Major League Baseball on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of "massive theft."
The Dodgers fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani's longtime interpreter and close friend, on Thursday after Ohtani's representatives alleged the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California.
"Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media," Major League Baseball said in a statement.