Shohei Ohtani is MLB’s best secret-keeper

A couple stories out of Angels camp recently quoted Shohei Ohtani’s former Angels teammates saying they’d be “surprised” if Shohei Ohtani gambled on sports.

Sure, we’d all be surprised if a guy making $70M on the field plus a reported $65M off the field (via Sportico) would risk it all by betting relative pennies. But as for Angels teammates having any extra insight into Ohtani, well, that’s highly doubtful.

His teammates are just like the rest of us. Beyond his ballplaying exploits, they don’t know Ohtani.

Did any of them know he even had a girlfriend when he announced he was married? The ex-teammates all seemed surprised by that non trivial matter, too.

The most amazing thing about Ohtani — beyond his baseball ability — is that with scores of media watching and recording every move, nobody really knows anything about him. The coverage is just one big pretty pictorial. No one has insight, much less inside information.

He is not only the best player in MLB, he’s the best secret keeper.

Part of that is because he doesn’t talk, and when he does talk, he doesn’t say anything of note, even to the Japanese media. The other part is what Dodgers manager Dave Roberts kindly called his “buffer,” his former interpreter and ex-best friend who either helped Ohtani avoid interacting with everyone around him, or kept him from doing so.

That constant companion, Ippei Mizuhara, who’s now accused by Ohtani of being a rogue operator who stole at least $4.5M from him in a betting scandal that’s now being investigated by MLB, always seemed more bouncer than translator. He acted as Ohtani’s protector, and at least according to the most recent story, Ohtani most needed protection from his protector.

Ohtani surprised some folks even by only reasserting in his press conference what his handlers already said, which is that Mizuhara without consent removed money from Ohtani’s account to pay his own (Mizuhara’s) gambling debts. But Ohtani still needs to answer questions to shed light on baseball’s biggest story, and I’m unconvinced he’ll ever do that. He’s used to talking just on days he pitches, which isn’t until next year.

Until then, I’m going to continue to hope the first story, the one where Ohtani magnanimously paid Mizuhara’s debts is the right story. Technically of course, Ohtani isn’t supposed to have dealings with illegal bookmakers, but ultimately, he’s a hero in that story.

Bailing out a buddy isn’t a crime any authority would pursue, but if the second story — the one where Mizuhara stole from Ohtani — turns out false, well, that’s far worse. (Ohtani’s camp says Mizuhara admitted diverting the funds, though we haven’t heard from him yet, and as ESPN reported, Ohtani’s people declined to confirm which authority is targeting the interpreter.)

The new story, where Ohtani was victimized by Mizuhara, seems to be the one they are sticking with — and that may well be the right one. Of course, that means Ohtani knows nothing about money (very possible; if he was interested in money/finer things, he wouldn’t have resided for years in a nondescript condo across the parking lot from Angels Stadium), he has the worst financial advisers ever (also possible) and he presumably handed over secret financial information to a friend of turned out to be a crook (not out of the question).

The financial managers need to explain how they let disappear at least $4.5M (nine withdrawals of $500K have been identified). And the alleged bookmaker should reveal why a guy making a reported $300K to $500K — yes, he was apparently the highest paid baseball translator ever — was allowed to keep betting while owing millions.

There are a lot of questions left. And the biggest one of all may be: Who really is this guy who’s the best player in the game?