Good Morning, Washington Nationals Fans,

Here are the latest headlines and analyses around the Washington Nationals and Major League Baseball for today, March 20.

Welcome to the Morning Briefing! Haden here. Let’s talk about Shohei Ohtani.

Leading this Morning’s Briefing: Ohtani’s lawyers allege interpreter stole massive amount from superstar

Over the past few days, one of the largest off-the-field sports stories in recent memory has unfolded in Seoul, South Korea.

A report by Tisha Thompson at ESPN broke on Wednesday morning that Dodger star Shohei Ohtani’s longtime interpreter and friend, Ippei Mizuhara, was involved in a “massive theft” surrounding at least “$4.5 million in wire transfers sent from Ohtani's bank” to an illegal bookie to cover Mizuhara’s debt. On Tuesday, Mizuhara met with reporters at ESPN, telling them the story of his gambling addiction and debt racked up with an illegal bookmaker in California. In this interview, Mizuhara claimed that Ohtani helped him out of his debts, paying off the debts in multiple payments, including two $500k payments that ESPN verified. A spokesperson for Ohtani set up Mizuhara’s interview with ESPN, as ESPN had found documents linking Ohtani to the illegal bookmaking ring. Before the interview, the spokesperson corroborated Mizuhara’s events.

According to ESPN’s report, Mizuhara said that all of his betting was on international soccer, the NFL, and college football. The illegal bookie, Mathew Bowyer, was aware of payments made by Ohtani. Bowyer bragged to others about Ohtani's involvement to boost his business.

But on Wednesday, the story changed. Lawyers and the spokesperson for Ohtani disavowed Mizuhara’s testimony, even accusing Mizuhara of a massive theft from Ohtani. On Wednesday, after the Dodgers’ first game of the season in Korea, Mizuhara spoke to the team, telling them of his gambling issues. According to ESPN's sources, this was the first time Ohtani heard of his friend’s struggles.

After the lawyers released their statement, Mizuhara backtracked, apologizing for what had transpired and said he could no longer comment. The Dodgers fired Mizuhara later that day.

For a multitude of reasons, it makes sense that Ohtani’s lawyers would want to change the narrative around the story. If Mizuhara did steal a sum that ESPN reports to be $4.5 million, then of course, they are going to disavow the testimony. But if the original story is true, Mizuhara accidentally admitted his friend committed a federal crime. Unfortunately, Mizuhara will have to be the fall guy.

And while the “Mizuhara steals $4.5M from best friend” story could be true, Ohtani’s spokesperson originally lent credence to Mizuhara and organized the interview. Under this scenario, Mizuhara would have to have way more involvement in Ohtani’s life than we were previously led to believe. Instead of being a close friend, Mizuhara would instead be a manager for Ohtani, especially if he had authorization to make wire transfers on Ohtani’s accounts.

Craig Calcaterra did an incredible write-up on all the possible outcomes if you want a deep dive into those, but to sum it up, things do not look good for Ohtani. If Ohtani had any knowledge of Mizuhara taking this money, the superstar would be in line to face legal ramifications and a very long suspension from MLB. Things would only get worse if Mizuhara lied about what sports he bet on, and if he did indeed bet on baseball. If that is the case, Ohtani would almost certainly face a lifetime ban from baseball, à la Pete Rose. With the ongoing investigation, I was shocked that Ohtani was even allowed to play in the second game of the Korea series.

While the odds are nonzero, I find it incredibly unlikely that Ohtani would be the one physically betting or at least betting by proxy. For someone who mapped out his life to the level of detail that he has, it would be incredibly stupid to risk throwing it all away by betting with an illegal bookie in a state where sports betting is illegal.

James Wood's Ninth-Inning Home Run Propels Nationals to 9-8 Victory over Minnesota Twins

Richard • Mar 21, 2024

(West Palm Beach, FL)—Heading into the bottom of the ninth, the Washington Nationals were down 8-7. Washington Nationals prospect James Wood came to the rescue with a leadoff home run to left center, his fourth of spring Training, to tie things up for the Nationals.

Read full story →

This is the worst possible thing that could happen for MLB. They have put many eggs in Ohtani's basket, and rightfully so. He is one of the greatest athletes on the planet right now. But after receiving the largest contract in professional sports history, Ohtani is now the focus of the largest sports story of this century.

This could also cause a scare with MLB’s largest partners, legal sportsbooks. It is no secret that major sports leagues have cozied up to legal sportsbooks, with almost every venue, broadcast, and talk show having its official partner. The prevalence of sports betting would always lead to this. While I do not believe “sports betting is bad; get rid of it,” when you increase access to something as addictive as gambling, you also increase the odds of scandals like these.

This could be a sobering moment for the league to realize, “Hey, maybe we should chill out on all these gambling ads,” I seriously doubt it. To get to this point requires a certain level of greed and disregard for the public. Thankfully for the league, they have their fall guy, but it is not Mizuhara. They can point to the use of an illegal bookmaker. The other less sketchy and legal sportsbooks would not have led to this scandal (assuming baseball was not bet on).

Mizuhara clearly needs help, and I hope he gets it. In his best-case scenario, his best friend bailed him out but will have to take the fall for stealing to repay him. In the worst-case scenario, he leveraged his ties to Ohtani to bet above his means to try to get out of this hole, and when that failed, he stole from his friend. Addiction is a sickness, and this story could have a massive, lasting impact on sports.

As of now, the league has said nothing. In a statement, the Dodgers said, “The Dodgers are aware of media reports and are gathering information. The team can confirm that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara has been terminated. The team has no further comment at this time.” The league has not released anything, with only sources commenting that Ohtani is not currently being investigated. But in a situation like this, MLB cannot just hope the story goes away. There is such little information, that a shadow of doubt can creep over Ohtani’s and the sport’s integrity. Conspiracy theory after conspiracy theory has been created because of the lack of transparency. Even a statement as simple as “We are aware of the story, we are waiting until a federal investigation is completed before we comment further,” would be an improvement.

Unfortunately, acknowledging the story also acknowledges the possibility that Ohtani could have committed a federal crime. In a situation like that, it is nearly impossible to not place Ohtani on paid administrative leave, placing a mark on the biggest figure in the sport ever. In a situation like this, there is no easy way out, and the league needs to figure out its next step soon.

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