1. I’ve always said that I didn’t think legalizing sports betting would lead to any great scandals because players make too much money to throw games.

I now have to officially rip myself for having such a dumb take.

When I think of sports betting, I think of picking a team to win or wagering on an over-under. What I naively didn’t factor into the equation were players being tempted by prop bets.

It just never occurred to me that whether a pitcher throws a ball or strike for the first pitch of the ninth inning would be something that could lead to a scandal. Clearly, I was dead wrong.

We don’t know if Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase actually bet on his first pitch thrown in the ninth inning being a ball, and I have to use “allegedly” with all of this, but if this turns out to be true, baseball has a major problem on its hands because Clase makes $5.4 million a year. If players making more than $5 million a year are going to risk their careers to win some prop bets, baseball is in big trouble.

Clase is the second Guardians pitcher to be placed on leave while under investigation for gambling. Pitcher Luis Ortiz was sidelined a month ago after unusual betting activity.

Here is some of the potential evidence against Clase.

The accusations against Clase have also led to some solid content.

The irony in all of this, of course, is that one of Clase’s pitches in question was delivered with a big Bet365 advertisement in his vision.

Emmanuel Clase
Betting advertisements can be seen all over Major League ballparks. | MLB

2. This is why I always roll my eyes when people trot out the “umpires/referees do a great job overall” cliché.

This just cannot happen under any circumstances. The upside, though, is LASIK is here to help.

3. For those of you who are itching for the NFL to go to an 18-game regular season so that the Super Bowl will get pushed to President’s Day weekend, it sounds like there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

Puck’s John Ourand reports that because of the current mess with the players union, talks about an 18-game schedule “are back to square one.”

4. This one is for my loyal SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast listeners.

5. What a beautiful and touching tribute to MACtion football that so many degenerate gamblers love to watch on a Tuesday and Wednesday night in the winter.

6. The latest SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast features a conversation with The Ringer’s editor-at-large, Bryan Curtis, about all the latest sports media news.

Topics covered include the partnership between Fox Sports and Barstool Sports, which company needs the other more, why Barstool’s daily FS1 show is more intriguing than the Big Noon Kickoff deal, the battle between Big Noon Kickoff and College GameDay and Barstool’s turnaround when it comes to public perception.

Other topics discussed include ESPN getting close to purchasing NFL Media and what that would mean, where Major League Baseball will end up selling the rights to its wild-card games and Sunday Night Baseball, ESPN’s decisions on Richard Jefferson and Doris Burke and its lead NBA booth, the cost of streaming and more.

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: While watching some Ryne Sandberg videos on YouTube last night, I came across this doozy of a fight between the Cubs and Mets from 1988, with the great Vin Scully and Joe Garagiola on the mic.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Major League Baseball Dealing With Massive Sports Betting Problem.

Test hyperlink for boilerplate