The Los Angeles Dodgers have fired Shohei Ohtani's high-profile interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, the club said Thursday, following allegations he stole millions of dollars of the star's money to cover illegal gambling debts.
A Los Angeles Times report earlier cited "two sources" as saying the money involved was "in the millions of dollars." Sports network ESPN said the total was at least $4.5 million in payments from Ohtani to an illegal gambling operation.
Neither the Dodgers nor manager Dave Roberts would comment on any of the story's details, but Roberts said Ohtani was set to play Thursday's game against the San Diego Padres at Seoul's Gocheok Sky Dome, where Wednesday's game was preceded by a bomb threat.
"Shohei is ready," Roberts said. "He's in a hitters' meeting getting ready for the game. He's ready to play. That was not a concern."
Regarding the distractions, Roberts said "We did a good job focusing on baseball (Wednesday)."
ESPN reported that an Ohtani representative said the star transferred the money himself to cover his friend's debts, and then had Mizuhara sit for a detailed 90-minute interview Tuesday in which the interpreter elaborated on that story.
The 39-year-old Mizuhara at first told the network that Ohtani had made the payments in a number of installments last year when both the player and interpreter were with the Los Angeles Angels.
A day later, however, ESPN reported that Mizuhara changed his story to say he had stolen the money and that Ohtani knew nothing about it.
Representatives of Ohtani are accusing Mizuhara of engaging in a "massive theft" of the player's money to place bets with an allegedly illegal bookmaker who is the target of a federal investigation, the report said.
"Lawyers for Ohtani made that claim after The Times learned that Ohtani's name had surfaced in the investigation of Mathew Bowyer, an Orange County resident," the newspaper added.
West Hollywood law firm Berk Brettler said in a statement, "In the course of responding to recent media inquiries, we discovered that Shohei has been the victim of a massive theft and we are turning the matter over to the authorities."
On Wednesday in Seoul, the Dodgers won their season-opening game against the San Diego Padres. The two teams will play another game Thursday before returning to the United States.
Mizuhara, who grew up in the United States, interpreted for English-speaking players with the Nippon Ham Fighters during Ohtani's time with the team. He has regularly been seen alongside Ohtani in Seoul, including in the dugout during Wednesday's game.
Afterward, Mizuhara addressed the clubhouse to tell the team a story was coming out and that the claims within it were all his fault, saying he has a gambling addiction, ESPN reported, citing a Dodgers spokesperson.
MLB rules prevent team employees from betting on baseball or engaging in illegal gambling, but Mizuhara told ESPN he was not aware that placing bets with the bookmaker was illegal.
"I never bet on baseball. That's 100 percent. I knew that rule...We have a meeting about that in spring training," said Mizuhara. In the same interview on Tuesday, he stressed Ohtani had nothing to do with his gambling.
"Obviously, this is all my fault, everything I've done," he said. "I'm ready to face all the consequences."
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Baseball: Ohtani helps Dodgers down Padres in historic MLB opener
Baseball: Meet the team helping Shohei Ohtani carve his historic 2-way path
Baseball: Support staff key to Ohtani's two-way success in 2021
