MLB agrees deal with sportsbooks to limit pitch bets in the wake of bombshell gambling scandal

Major League Baseball and its sportsbook partners have announced a new $200 nationwide betting limit on individual pitches while banning those wagers from parlays to disincentivize potential bad actors.

Included in sportsbooks' menu of prop bets are lines on single pitches. Betters can wager on whether that pitch will be called a ball or a strike and whether it will be above or below a certain velocity on the radar gun. These bets may also inadvertently incentivize gamblers to conspire with players. 

MLB's announcement comes as federal prosecutors claim to have identified such a scheme. On Sunday, the Department of Justice unsealed indictments against Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Luis Ortiz and All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase for allegedly conspiring with gamblers to manipulate the outcomes of prop bets centered on individual pitches. 

The scheme generated around $450,000 for gamblers, according to prosecutors.

By reducing betting values and limiting parlays, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred hopes to reduce incentives for gamblers to conspire with players, thereby: 'protecting the integrity of our games for the fans.'

'I commend the industry for working with us to take action on a national solution to address the risks posed by these pitch-level markets, which are particularly vulnerable to integrity concerns,' Manfred said in a joint statement with Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Christian Genetski, the president of MLB official sportsbook partner, FanDuel.

And like FanDuel, rival DraftKings has also agreed to adjust its baseball betting menus, arguing in a statement to ESPN the legal betting market is best suited to root out gambling-related schemes.

The issue has been on DeWine's radar since this summer, when unusual betting patterns emerged on a pair of June games involving Ortiz and Clase.

'By limiting the ability to place large wagers on micro-prop bets, Major League Baseball is taking affirmative steps to protect the integrity of the game and reduce the incentives to participate in improper betting schemes,' DeWine said. 'I urge other sports leagues to follow Major League Baseball's example with similar action.'

Despite MLB and the legal sportsbooks' best efforts, quasilegal and illegal offshore websites could still offer customers lines on individual pitches, thereby creating the incentive for gamblers to collude with players.

Baseball is just one sport facing gambling issues at the moment.

The Classe and Ortiz indictments come after the FBI made 30 arrests in recent weeks in an ongoing investigation into Mafia-linked poker games and an illegal betting scheme, both of which allegedly involved NBA figures.

Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups , Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and ex-NBA guard and assistant coach Damon Jones were all arrested on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

According to prosecutors, Billups and Jones were used as 'face cards' to lure unsuspecting gamblers to rigged poker games in one alleged $7 million scheme. Meanwhile, Jones and Rozier are accused of providing inside injury information to gamblers in a separate alleged scheme.

Both Billups and Rozier have declared their innocence in separate statements, while Jones pleaded not guilty to charges in both cases during his two arraignments at a federal court in Brooklyn on Thursday. Billups will be arraigned on November 24 while Rozier's arraignment is scheduled for December 8.

Meanwhile, UFC president and CEO Dana White has said he's been in touch with the FBI regarding unusual betting patters on a recent match.

And then there is college basketball, where six players recently received lifetime bans for allegedly conspiring with gamblers to manipulate betting outcomes.

The purported schemes are unrelated, according to the NCAA, but all involve 'betting-related game manipulation and/or student-athletes providing information to known bettors,' according to an official press release.

The banned players include New Orleans ' Cedquavious Hunter, Dyquavian Short and Jamond Vincent, Mississippi Valley's Donovan Sanders and Alvin Stredic, as well as Arizona State's Chatton 'BJ' Freeman.

The players are no longer enrolled at those schools, according to the NCAA, which did not list any legal representation for the accused.