Shohei Ohtani and his longtime portrayer, Ippei Mizuhara, are under scrutiny after Mizuhara’s gambling activities led to his firing by the Los Angeles Dodgers and sparked multiple investigations. And Joe Maddon has questions. As we all.
From 2020 until June 2022, when he was fired by the Los Angeles Angels, Maddon was Ohtani’s manager. He had a front-row seat to witness the close bond between sport’s most transcendent star and his closest companion.
“When I read all this, heard all this, I just didn’t want to believe any of it,” Maddon and Doug Glanville told me on the latest edition of our Starkville podcast. “The fact that Ippei would be disloyal to Shohei was truly a thought that I couldn’t even comprehend and had never even imagined. …And I was upset. I was viscerally upset by all of this.
Because his interactions with Ohtani all went through Mizuhara, Maddon said he and his star player’s interpreter had to “converse daily.” They were therefore in constant contact.
Maddon said Mizuhara “was my liaison, my connection to Shohei. So I had a great relationship with this guy.
Maddon described Ohtani and Mizuhara as “best friends” and “inseparable” — and said all of Ohtani’s business seemed to go through the performer and his agent, Nez Balelo of CAA Sports. So, on Starkville, which is now part of AthleticismOn Maddon’s “Windup” podcast, Maddon was asked if he thought it was conceivable that someone like Mizuhara could have gained access to Ohtani’s bank account to pay his bills.
“I can absolutely see that being part of it,” Maddon responded. “What is a bit of an exaggeration is that, (with) these kinds of transactions, the agency would not be aware of it.”
By “those kinds of transactions,” Maddon was referring to the $4.5 million in payments allegedly transferred from Ohtani’s account to Mathew Bowyer, an alleged bookmaker under federal investigation.
It was therefore “easily” conceivable to him, Maddon said, “that Shohei would rely on Ippei to handle, for example, the payment of daily bills. …So, to me, it’s not a reach in any way. What I don’t quite understand is the fact that, especially when you talk about these numbers ($4.5 million), if they are accurate, the agency would not have known about them.
Balelo and CAA Sports declined to comment through a spokesperson. A source briefed on Ohtani’s financial affairs said Athleticism that CAA Sports does not manage Ohtani’s finances. Although Balelo likely has general knowledge of Ohtani’s finances, the player’s accounts are handled by a separate accounting firm, according to the source.
When asked if Ohtani seemed to have other people around him to handle the daily challenges that arose off the field during their time with the Angels, Maddon responded:
“It was always Ippei. I never saw (anyone else), except Nez, his agent.
“So look, it was a well-oiled machine. I never thought twice about it. This seemed to work extremely well. So who would have thought that gambling would become a problem in this relationship? The last thing you would expect.
With all these questions unanswered, so we asked Maddon what the biggest question he’d like to ask Ohtani is.
“Well, there’s only one question to ask,” Maddon replied. “’Did you know anything about this? Do you know (Mizuhara)’s betting habits? And if that’s the case, why didn’t you try to stop it? »
Maddon acknowledged that there’s “nothing (worrying) about playing basketball or anything.” The whole world does it. His only concern, he said, was whether baseball betting was involved. (Neither Mizuhara nor Ohtani have so far been accused of betting on baseball.) But here’s what he’d like to ask Ohtani:
“So, what did you really know?” Did you know about the debt (that Mizuhara accumulated)? And in any way, did you help pay for that? »
“And then, of course, you (ask) directly: ‘Is You never bet, yourself, on Nothing?’ … And that’s all. I mean, I don’t know if anything else is relevant until these questions are answered.
Ohtani, of course, addressed similar issues during his public meeting with the media last week, although he did so via a statement – and without answering any additional questions.
“I have never bet on baseball or any other sport and I have never asked anyone to do so on my behalf,” Ohtani said on March 25. “And I’ve never used a bookmaker to bet on sports.”
As for what he knew about Mizuhara’s game, Ohtani said: “Until a few days ago, I didn’t know this was happening. »
During his visit to Starkville, Maddon spoke about much more than Ohtani’s situation:
• He discussed the more thorough “vetting” he expects the sport to do when hiring future performers.
• He spoke at length about Mike Trout and the “conversation” the Angels need to have with him regarding a possible trade.
• Maddon also talked about his own future, why he thinks teams think he’s “not as controllable” as other managers and a baseball job other than managing him would be seriously interested.
You can listen to the entire show for free wherever you get your podcasts.
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(Top photo of Joe Maddon and Shohei Ohtani in 2021: Tim Warner/Getty Images)