The story surrounding the $4.5 million Shohei Ohtani knowingly or unknowingly paid to a Southern California bookie on behalf of his interpreter has stopped changing, so let's take a moment to catch up in case this billows into something that's somehow even more significant.
To summarize: An FBI investigation uncovered wire transfers made to an alleged illegal bookmaker in Ohtani's name. At first, Mizuhara and an Ohtani spokesperson arranged a media availability in which the story was that Ohtani covered the $4.5 million gambling debt of his intepreter, Ippei Mizuahara. Later, Ohtani's lawyers said Mizuhara had stolen that money from Ohtani.
This paragraph from the ESPN report shows how quickly it turned:
Initially, a spokesman for Ohtani told ESPN the slugger had transferred the funds to cover Mizuhara's gambling debt. The spokesman presented Mizuhara to ESPN for a 90-minute interview Tuesday night, during which Mizuhara laid out his account in great detail. However, as ESPN prepared to publish the story Wednesday, the spokesman disavowed Mizuhara's account and said Ohtani's lawyers would issue 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," read the statement from Berk Brettler LLP.
In a bonus edition of his Cup of Coffee newsletter, Craig Calcaterra has a pretty good summary of the situation, seeing one of three possibilities:
- Mizuhara got in over his head and lied about Ohtani paying off the gambling debt.
- Mizuhara got in over his head, Ohtani tried to cover for him, and after one or both realized that it was illegal to do so, both had to change the story.
- Mizuhara is covering for Ohtani's gambling.
All have holes, but he thinks No. 2 is the least unsatisfying scenario, because it addresses both the weirdly proactive behavior up front, followed by the backtracking. One gap is that, according to people who know more about illegal gambling than I do, a bookie normally wouldn't front that sort of money to somebody whose income wouldn't cover it. But if Ohtani's finances were open to Mizuhara as a matter of business, and if he's as aloof about money as he lets on, it's not completely out of character, no matter how much the bulk of us would realize we were $4.5 million short.
Based on the details shared so far, this doesn't seem to be a Black Sox-level affair, but it shows how thin the line is between players and degenerates, and that should be enough to scare anybody into regulation and barriers ... if the leagues hadn't made themselves financially dependent on casinos, anyway. Alas.
Spare Parts
Prior to their food preview at Guaranteed Rate Field on Thursday -- Brooks Boyer answered other Sox Machine questions as well -- the White Sox announced a second batch of promotional nights, including a Chicago American Giants Jersey giveaway on Aug. 14 that has my attention.
The disappointing winter for the "Boras Four" -- Cody Bellinger, Blake Snell, Matt Chapman and Jordan Montgomery -- may have created an opening for an abrupt leadership change in the MLBPA, in which Harry Marino would usurp Tony Clark and Bruce Meyer as the head of the union. Lucas Giolito is among those supporting Marino, who gained acclaim for his work organizing minor league players.
Article XX-B free agents can trigger the out clause on their contracts by 1 p.m. CT today, which gives teams 48 hours to roster that player or release him. We've talked about the White Sox Six -- Jesse Chavez, Brad Keller, Dominic Leone, Mike Moustakas, Kevin Pillar and Brad Keller -- but MLBTR summarizes the situations for the 29 other teams, in case you're wondering who might become available.
Tess Taruskin's helpful series on scouting terminology continues, covering fluidity, rotation, swing paths and top/bottom hands. Luis Robert Jr. is used as an example of a non-rotational swing.
- Matt McLain set for second opinion, will open 2024 on IL -- reds.com
- Arroyo to miss season after shoulder surgery -- reds.com
The Reds were a popular trade target among White Sox fans because of the logjam of infield prospects, but Edwin Arroyo is out for the year after tearing his labrum, Matt McLain is sidelined with his own shoulder injury, and Noelvi Marte is out for the first 80 games due to a PED suspension, so now they're precariously thin at shortstop.
Effectively Wild spent more time previewing the White Sox more than they spent previewing the Braves. Such is the power of James Fegan. I also appreciated Ben Lindbergh's plug at the end:
You should still follow that season and follow his coverage at Sox Machine, especially if you want to support strong local coverage of teams, and certain national outlets decide that perhaps they don't need to employ someone to cover certain teams, well, then you have to support the local outlets that step up in their place.
Thanks to everybody who does!
