The Los Angeles Dodgers fired Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, after he was shocking accused of stealing millions of dollars of Ohtani’s money for what is an allegedly illegal sports gambling operation.
Ohtani is not currently facing any discipline from the Mizuhara situation. Still, the situation has left MLB in shock, especially after Ohtani and Mizuhara had been friends for years.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan went on the Pat McAfee Show and revealed additional details about Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, who was fired after reportedly using Ohtani’s money to place bets with an alleged illegal bookmaker who is under federal investigation.
After the Dodgers beat the San Diego Padres on Wednesday night in Seoul, Passan said:
“Dodgers players were sitting down. Front office people for the organization got up and said, ‘Hey, there’s going to be a story coming out about gambling. Ippei, would you like to say something?’ And he was just extremely apologetic. Then they left and went back to the hotel, and at some point there, it seems that is when the story changed.”
— Jeff Passan, via the Pat McAfee Show.
Passan also outlined the possible next steps in the saga.
“If charges are pressed in this situation, we are going to get a full public accounting of what actually happened. We’re going to know the extent of the money. We found $4.5 million in wire transfers. There could be more potentially. We don’t know. There are so many factors in this situation that we don’t know right now, that jumping to any conclusions I think is irresponsible, but that’s what the internet is for.”
— Jeff Passan, via the Pat McAfee Show.
For now, the Dodgers have released a statement only confirming that Mizuhara was fired. They are also maintaining that they will not let the situation distract from their performance on the field, even after losing 15-11 to the San Diego Padres on Thursday.
Next, the Dodgers return home and play in their freeway series of exhibition games against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday-Monday. Then, the rest of the regular season begins, starting with their domestic home opener in one week against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Photo Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
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