The Los Angeles Dodgers sacked their star player, Shohei Ohtani's disgraced interpeterIppei Mizuhara Wednesday after he was found involved inan illegal sports gambling operation and they also didn't waste time in finding his replacement.
Ohtani, aka "Shotime", is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher and designated hitter for the Dodgers of Major League Baseball.
According to the team's manager, Dave Roberts, Mizuhara will be replace by Will Ireton, who's worked for the team in a variety of capacities since serving as Kenta Maeda's original interpreter with the Dodgers,
Ireton, who is the Dodgers current Manager of Performance Operations since November 2021, has held various titles with the organisation including development coach and coordinator of performance operations.
The Dodgers' disgraced interpreteradmitted to ESPN asking Ohtani to pay off an alleged $4.5 million in debts.
Following the incident, the team issued a statement confirming Mizuhara's termination: "The Dodgers are aware of media reports and are gathering information. The team can confirm that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara has been terminated. The team has no further comment at this time."
Meanwhile, Roberts attempted to downplay the controversy in his pregame remarks with reporters Thursday in Seoul.
"Shohei's ready," Roberts said. "I know that he's preparing in a hitter's meeting right now and ready to go for tonight's game."
The manager did not elaborate on the substance of Mizuhara's remarks to the team after Wednesday's game, a 5-2 Dodgers win.