Let’s put it all out there

Major League Baseball’s squeaky-clean poster boy, Shohei Ohtani, found himself in a rare spot of trouble this week. Just in time for the start of the 2024 season, the previously flawless Ohtani, is involved in a gambling scandal, after a federal investigation found at least $4.5 million worth of wire transfers made from Ohtani to an alleged bookie’s account.

Ohtani’s story: It was his recently fired Japanese to English interpreter, Ippe Mizuhara, who lost the bets which required the massive sum of money to be sent to the bookie. In a press conference Monday, Ohtani’s new interpreter translated his statement which claimed that he was completely unaware that Mizuhara gambled at all. His claim is that the disgraced interpreter actually stole the money from Ohtani to pay the bookie.

This bookie clearly is doing some serious volume

Here is where it gets questionable. Let’s say Ohtani gave a general okay to his accountant, to trust the interpreter, regarding his finances. Things like meals, bodyguards, even vehicle purchases could fall under that umbrella. You are telling me that the accountant would blindly make at least 9 payments of $500,000 each, to a random account without seeking consent from his boss? I get that Ohtani still needs an interpreter, but he has lived in the US for over 6 years. He knows the English words for ‘4 million dollars’. It is simply impossible that he doesn’t know those words in English. His accountant couldn’t follow up with him, ask “4 million dollars?”, and wait for him to nod? Any reasonable accountant would question where this insane amount of money is going. Yes, Ohtani just signed a $700 million contract, but until 2034, he will only be getting $2 million of that per year. His accountant didn’t raise a single concern about sending over 2 years salary, based on an order from the interpreter?

Additionally, this bookie clearly is doing some serious volume, if he is accepting $4.5 million dollars worth of bets from a single client, ON CREDIT. One would have to wonder why an experienced bookmaker would accept that kind of credit from an interpreter who reportedly earns $300,000-500,000 a year. That is a significant salary, but I cannot fathom a reputable bookie waiting around 10 years to get paid. As a licensed sportsbook, Betcoin is fortunate to not have to give credit to players. But being in the business, I can assure you that no one would be taking bets worth 9x someone’s annual salary. $4.5 million is an amount that almost no one can cover. If a bookie of this magnitude and experience is taking bets of this size from someone, it is someone that he knows can cover this kind of debt. Someone like the highest paid professional baseball player.

Is this a world we want to live in?

I simply cannot be the only person who realizes all of this. So then why is the large majority of the press referring to this as the Ippe Mizuhara gambling scandal? Has baseball changed that much, where they care more about protecting their angel-faced darling, than the integrity of the game? Now we have Pete Rose saying that he would’ve gotten off ‘scot-free’ if he had an interpreter. Is this a world we want to live in?

Let’s put it all out there. If there were no bets made on baseball, then this wouldn’t be a scandal. MLB players are allowed to bet on other sports. So if there were no bets on baseball, Ohtani would have had no need for this elaborate cover-up. Sports betting is not permitted in California, but no one is going after the bettors. This is precisely why Mizuhara made the perfect guy to take the fall. He has no risk for prosecution. He will not be able to work in baseball again, but he won’t need to, with the massive payoff he is getting from Ohtani to take the blame.

Obviously, at Betcoin, we are big proponents of gambling. We think it is awesome. But we are also lovers of sport, and allowing players to bet on their own leagues is bad for sports and bad for gambling. Hopefully, someone with some common sense and decency from the league will take a closer look at this situation for what it clearly is, because allowing it to be swept under the rug is making them look like fools, to anyone with half a brain.