Dodgers Quickly Announce New Interpreter For Shohei Ohtani

The LA Dodgers quickly announced a new interpreter for Shohei Ohtani after the abrupt firing of his long-time translator, Ippei Mizuhara. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts used a pre-game press conference to announce that Will Ireton would serve as the interpreter for both Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Ireton is the Dodgers' Manager of Performance Operations and previously served as an interpreter for Kenta Maeda.

However, given Ireton's full-time position with the team, it remains to be seen who will serve as the full-time interpreters for the team's Japanese players. After splitting the Seoul Series 1-1, the Dodgers have a three-game series against the Angels to close out Spring Training. They will then begin their season in full with a series against the Cardinals at Dodger Stadium beginning March 28.

Why Does Shohei Ohtani Need A New Interpreter?

Last night, the Dodgers fired the longtime interpreter of Ohtani after an ESPN investigation revealed that the man had allegedly stolen millions from the MLB star to cover gambling debts. Originally, a spokesperson for Ohtani told ESPN that Ohtani had willingly given Ippei Mizuhara $4.5M to cover the debts. However, after Mizuhara spoke with ESPN himself, Ohtani's camp issued a statement alleging "massive theft", although they did not explicitly name Mizuhara. This all came to light due to a federal investigation into an illegal California betting operation. Matthew Bowyer reportedly received a million dollars from Ohtani's bank account. However, sources close to the betting operation told ESPN that Bowyer only ever interacted with Mizuhara.

Of course, this has led to a wave of conspiracy theories. Some believe that Mizuhara was Ohtani's intermediary, placing bets on the Dodgers star's behalf. All bets that Mizuhara made were on sports other than baseball. However, at this time, Ohtani will not face discipline and is not under investigation himself over Mizuhara's actions. Mizuhara told ESPN that he had asked Ohtani to pay off his debts last year and that he did not know that Bowyer's outfit was illegal. This remains a developing story.

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