That didn’t take long.
Last week federal prosecutors filed charges against Ippei Mizuhara, Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter and confidant, and in the process said emphatically that Ohtani was merely a victim.
Major League Baseball responded by dropping its own investigation into the question of whether Ohtani had violated its rules regarding gambling. I’m fine with that; the federal government has far greater ability to uncover such malfesance and far less reason to want to hide something that might embarrass the game. The U.S. Attorney has more credibility with me on this than Rob Manfred.
I am skeptical of the notion that Mizuhara could have won and lost literally hundreds of millions of dollars betting on sports without ever placing a wager on baseball, especially since he almost certainly believed he knew more about MLB than about any other sport. That doesn’t ring true, even if the investigation found no evidence of baseball wagering.
But I do believe that Ohtani relied so heavily on Mizuhara to be his conduit to American society that he had no notion of Mizuhara’s wagers and looting of one specific financial account — the one in which Ohtani’s pay from the Angels was deposited.
And the failure of Ohtani’s agency to monitor that specific account — and its failure to have an independent check on Mizuhara’s veracity — is likely to have long-term ramifications.
Here and gone
The extremely brief return of Michael Tonkin to the Minnesota Twins puzzled me right up until it ended.
Tonkin pitched in 2013-2017 for the Twins without distinction, then vanished from the majors until last season, when he somehow stuck with Atlanta for 45 games and 80 innings. When the Braves reshaped their pitching staff in the past offseason, Tonkin was jettisoned.
He landed with the Mets but was quickly designated for assignment, whereupon the Twins got him “for cash considerations,” which could amount to buying the Mets GM dinner when the two teams meet later this season.
Tonkin made one appearance, allowing two runs in two innings on Friday — and was DFA’d on Saturday. Which was the inevitable destination for him, since he ran out of options long ago and the roster spot is more valuable than his pitching ability.
The problem is this: The Twins have 11 players on the major league injured list, and two others from the 40-man roster on the injured list for their minor league teams. Forty minus 13 is 27 — and the active roster needs 26.
The Twins didn’t buy Tonkin’s contract because they wanted him. They bought it because they needed an arm and his was readily available.
Out of the Woods-Richardson
Spring training stats are meaningless. But spring training can reveal changes in talent and skills.
Such may well be the case with Simeon Woods-Richardson, possessor of the longest surname in MLB history and now, after Saturday’s spot start, possessor of a major league win.
The Twins landed him in the Jose Berrios trade, and at the time he was a borderline Top-100 prospect. That status has been slumping since. But this winter he lowered his arm slot — it’s unclear to me if that was suggested by the Twins or by a private pitching-development operation — and that added velocity and life to his pitches. He opened some eyes in Fort Myers.
Saturday’s start was impressive, even if Detroit doesn’t have a notably productive lineup. The Twins should be more comfortable with the notion of Wood-Richardson as the rotation’s Plan B — and might even start considering whether he should supplant Louie Varland at the back end of the rotation.
Edward Thoma is at ethoma@mankatofreepress.com.