Tim Arango and Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times reported on Wednesday that Shohei Ohtani‘s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, is in negotiations to plead guilty to federal crimes in connection to the theft of Ohtani’s money. 

Despite Mizuhara originally saying that Ohtani paid off his $4.5 million in debt, which was accrued by illegally betting on sports with a bookie in California, Ohtani and his lawyers countered, saying that Ohtani had no knowledge of the situation and that the interpreter stole the money from the Japanese superstar.

Along with that, sources told the New York Times that the former interpreter may have stolen more than the original $4.5 million, changing Ohtani’s bank notification settings to help him do so.

While the conflicting narratives originally left a lot of grey area, a guilty plea along with admission of many key parts to the investigation from Mizuhara, would make the story much clearer. 

Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

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On This Date in Mets History

2017: Yoenis Céspedes hits three home runs in one game against the Phillies, becoming the first Met with two three-homer games.

1962: The New York Metropolitans play the first game in the franchise’s history.

Birthdays: Alejandro De Aza (40), Trot Nixon (50), Bobby Jones (52), Bret Saberhagen (60), Wally Whitehurst (60)

The post Morning Briefing: Ohtani’s Former Interpreter Plans to Plead Guilty appeared first on Metsmerized.

The 1993 Mets were a bad team, but their off-field troubles were worse than their on-field performance.

The 1993 Mets finished 59-103. Manager Jeff Torborg was dismissed 38 games into the season, replaced by Dallas Green. The team was coming off a 1992 season where they posted a 72-90 record, which prompted reporters Bob Klapisch and John Harper to write the book “The Worst Team Money Could Buy.”

The book depicted GM Al Harazin’s spending and trading sprees after the 1991 season, bringing in Bobby Bonilla, Bret Saberhagen, Eddie Murray, and Willie Randolph. Harazin’s aggressiveness did not work out in 1992, and that failure was exacerbated by the team’s performance in 1993.

Things started out poorly for the Mets, then got worse. Through May, the team was 17-31. By the end of June, the Mets had a new manager, but held an unsightly record of 23-53. The problems did not stop there.

On July 7th, Saberhagen threw a firecracker at a group of reporters who were interviewing pitcher Anthony Young. Then, on July 25th in Los Angeles after a Mets-Dodgers game, almost unfathomably, Vince Coleman threw a firecracker (the equivalent of a quarter stick of dynamite) toward fans out the window of a car being driven by Eric Davis of the Dodgers. Bonilla was also in the car.

Three children were hurt in the incident, and after the season, Coleman was sentenced to 200 hours of community service. Coleman was suspended by the Mets in August, and never played another game for the team.

That wasn’t the end of the off-field problems. Just two days after the Coleman incident, on July 27th, Saberhagen filled a super soaker with bleach, and squirted reporters Mark Hermann of Newsday and Dave D’Alessandro of The Record. Saberhagen initially denied having committed the act, but later admitted to doing so, calling it a “practical joke”.

What a month July of 1993 was for the Mets.

August and September were better in the sense that there were no off-field issues, but the team’s performance remained the same. The Mets posted a combined record of 21-35 in those two months. Interestingly, the Mets went 3-0 in October, but still managed to lose 100+ games for the first time since 1967.

Other Mets teams have had problems off the field. Four members of the 1986 Mets were arrested in Houston after the team was swept by the Astros in July. Ron Darling, Rick Aguilera, Tim Teufel, and Bob Ojeda got into a barroom scuffle with off-duty police officers, and paid the price.

More recently, Jason Vargas threatened a reporter in the Mets clubhouse after a Sunday game at Wrigley Field in June of 2019. Vargas later awkwardly apologized, stopping short of taking full accountability for his actions.

July of 2020 will re-introduce baseball to our days and nights.  The shortened season will commence on July 23rd (the 24th for the Mets). For the Mets, July of 2020 has to be better than July of 1993.

The post The 1993 Mets: You Can’t Make This Stuff Up appeared first on Metsmerized.