Shohei Ohtani surprised the world a few months ago after signing a historic ten-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. From that moment on, they became clear favorites to win the World Series.
This week, as the Dodgers began their regular season facing the San Diego Padres in Seoul, a betting scandal shocked the entire organization. Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, had made transfers totaling $4.5 million to a bookmaker.
The report was made public by Tisha Thompson of ESPN and, since then, uncertainty has grown regarding what might happen with Shohei Ohtani’s future in MLB.
Is Shohei Ohtani suspended by MLB?
No. Shohei Ohtani’s team clarified that his close friend, Ippei Mizuhara, was guilty of massive theft from the player’s bank accounts in an attempt to settle his gambling debts. Just hours after the scandal broke out, the Los Angeles Dodgers fired the interpreter.
In fact, in the last few hours, Mizuhara has accepted full responsibility for what happened, although the big question is why the initial statement from Ohtani’s side was that the star player voluntarily helped him to get out of financial trouble.
“I want everyone to know Shohei had zero involvement in betting. I want people to know I did not know this was illegal. I learned my lesson the hard way. I will never do sports betting ever again.”
According to the information by Thompson, the entire operation is now subject to a federal investigation and, in case Shohei Ohtani was directly involved, MLB could intervene. MLB players can bet on any sport (except baseball), but they cannot with illegal bookmakers (as it happened in this case).
“Ippei Mizuhara, the longtime friend and interpreter for Ohtani, incurred the gambling debts to a Southern California bookmaking operation that is under federal investigation, multiple sources told ESPN. How he came to lose his job started with reporters asking questions about the wire transfers.”
A very important detail surrounding the case is that Ohtani’s interpreter bet on various sports, but according to what is known, he never did so on baseball games.