Shohei Ohtani’s Decision to Withhold Coordinated Testimony of Ippei Mizuhara During the Press Conference

“Call your agent immediately if something happens.”

That’s what he meant.

“Even though Mizuhara is proficient in language, the U.S. has a more robust culture of agents than Japan. Therefore, Ohtani’s response this time deserves a perfect score of 100 points. Mizuhara must have hoped to cling to Ohtani in the end, but that plan crumbled to pieces,” according to local sources.

Initially, when this issue came to light, Mizuhara responded to an interview by ESPN, claiming Ohtani’s “taking over” as he did to his teammates. Although this was quickly retracted, it was treated as an established fact for a while because there were misunderstandings about Ohtani’s private life.

“Doesn’t seem to care much about money”

“Seems like a nice person who might take responsibility”

“Doesn’t seem to understand the law”

The initial voices on the internet during the early reports shouldn’t have been too far from the public perception. However, Ohtani, without falling into Mizuhara’s collusion, immediately called his agent and dealt with the situation firmly.

What’s even more impressive about Ohtani is that when he first addressed the controversy on April 26th, he didn’t go into detail about these behind-the-scenes events.

Regarding Mizuhara, Ohtani stated:

“I have never asked him to transfer money nor have I given him permission to do so.”

“He stole money from my account and lied to everyone around me.”

He spoke in a clear tone.

“In that statement at the time, he didn’t talk about the ‘collusion’ from Mizuhara. If he wanted to appeal his innocence, he could have brought up those exchanges, but Ohtani only clearly denied the key points. Perhaps there was a consideration not to push Mizuhara with his own words,” said a sports newspaper reporter.

Mizuhara was indicted on bank fraud charges by federal prosecutors in Los Angeles on the 13th and appeared in court. Shortly thereafter, he was granted bail with conditions such as a $25,000 bail bond (approximately 3.83 million yen), surrender of his passport, and mandatory participation in a rehabilitation program for gambling addiction.

The plea is set to take place at the next court hearing on May 9th. Will new truths be revealed?