Former Angels Manager Backs Shohei Ohtani's Theft Claim
Count former Angels manager Joe Maddon among those who buy Shohei Ohtani’s explanation that Ippei Mizuhara gambled away some $4.5 million of Ohtani’s money under his own watch.
Speaking on the Starkville podcast with Jasyon Stark and Doug Glanville, Maddon explained what he did and didn’t find credible about Ohtani’s theft claim.
"That's not a stretch for me. The part that's somewhat of a stretch is that it would get by Nez (Balelo, Ohtani’s agent) somehow. Those kind transactions would not, the agency (CAA) would not be aware of that. That's the only part that's incongruent with all of this. But easily, that Shohei would rely on Ippei to handle, like, daily bill paying whether it was via Venmo or PayPal or a check – who knows? I don't even know. So that to me is not a reach by any means.”
Maddon said in 2021 that Ohtani and Mizuhara “go together like peanut butter and jelly,” a quote that has been circulated widely in the wake of baseball’s latest sports betting scandal.
Mizuhara and Ohtani began working together with Japan's Nippon Ham Fighters, where Ohtani played for five seasons. Mizuhara was there helping translate for the English-speaking players. With the Angels, Mizuhara gave Ohtani rides to and from the ballpark before Ohtani had a California driver’s license, and made grocery runs for him when players were advised to stay home because of the coronavirus outbreak in 2020.
The story is still a head-scratcher. While Maddon believes Mizuhara had access to Ohtani’s financials and handled his daily bills, it still leaves several questions unanswered, like how did Ohtani not notice more than $4 million dollars missing from the bank account?
In a follow-up article for The Athletic, Stark notes that "CAA sports does not manage Ohtani's finances," citing a source briefed on Ohtani's financial affairs.
While the federal government and Major League Baseball conduct their investigation, the answers will remain unknown and only time will tell if Mizuhara acted alone without Ohtani’s knowledge.
