Unfortunate off-field Shohei Ohtani news has Dodgers haters coming out in full force

On Tuesday, the Japan News reported that real estate developer Kevin J. Hayes Sr. and broker Tomoko Matsumoto were suing Shohei Ohtani, "claiming the Los Angeles Dodgers star and his agent (Nez Balelo) got them fired from a $240 million luxury housing development on the Big Island’s coveted Hapuna Coast that they brought him in to endorse."

Hayes and Matsumoto allege that they were fired by business partner Kingsbarn Realty Capital at the demand of Ohtani and Balelo in a "coordinated ambush" last month. The specific charges being leveled at them are "tortious interference and unjust enrichment." Hayes and Matsumoto claim that they were working on a deal for 11 years and brought Ohtani in as a marketing strategy.

Ohtani and Balelo's agency CAA declined to comment, and Kingsbarn Realty Capital has yet to respond to requests.

The suit seems to paint Balelo as the more aggressive party in dealings with Hayes, Matsumoto, and Kingsbarn. "Kingsbarn openly admitted during the call that Balelo had demanded the terminations and that they were being done solely to placate him," the suit said. "Plaintiffs stand to lose millions of dollars in compensation tied to projected homebuilding profit, construction management fees, and broker commissions."

Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani and agent Nez Balelo accused of sabotaging Hawaii real estate venture

Despite the fact that Ohtani was exonerated by both federal and state authorities from any wrongdoing in the sports betting scandal surrounding former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, there are fans online who insist on pushing conspiracy theories regarding Ohtani's involvement or knowledge of the scandal. Although they haven't died down and will probably persist throughout his career, it's no surprise that they're coming out of the woodwork in full force again, the moment they sniffed out any hint of a scandal.

Early reports do paint Balelo as more of an aggressor than Ohtani himself. There is, of course, still the chance that Ohtani was involved, peripherally or otherwise, in something that was not illegal, but was still perhaps an abuse of power. Still, there's no reason that the totally false speculation about the Mizuhara incident needs to factor into these discussions.

The amount of eyes on Ohtani at all times is inevitably going to push this incident forward inthe public eye, and will have people following legal proceedings into the headlines until they come to a conclusion. Given the way the last scandal affected (or rather didn't affect) Ohtani's on-field performance, Dodgers fans probably shouldn't expect to see this move him much, either.