#OHTANIGATE IS ANOTHER ROB MANFRED FAILURE!

This is HUGE, folks. This is bad for baseball and just shows how Rob Manfred is bad for the sport and needs to be fired. This is a BIG deal. The more information that comes to light, the worse it looks. 

Shohei Ohtani is the face of baseball, but now he's in some hot water. The story now is that Ippei Mizuhara who is Ohtani's best friend and was his English Japanese translator allegedly stole $4.5 million to cover his own gambling debts. There are so many questions that need to be answered. A lot of details that just don't make sense, but no matter what the facts may be this is terrible for baseball.

Major League Baseball is officially investigating, and while we can sit here and hypothesize just how involved Ohtani was with this, there really is no good scenario with this. If he knowingly gambled on the sport that's a huge no-no that could end his career. Betting on baseball is not permitted and sports betting in California is illegal, period. Even if Ohtani wasn't directly involved, the company he keeps makes me a little skeptical of him.

More details are coming out about Ippei Mizuhara, and the latest one is a tie back to the Yankees, check it out HERE. The Los Angeles Angels media guide outlines Mizuhara's MLB resume, which says he worked for the Yankees in Sprint Training 2012 as an interpreter for Hideki Okajima. Interesting tidbit here is Okajima failed a physical before Sprint Training started and was released. So, the connection to the Yankees doesn't add up. Could he have worked as Okajima's interpreter before Spring Training started? Sure, it's not uncommon for players to show up for Spring ball early, but that doesn't mean he worked for the Yankees. Also interesting to note, when Okajima was with the Red Sox, multiple reports show Mizuhara was his interpreter. The Red Sox have now come out and said this is not true and two other interpreters were used. Boston is flat out denying this....what else is this guy hiding?

And what about his education? The Angels media guide also said Mizuhara graduated from the University of California, Riverside in 2007 but a school spokesperson was quoted as saying "Our university records do not show a student by the name of Ippei Mizuhara having attended UC Riverside." That's pretty interesting. Is it possible he attends UC Riverdale under a different name? Maybe....but the spokesperson did not clarify if another name was used. That's fishy.

So honestly, Mizuhara is a questionable character in my opinion. Something just doesn't sit right with me. I am not a gambler. I just don't do it because I am cheap. I googled "how much money did Ohtani's translator make?" and ESPN source came up that said Mizuhara made between $300,000 and $500,000 annually. That's a lot of money, and I don't know much about gambling, but I can't imagine any bookie would give a $4.5 million credit on this kind of salary without a guarantee from a bigger wage earner like Ohtani for example. I also have a hard time believing that Ohtani wouldn't know about transfers of this amount coming out of his account to cover the debts. Hence the theft story....it just doesn't add up to me, I'm having a hard time believing it.

Baseball is in shambles under this idiotic commissioner named Rob Manfred. He's made ridiculous changes to the game, and now has two scandals under his belt. The ASSTROS cheating scandal was bad enough because there was literally no punishment for this. Now, another gambling scandal with connections to the $700 million man who is the face of baseball. This man is a LIABILITY to the game and needs to be fired, period.

Manfred AND MLB better understand the game is bigger than the dollar signs Ohtani brings. There needs to be accountability here. Pete Rose was banned from baseball and is not in the hall of fame, so all eyes are on Manfred and how he handles this. IF Ohtani is directly involved in this, he must suffer the same fate otherwise the hypocrisy will kill this sport.

The game is tainted again due to #OHTANIGATE and a moronic, weak commissioner that needs to pay the ultimate price. He needs to be fired. If Ohtani is guilty, he needs to pay the ultimate price.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa

BYB Senior Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj