“I think Ohtani is on the road to become perhaps the greatest baseball player to play the game,” he said, noting the Japanese ballplayer’s ability to excel as both a hitter and pitcher, something not seen since Babe Ruth. “He’s got enormous potential that stretches around the world. The money is just naturally going to come about at that level.”

Ohtani is already way ahead of anyone else in professional baseball in endorsement earnings, estimated by Sportico at $65 million last year. His roster of sponsors is deep: New Balance, Porsche, Oakley, Hugo Boss, to name just a few.

Ohtani’s biggest sponsors, including New Balance, have remained largely mum about the gambling news involving Ohtani’s ex-interpreter. Most experts say they doubt that Ohtani would have jeopardized his career by betting on games and later telling the world that he never gambled. Still, there may be at least a small cloud hanging over him until the feds conclude their investigation.

Meanwhile, tour operators on both sides of the Pacific are looking to capitalize on his brand. They’re promoting newly-designed baseball packages that include Dodger Stadium field tours and increasingly pricey and hard-to-get game tickets, thanks in no small part to Ohtani’s popularity.

“Everyone is long on Ohtani, no one is short,” said Michael Osacky, president of Baseball in the Attic and lead appraiser for PSA, the world’s biggest third-party grader for sports collectors. Recalling the scene at the National Sports Collectors convention in Chicago last summer, he said, “They were like crazy people looking for anything Ohtani. It was all Ohtani, Ohtani, Ohtani.”

Since the interpreter’s gambling news broke last Wednesday, however, Osacky said the action on Ohtani collectibles has quieted as hedge funds and other parties who have been buying wait for more developments. Still, no one is selling, and some investors said it may be good to load up on Ohtani products.

Last year, an autographed Bowman chrome refractor card of Ohtani in his 2018 rookie year fetched $184,000. The price for a bat that he used to smash his first grand slam: $168,000.

For now, most everyone seems to be pulling for the boyish-faced slugger.

“It’s easier for fans to decouple Shohei from his friend and interpreter,” said Dae Hee Kwak, director of the Center for Sport Marketing Research at the University of Michigan. “If you’re a Shohei fan, you’re just like ... well, it’s Ippei.”

The Dodgers organization may have the most at stake, having signed the two-time MVP to a record 10-year, $700 million contract. The MLB has a lot riding on him too as it looks to expand its worldwide reach by tapping into the drawing power of players like Ohtani.

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