I hosted a sports talk radio show for about a decade, from 2016-2025. And for about the first five years of my career, there was a constant debate about the possibility and probability of sports gambling being legalized.
And for the next three years, we had the debate in the state of Vermont, where I did radio, and where sports gambling wasn't yet legal at the time.
I generally always landed in the same place: I believed that sports gambling should be legal, and that it should be regulated, and that the states should be allowed to generate revenue from what was already happening illegally among friends and bookies.
Whenever we had the debate on sports gambling, I always centered on the fans. I focused on the impact on the fans and the financial repercussions for fans that maybe couldn't handle it all. I ultimately decided that the negative impact on some was not enough to outweigh the revenue opportunities for states (especially small ones like Vermont).
To be honest, I never really considered the impact on the games themselves. And that was naive.
We've seen minor league players suspended for gambling and we've seen former Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Tucupita Marcano banned for life. We've seen Cleveland Guardians pitcher Luis L. Ortiz put on administrative leave because of a gambling-related issue, and the biggest domino of all fell on Monday, when Jeff Passan of ESPN reported that Emmanuel Clase, the All-Star closer for the Guardians, is also being investigated.
BREAKING: Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase has been placed on non-disciplinary paid leave as part of MLB's sports-betting investigation, sources tell ESPN.
Clase is the second Guardians pitcher on leave tied to the investigation, joining right-hander Luis Ortiz.
Clase isn't some minor leaguer making peanuts who's allured by the thrill of life-changing money. He's a bona fide star, making $4 million a year on average. If an established star on a potential Hall of Fame track, making good money, can be allured (allegedly and potentially) by a gambling scandal, then who else is next, and who else is out there? And what are the impacts on the sports we love, watch, support and invest in every single day?
I was naive to not consider this, and it appears as if the leagues were too. And with the cat way out of the bag, there's no easy fix in sight.
For the record, Clase is 5-3 with a 3.23 ERA this season. He's had 24 saves in 48 games, striking out 47 over 47.1 innings.
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Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.
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