. However, his recent involvement in a controversy has cast a shadow over his otherwise stellar career. The news broke earlier this week that Ohtani's interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, was dismissed by the Dodgers for allegedly embezzling funds from Ohtani to settle his substantial gambling debts, which reportedly amount to $4.5 million. This revelation has raised serious questions about Ohtani's involvement and could potentially tarnish his reputation.
This story, at its face value, looks like Ohtani was just wronged by a person he trusted, but the story has more uncertainties the more that information is released. Mizuhara has since admitted to lying when he was initially confronted with this accusation. He originally claimed that Ohtani had no knowledge of his gambling debts and made no efforts to help him repay them. Naturally, given that one of the biggest stars in baseball is involved, there has been a lot of social media digging on this story, and some crazy trends have been popping up. After the initial shock of hearing this news, people began to wonder if Ohtani had anything to do with this that could get him in trouble with Major League Baseball. Then, the thought that this could be an Ohtani cover-up for his betting on baseball became a popular trend. While it has not gained a whole lot of traction, it is not totally out of the realm of possibility.
From the initial report, the money that was allegedly stolen from Ohtani was wired from his bank account, which is a bit odd. It also makes sense for Ohtani to use his interpreter as the fallman in this scenario. With so many holes and unknowns in this story, MLB announced on Friday that they are opening an official investigation into Ohtani and his involvement in gambling. In Mizuhara’s latest interview, when he admitted to originally lying, he was asked if he ever bet on baseball, and he responded with no, but then the follow-up question asked if he ever lied to Ohtani, and to that, he said yes. The Dodgers as an organization said they plan to keep Ohtani on their active roster throughout the duration of the MLB investigation. The issue is now totally out of the Dodgers’ hands after they fired Mizuhara, so that leaves it now all under the control of the MLB. There is no telling exactly how long this investigation will take, but expect it to take some time. The MLB will be very deliberate with this case because they know how much Ohtani means to the sport’s popularity as a whole. It will be intriguing to see what the next domino to fall in this story will be.
