ESPN reported it saw two wires for $1M in September and October of 2023, and Mizuhara said there were 8 or 9 wires for about $500K ending in October of 2023.
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/39784809/dodgers-shohei-ohtani-mizuhara-theft-line
So, how much do we think Ohtani had on hand, in cash, in 2023 before he signed the Dodger's deal, anyway?
From age 18-22 he played for the Nippon Ham Fighters.
Per B-Ref it looks like his US baseball income was around $10M up to the end of 2022, plus a $2M signing bonus.
In 2023, the Angels paid him $30M, so it seems like enough cash was coming in during the period when the wires went out. And he obviously has endorsements which could drive up that figure considerably.
I'm guessing that means there's enough liquid cash to cover $4.5M in 2023. But even so, after taxes, that's like a quarter of his MLB income.
Ohtani signed his historic contract with the Dodgers in December of 2023. However, his deferred salary means he's earning something small. I've seen it reported as $2M a year, in the immediate future. I'd personally think it weird - very very weird - if nobody reviewed Ohtani's finances with him in 2023, before or after the deal. I'd personally think it weird if all the financial information was run verbally through Mizuhara alone - if nobody else in Ohtani's circle that reviewed his finances spoke Japanese, and/or if nobody in Ohtani's circle wasn't bilingual. Plus we know Ohtani has some English.
But Team Ohtani's second story is that he had no idea
anything at all happened until after the game on March 20th. Even though Team Ohtani, including his agent, knew about the basic accusations for 36 hours or so prior to that.
This just has a very weird shape to it.