The Shohei Ohtani story isn’t going away anytime soon.
On Friday afternoon, Major League Baseball revealed they’ve begun conducting an official investigation into the matters involving Ohtani and former Los Angeles Dodgers interpreter Ippei Mizuhari.
“Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhari from the news media. Earlier today, our Department of Investigations (DOI) began their formal process investigating the matter.”
Official MLB statement on Shohei Ohtani allegations
MLB is expected to arrange in-depth interviews with all parties involved, with Ohtani and Mizuhari figuring to be central figures in their investigation. However, since Mizuhari is no longer employed by the Dodgers or anyone else in MLB, he’s not forced to participate, if he doesn’t want to.
Since Ohtani is part of the MLB Players Association, he too has the option of refusing to cooperate, but there’s been no suggestion that he’s prepared to do that. Ohtani’s camp continues to suggest he’s been a victim of “massive theft.”
Ohtani and the Dodgers previously neglected to address the situation following their Seoul Series, which concluded on Thursday. With the MLB already investigating, it’s easy to see why they wouldn’t want to add more fuel to the fire.
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