When not a lot else has necessarily gone well lately for MLB, the league can now breathe a sigh of relief as Shohei Ohtani, baseball’s biggest star, is not facing criminal charges from the gambling scandal that has surrounded him.

As Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, now the subject of felony federal bank fraud charges stemming from more than $16 million in theft from Ohtani, U.S. attorney Martin Estrada said the Dodgers’ phenom is “considered a victim in this case.” To that end, Mizuhara is alleged to have used a series of tactics to hide a serious gambling addiction and his theft from Ohtani, including identifying himself as the Dodgers’ phenom to “trick and deceive” bank employees into authorizing transfers. 

“Our investigation has revealed that due to the position of trust he occupied with Mr. Ohtani, Mr. Mizuhara had unique access to Mr. Ohtani’s finances,” Estrada said. “Mr. Mizuhara used and abused that position of trust in order to take advantage of Mr. Ohtani.”

This Isn’t Rose, A-Rod, or Bauer

Over its long history, MLB has seen some of its biggest stars tainted, often irreparably, by various scandals, whether it be Pete Rose and gambling, Alex Rodriguez and performance-enhancing drugs, or Trevor Bauer and domestic violence, to name a few. But Ohtani threatened to top all those prior situations and render unfathomable damage upon the sport had he been implicated, given his unique two-way abilities, global fan appeal, and record-setting $700 million contract. 

Even compared to the last six months, Ohtani’s clearance by federal authorities represents a dose of good news for the league. Just since the end of last season, MLB has grappled with an ongoing uniform debacle, disruption in the regional sports network space, a spate of pitcher injuries, tension with the MLB Players Association, and the ongoing A’s saga that is now extending to Sacramento, among other issues. 

MLB, however, has not detailed where its own internal investigation of Ohtani stands, though it said Thursday that it “will wait until resolution of the criminal proceeding to determine whether further investigation is warranted.” Serious questions also remain about how Ohtani or his accountants did not detect earlier that so much money was going missing. But critically for the league, the federal charges from the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California show no culpability for Ohtani and no wagering by Mizuhara on baseball. Ohtani has claimed innocence and has been cooperating with investigators. 

Mizuhara’s Many Issues

Previously considered one of Ohtani’s closest friends, Mizuhara could receive a fine of up to $1 million and/or 30 years in prison. Among the key details in the federal complaint against Mizuhara:

• Mizuhara generated a total of $142.3 million in winning bets and $182.9 million in losing ones and, as a result, amassed a gambling debt of nearly $41 million. 
• His average bet was about $12,800, and over roughly a 25-month period, he was placing an average of nearly 25 bets per day.
• Mizuhara was fully aware of the lack of winning, and even allegedly joked at one point to a bookmaker—not named in the complaint but previously reported to be Mathew Bowyer—in 2022, “I’m terrible at this sport betting thing, huh? Lol.”

“Technically, I did steal from [Ohtani],” Mizuhara is alleged to have told the bookmaker. “It’s all over for me.”

Despite the Coyotes’ continual efforts to secure a long-term future in their current market, the team’s local situation is seemingly devolving in near–real time, perhaps marking the beginning of the end of a 28-year stint in the desert. 

Just since Monday, when Scottdale mayor David Ortega blasted the team’s plans to build a $3 billion arena and mixed-use development in north Phoenix, the Coyotes have been beset with a dizzying series of developments, many of which suggest a lack of confidence in the franchise. 

Among the latest events to surround the team:

• The NHL has developed a contingency plan to move the team to Salt Lake City, according to multiple reports, a market that has openly coveted landing a team. In addition to drafting an alternate schedule for the 2024–25 season that would involve the team being placed in Utah, multiple reports also pointed to a two-stage process in which Coyotes owner Alex Meruelo would sell the franchise back to the NHL for $1 billion, and then Ryan Smith, owner of the NBA’s Jazz and co-owner of two pro soccer teams in Salt Lake City, would buy the team for as much as $1.3 billion. Other NHL team owners would split the difference. 
• Smith went as far to post a survey on X in which he is soliciting potential names for an NHL team in Utah. 
• NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly issued a statement that certainly didn’t throw any cold water on the Salt Lake City chatter, instead saying, “The league is continuing to work on a solution to what has been a challenging and difficult situation. But we are not in a position to comment beyond that.” 
• Before Wednesday’s game in Vancouver, Coyotes coach André Tourigny (above, standing) said relocation rumors surrounding the team since January helped prompt a 14-game losing streak and derail the season. “We cannot pretend it did not affect our team,” Tourigny said. “That had a huge impact on our season. We did not deal with it the right away at the time.”
• Ortega walked back some of his prior opposition to the Arizona proposal, saying he’s now in favor of the project, so long as its primary access point faces Phoenix instead of Scottsdale, in order to alleviate traffic concerns. Ortega’s recommendation would be a shift from how the planned development was presented in original renderings.

Though a relocation to Utah is far from certain, the rising noise surrounding the Coyotes perhaps prompted the team to post a video on X on Wednesday in which the team reiterated it was “committed to keeping Coyotes hockey in the desert and building an arena in Phoenix.” The Coyotes are aiming to win a June 27 auction for a 110-acre parcel of state-owned land in north Phoenix, initially appraised at $68.5 million.

The various moves and comments raise plenty of questions, including why the NHL would want to trade down from the No. 11 media market to the No. 27 one, before even knowing what will happen with the land auction. The Delta Center, where the Coyotes would play temporarily in a move to Utah, also was not designed for hockey, a facility situation that impaired the team’s early years in what is now the Footprint Center in Phoenix. But such is the uncertainty and fluidity currently surrounding the Coyotes.