A spokesman for the U.S. legal professional’s workplace declined to remark. Matthew Hiltzik, a spokesman for Ohtani, referred to the participant’s detailed rationalization he gave to the media two weeks in the past, when Ohtani stated Mizuhara had stolen from him and he promised to cooperate absolutely with the federal and Main League Baseball investigations.
“I by no means guess on baseball or some other sports activities or by no means have requested someone to try this on my behalf,” Ohtani stated. “And I’ve by no means went by a bookmaker to guess on sports activities. Up till a pair days in the past, I didn’t know this was occurring.”
The allegations in regards to the theft surfaced when the Dodgers had been in Seoul to open the season with video games in opposition to the San Diego Padres. Curiosity within the group has been intense because it signed Ohtani to a 10-year, $700 million contract in December. However as he and his new teammates had been making ready for his or her opening video games, reporters started asking about suspicious wire transfers from Ohtani’s account that had surfaced in a federal investigation of an alleged bookmaker. Slightly than inform Ohtani personally, the celebrity’s agent and Mizuhara tried to handle the disaster themselves.
Mizuhara, speaking with the agent, Nez Balelo, provided totally different variations of what had occurred. First, Mizuhara stated Ohtani had paid the money owed of an unnamed teammate; then he stated that he himself had racked up money owed with the bookie and that Ohtani had bailed him out. The shifting tales alarmed executives in Main League Baseball, who fearful that Ohtani is perhaps tarnished by a connection to playing.
As soon as executives with the Dodgers and Main League Baseball discovered of the wire transfers — however with Ohtani nonetheless at the hours of darkness — the Dodgers requested Mizuhara to deal with the group within the clubhouse after the primary sport in Seoul. He advised the group that he had a playing dependancy and was deep in debt, and that Ohtani, his shut good friend for years, had paid the money owed.
At that time, Ohtani, who is just not fluent in English however can perceive the gist of some conversations, turned suspicious. After Mizuhara’s clubhouse handle, Ohtani advised reporters, he confronted Mizuhara again on the group resort. It was then, Ohtani stated, that Mizuhara advised him that he had stolen the cash from his account. The Dodgers promptly fired him.