Major League Baseball issued a statement regarding the case of Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani on Friday.
“Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhari [sic] from the news media," the statement read. "Earlier today, our Department of Investigations (DOI) began their formal process investigating the matter.”
Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and friend, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday. Reports had emerged which connected Mizuhara to an illegal gambling operation in California, where sports betting is not legal. Per those reports, over $4.5M was wired from an account in Ohtani’s name to the gambling ring. Mizuhara and a spokesperson for Ohtani initially told ESPN that the debts were Mizuhara’s and Ohtani sent the money to help his friend pay them off. But attorneys representing Ohtani later claimed that the player had been “the victim of a massive theft.”
The league opening an investigation was inevitable. Even if Mizuhara was the only one involved, there would be serious grounds for concern. All MLB players and employees are prohibited from betting on baseball, given their access to information that may not be public. They can bet on sports other than baseball and Mizuhara insists that he never did bet on baseball, but the connection to an illegal operation under federal investigation makes it a different matter.
The fact that the sport’s biggest star is involved only gives the league further grounds to look into it. To this point, there’s been nothing to suggest that Ohtani, himself, did any betting. Per the initial reporting from earlier this week, multiple sources asserted that Ohtani does not gamble. But multiple wire transfers in his name to an illegal operation under federal investigation was clearly going to be grounds for the league to take a look. As recently pointed out by Craig Calcaterra at Cup of Coffee, Ohtani may have violated federal laws and/or league rules just by wiring the money, even if he did no gambling whatsoever.
Per T.J. Quinn of ESPN, the league is expected to request interviews with all parties, including both Ohtani and Mizuhara, though “officials will have no way to compel Mizuhara’s cooperation since he no longer works for baseball.” Quinn adds that Ohtani will have a right to refuse as a member of the MLBPA.
In terms of organizations outside the league, Quinn adds that neither the California Bureau of Investigation nor the FBI are investigating. Stephen Wade, Tong-Hyung Kim and Stefanie Dazio of The Associated Press reported earlier Friday that Mizuhara is being criminally investigated by the IRS.
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