Ridiculous Ippei Mizuhara clip vindicates Shohei Ohtani even more after Dodgers drama

All things considered, the Shohei Ohtani-Ippei Mizuhara debacle that was initially reported during the Seoul Series last year resolved itself pretty quickly. Mizuhara was fired by the Dodgers on March 20 amidst reports that he'd stolen upwards of $4.5 million from Ohtani to settle illegal gambling debts paid through bookmaker Mathew Bowyer, with whom he placed more than 19,000 bets.

Just a few weeks after the firing, the US Department of Justice had put together a full complaint in its litigation against Mizuhara, which alleged that he had actually stolen upwards of $17 million. He pled guilty to bank fraud and filing a false tax return.

The Athletic received audio from the DOJ's findings, which features Mizuhara calling a bank impersonating Ohtani and looking to wire $200,000 to himself under the auspices of providing the money for a car loan (subscription required). Mizuhara is asked if "there will be any future wires to your friend?"

"Uh, possibly," he responded.

New audio of Ippei Mizuhara impersonating Shohei Ohtani should put any lingering doubts about gambling probe to bed

Speculation that Ohtani was setting up Mizuhara as a fall guy to cover for his own gambling addiction was shockingly rampant after the initial report, and Ohtani didn't really do himself any favors after his camp changed the narrative from "Ohtani knew and wanted to help his friend" to "Ohtani was never aware that theft was taking place." That was weird, but it was also far from grounds to believe that Ohtani had been masterminding the operation all along. Ohtani broke his silence about a week after Mizuhara was fired to reaffirm that he'd been betrayed and had no awareness of Mizuhara's activities.

The DOJ report included countless anecdotes that make it clear Mizuhara jumped through multiple hoops in order to steal money from Ohtani without his knowledge.

Mizuhara's statement to the judge presiding over his sentencing, John W. Holcomb, was also made public. In it, he alleges that Ohtani underpaid him, and that he was made to feel "on call 24/7." He asked Holcomb to make sentencing "merciful and not punitive," making reference to his family and arguing that his wife's limited knowledge of English makes it difficult for them to live apart.

Ohtani also recovered multiple cases of baseball cards from federal custody, which were bought by Mizuhara using money he stole. Sentencing scheduled for Feb. 6 after being pushed back multiple times, and Mizuhara faces up to five years in prison.