After running through the entire timeline of the Shohei Ohtani-Ippei Mizuhara “massive theft” allegation, as far as it’s been publicly reported, I feel like I had as many questions as answers.
I was, of course, not alone in that. The biggest outstanding question for pretty much anyone following: why did Mizuhara initially tell ESPN that Ohtani sent payments to the (allegedly) illegal bookmaking operation to cover upwards of $4.5 million in gambling debt for his interpreter and friend, Mizuhara … and then the next day change his story entirely and say that Ohtani knew nothing about it, participated in no way, and that was that? The changed story aligned more with a statement from Ohtani’s attorneys, who indicated that their client had been the victim of a “massive theft” – a far preferable story than one where Ohtani was a knowing participant in sending payments to an (allegedly) illegal bookmaking operation.
How do you explain the discrepancy in stories, though? Especially when, according to ESPN, it was a representative of Ohtani’s – not Mizuhara – who initially told ESPN that Ohtani had made the payments?
Well, it’s not like ESPN was going to sit on the conflicting stories and not get an answer. Tonight, they’ve updated their reporting with the messaging from Ohtani’s camp that seemingly attempts to clear up the early discrepancies: “On Thursday, a source close to Ohtani gave an explanation for the changing storylines: As Ohtani’s handlers tried to determine what had happened, they initially relied solely on Mizuhara, who continued to translate for Ohtani.”
In other words, Ohtani’s camp is saying that the only reason they told ESPN that Ohtani had participated in the payments is because Mizuhara told them so. And if Mizuhara was not being truthful, then they passed on incorrect information, through no fault of their own, in the initial discussion with ESPN.
OK, but then how do you explain the whole statement to the entire Dodgers organization, where Mizuhara reportedly was still saying that Ohtani was helping him out, covering his debt from his gambling addiction? All while Ohtani was standing right there?
Well, here’s what the new ESPN report says about that: “After Wednesday’s season-opening game in South Korea, Dodgers officials called a clubhouse meeting and told players a negative story was coming later in the day, a team official said, and Mizuhara apologized, saying he had a gambling addiction. It was then, the official said, that Ohtani understood for the first time what was happening and began asking questions.”
The implication seems to be an allegation that Mizuhara was lying all along to everyone, including Ohtani, and since he was doing the translating for Ohtani, he was in a position to keep Ohtani in the dark (and somehow thought he could get away with it even by saying it in front of the entire Dodgers organization, including Ohtani? mmkay … ).
If true – and if Ohtani truly understood so little of English that he had no idea how or why Mizuhara was making these huge transfers of money (or how or why he gave Mizuhara complete control over his bank accounts to do the transferring without Ohtani’s knowledge) – I guess that’d be an out for Ohtani. It is at least CONCEIVABLE that he was simply screwed by a long-time friend. That seems to be the story his camp and Mizuhara are telling now, anyway, and if that’s the reality, it really sucks for Ohtani. I would be very sad if that were me.
Again, I’m not sure this completely passes the smell test for me without more information, but at least we’re getting an idea of how a story COULD all fit together.
Importantly, the ESPN report opens with a note that Ohtani’s camp has contacted law enforcement to have them investigate the alleged theft, so it’s not as if they aren’t acting on their version of events.