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The shadow of suspicion on Shohei Ohtani grows larger after controversial words from Tim Donaghy, a former NBA referee convicted of betting on games he officiated.
Donaghy believes the Japanese player had some involvement in the gambling scandal of his translator, Ippei Mizuhara.
The MLB absolved Ohtani of any blame, while Mizuhara is immersed in a judicial process accused of stealing $17 million from the Japanese player to make those illegal bets. The translator allegedly deceived the banks by impersonating Ohtani and taking actions to prevent the player from realizing what was going on.
Donaghy says MLB swept story under the rug
For Donaghy, there's no doubt that the Dodgers star was aware of everything that was going on.
"I think Major League Baseball was smart to sweep this under the rug as quickly as possible," he said on the Hot Mic podcast. "If you look at that guy and what he's done for baseball worldwide and the fans he's attracted around the world, the last thing they want is for him to be somebody who's involved in betting on his own games and maybe doing things that he used to do. He's not supposed to do that."
"So I think they were very smart to sweep that under the rug as quickly as possible and say he had nothing to do with it and basically make this other guy take the blame for everything.
"There's no doubt in my mind that not only did he bet on baseball, but he bet on Ohtani's games and I think Ohtani was right there with him, knowing what he was doing.
"When you look at the amount of betting he (Mizuhara) was doing, he obviously had some kind of addiction, so it's not like he could just quit when it comes time to start a baseball season. There's no doubt in my mind that he didn't just bet on baseball, he bet on Ohtani's games and I think Ohtani was right there with him, knowing what he was doing."