Shohei Ohtani is ready to break silence amid gambling scandal: What to expect

Amid an ongoing gambling scandal, Shohei Ohtani is scheduled to meet with the media on Monday. Last week, news broke that Ohtani wired $4.5 million dollars to an illegal bookie related to bets his interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, (who was employed by the Dodgers) made.

At first, it was reported that Ohtani paid the debt off for Mizuhara. Later, Ohtani's camp claimed that Mizuhara stole the money. The change in story created plenty of questions.

What else have Dodgers said?

Very little. On Sunday, ahead of a Spring Training game, manager Dave Roberts spoke to a scrum of media gave a brief acknowledgment of Ohtani's plan to speak Monday, seeming to indicate he also knows very little on the matter:

"I think it's good. I think it's the right thing to do," manager Dave Roberts said. "I'm happy he's going to speak and speak to what he knows and give his thoughts on the whole situation I think it'll give us all a bit more clarity."

Roberts said, "we had [training on the gambling policy] this spring."

He also claimed that the situation has not been a distraction for the team, praising the group's ability to compartmentalize.

Why hasn't Shohei Ohtani spoken to the media yet?

We don't know for sure, but there are a few logical reasons. For one, Ohtani may have been piecing together details of the incident in real time along with the rest of us, and may very well have been ill-prepared to speak on the matter.

Second is more logistical. The Dodgers were playing an international series against the Padres in Seoul, South Korea, so none of the team has been available to the media in recent days. That said, Ohtani's locker was guarded by Dodgers personnel and he was unavailable for questions in South Korea according to media who made the trip to report on the team.

But also, his interpreter was fired in the midst of all of this. The team employs another interpreter for Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and it's possible he could have used him, but Ohtani may not have had a rapport with him yet. Ohtani for now will use Will Ireton, former interpreter for Kenta Maeda and current Dodgers Manager of Performance Operations.

What will Shohei Ohtani say?

Given that the MLB and federal government is investigating the incident, expect Ohtani to say very little on the matter that is fresh from what has already been released in statements. He will almost certainly speak in Japanese through an interpreter and reveal very little new information.

Still, his access to media will be heavily watched on the off chance he reveals any new information.

How will Ohtani communicate without an interpreter?

Ohtani is working with a new interpreter, Will Ireton. Here is an article with more information on Ireton, but he was already employed with the Dodgers as a performance operations manager and worked as an interpreter for previous Japanese Dodgers.