Someone always wanted something from Shohei Ohtani . An autographed baseball. A special meeting on the field.
But often during his time with the Angels , Ohtani could not be bothered. His regimen as a two-way player left him with limited time. His preference was to focus only on baseball.
Virtually every request needed to go through Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo of CAA. Many of them were denied. But was it Ohtani actually balking? Was his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, interceding? Or was it Balelo making the call? The three formed such a united front, such a protective cocoon, the Angels could not always tell.
Advertisement One Angels official likened Team Ohtani to “a well-oiled machine,” efficient and impenetrable. Or so people thought. The insular relationship among Ohtani, Mizuhara and Balelo, marked by immense trust despite a language barrier that hindered their communication, created the landscape for the unthinkable — Mizuhara’s theft of almost $17 million from Ohtani to cover gambling debts, and his plea of guilty last month to charges of bank and tax fraud.
The two counts carry a maximum sentence of 33 years. Could Mizuhara have pulled off such a theft without Ohtani and Balelo knowing? The only way it was even plausible was because of the unusual dynamic among the three, as detailed by more than 25 past and present Angels employees, Dodgers officials and others familiar with the evolution of their relationship. Many of those who spoke to The Athletic were gran.