Shohei Ohtani's former teammates shut down gambling conspiracy theory

There is still a lot about the Shohei Ohtani interpreter gambling scandal that needs to get sorted out. Like why the story changed all of a sudden and how exactly Ippei Mizuhara managed to steal millions of dollars without Ohtani or his people realizing it.

Along with all the questions swirling around the scandal, one major conspiracy theory appeared on the internet: What if Mizuhara was placing bets on Ohtani's behalf? What if the interpreter is taking the fall for the player's gambling debts?

The answer to that seems to be pretty definitive already: No.

The only thing everyone agrees on is that Shohei Ohtani doesn't gamble

Ohtani's camp asserts he didn't gamble. Mizuhara asserts Ohtani didn't gamble. The allegedly illegal bookmaker who is the subject of a federal investigation asserts Ohtani didn't gamble.

The evidence in favor of that conclusion has only piled up since. Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register spoke to former teammates of Ohtani's, presumably from his days playing for the Los Angeles Angels. They all said Ohtani isn't the type to gamble.

"One consensus is that Ohtani never paid attention to other sports, so it's unlikely Ippei was betting on his behalf," Fletcher tweeted.

Mizuhara claimed he only bet on international soccer, NBA, NFL and college football. He insists he never bet on baseball. That can't necessarily be taken at face value. Still, it seems fairly clear that he was indeed betting on those other sports. If Ohtani was directing those bets, it would mean he had an interest in college football over/unders that remained completely hidden. Those who know him seem to insist he's all baseball.

That doesn't mean that Ohtani is undoubtedly clean. His teammates could only know him so well, especially with a language barrier. He's a notoriously private person. He's hid other major aspects of his life from the public eye.

Having said that, all the available evidence points to those hoofbeats coming from horses, not zebras.