Audio revelation in Ohtani case, plus Djokovic’s surprising AO exit

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Good morning! Be like Nikola Jokić today.

While You Were Sleeping: Headline

We start this morning on the other side of the world, where the Australian Open has been fantastic — and dramatic. There have been media controversies, fun animated livestreams and good tennis. 

As of early this morning, both the men’s and women’s singles finals are set: 

• On the women’s side, American Madison Keys, the No. 19 seed, will face top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka after Keys’ big upset win over No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek yesterday. It’s the first Grand Slam final for Keys since 2017. Meanwhile, Sabalenka crushed Paula Badosa in straight sets yesterday and is primed for her third straight AO title. Compelling.
  
• On the men’s side, reigning AO champion Jannik Sinner will face Alexander Zverev in the final. Zverev defeated the ailing Novak Djokovic after just one set, when the 10-time champ elected to retire from the match. It was a bummer. Then, about 15 minutes before we sent this newsletter, the top-seeded Sinner finished mostly cruising past Ben Shelton.

Let’s get to the other big news:

Exclusives: Audio lays Mizuhara case bare

Ippei Mizuhara’s malfeasance was well-known before today. The former interpreter for Shohei Ohtani had admitted months ago to pilfering millions from Ohtani. But until now, we hadn’t heard recordings of any of these swindlings.

Last night, The Athletic revealed audio of Mizuhara impersonating Ohtani while attempting to obtain a $200,000 wire transfer. To hear the call is jarring for how spare and normal it sounds. A couple of things piqued my interest specifically:

• On the call, Mizuhara is asked for two-factor authentication, and the phone number (and email) listed on Ohtani’s account belonged to Mizuhara. Federal prosecutors used this audio in court yesterday to illustrate the lengths to which Mizuhara had gone in order to shroud the process.
• There is a key distinction prosecutors are trying to make here: While Mizuhara blames his actions on a gambling addiction, prosecutors say it was plain greed, evidenced by these call records. There are payments Mizuhara made from Ohtani’s accounts for large eBay transactions ($325,000 on baseball cards) and dental work ($60,000).

I asked Sam Blum, one of the reporters on this story, what this means: 

“I don’t think there’s a seismic shift in what happens next. I do think it’s significant from a PR perspective. For many baseball fans, Shohei Ohtani’s closeness to this case has created some unease. Allowing people to hear the call can quiet any skepticism that Ohtani was the victim of a crime.”

Hear the full audio of the call here. We expect plenty more developments on this story, too.

News to Know

Ichiro just wants to have a drink
Two days later, it still feels surreal that Ichiro Suzuki fell one vote shy of unanimous election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Suzuki himself agrees, and said yesterday in a news conference he would like to “invite (the writer) over to my house, and we’ll have a drink together and have a good chat.” At least he has a sense of humor about it. We still don’t know the identity of the lone dissenter, and Steve Buckley argues we should know — but not for the reason you think.

Reunions?
A day after withdrawing his name from the search, Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen is expected to become the next Jaguars coach, which curiously comes shortly after the franchise parted ways with general manager Trent Baalke. Also, in baseball, third baseman Alex Bregman is talking with the Astros again, months after both sides appeared to move on from each other. Hm.