The scandal involving two high-profile MLB players, both from the Cleveland Guardians, will reverberate across professional baseball for months, if not years to come.
A spate of similar incidents that can be traced to match-fixing has already washed over professional leagues in the United States, with the NBA, UFC, and now MLB all affected by the tide.
MLB approves caps on individual pitches to lessen temptation
In the latest case, Cleveland Guardians Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were indicted this weekend in the US District Court in Brooklyn, with the players said to have fumbled pitches in order to secure betting outcomes for themselves and co-conspirators.
The total amount of wagers won this way was about $460,000. Responding to this, sportsbooks have now promptly moved to set a cap on bets on individuals and their performance in the MLB, specifically at $200, a move that has been authorized by the league itself.
The league has deemed that the best way to ensure no foul play is to guarantee that high-risk betting markets do not create temptation for players to engage in illicit practices.
"The risk on these pitch-level markets will be significantly mitigated by this new action targeted at the incentive to engage in misconduct. The creation of a strict bet limit on this type of bet, and the ban on parlaying them, reduces the payout for these markets and the ability to circumvent the new limit."
Sportsbooks are determined to help preserve sports integrity
Most regulated sportsbooks have agreed to work with the MLB on limiting the maximum amount allowed on the wager types that the two players allegedly abused for their gain, among which are Bet365, BetMGM, Caesars, Circa, DraftKings, FanDuel, PointsBet, Rush Street, Underdog, and others.
In the meantime, Ortiz has maintained his innocence, arguing through his lawyer that he has never engaged in any behavior that would undermine the integrity of the sport.
Clase released a similar statement through his lawyer, too, arguing that he has devoted his life to baseball and has dedicated his career to making sure that his team always comes on top.
