How Would Baseball Handle a Major Betting Scandal?

This week on the podcast, we’re doing something a little different. Instead of talking about the week’s news or keeping you all abreast of the latest Alex Rodriguez happenings, we’ve prepared a fictional narrative betting scandal — complete with fake articles, TV hits, federal investigations, and more — to explore whether the baseball world is prepared for a bona fide gambling catastrophe. Come along on this (only slightly horrifying) journey!

Tipping Pitches features original music from Steve Sladkowski of ⁠⁠PUP (!!!).

⁠⁠

Transcript

Tell us a little bit about what you saw and be able to relay that message to Cora when you watch Kimbrel pitch and kind of help out so he wasn’t tipping his pitches. So tipping pitches we hear about it all the time. People are home on the stand what tipping pitches all about? That’s amazing. That’s remarkable.

BOBBY: Alex, we have something just— just wildly different for the listeners today, just unlike anything we’ve done in, I guess, like six years, seven years since the Backyard Baseball episode. We have not put this much effort into one single episode of the podcast.

ALEX: Alex Rodriguez himself joining us in the studio? No. This is— this is an idea that we have been sort of kicking around over the last few months, that we started talking about in the off season, and then we got scooped by some— some breaking news at the beginning of the season.

BOBBY: Yeah, this was— this came from— so today, you’re gonna hear a— a fictional betting scandal. A podcast about a fictional betting scandal, which we are calling There’s Just Too Much Riding on This. This was— this was an idea that you came up with in the off season when we were brainstorming episode ideas. Some that we could do in the off season, some that we could do over the course of the season. Some that we could do in the fall— the subsequent offseason. And of course, betting has been on the mind. Betting is something that we talk about all the time.

ALEX: And partake in.

BOBBY: This is not the episode to joke about that. I think that you and I have grown a smidge tired of having to say the same things about betting, the proliferation of betting, the expanse of betting, the dangers that come with it. And so we decided to try to approach this complex topic from a different angle, and that angle is that we have written a script for a fictional betting scandal to illustrate how something like this could play out in our minds, bringing in what we know about the way— the ways that these various systems of power operate, and the ways that the various people at the levers of those systems of power respond when things happen. So we’ve written a script, including news articles, SportsCenter segments, fake quotes, fake GM statements, all the good stuff that you love when a real scandal happens. It’s going to be here for you in this fictional betting scandal.

ALEX: Yes.

BOBBY: Why— why— why does this—

ALEX: And this is non-fictional. [2:39]

BOBBY: I’m gonna say fictional as many times, and then I’m gonna end this by reading, like, the literal— this is a ficti— the fictitious— all persons fictitious to claim— disclaimer—

ALEX: Uh-hmm. Yeah.

BOBBY: —that they put at the end of movies. But, like, why’d you want to do this? What— what about this exercise? Before we jolt the listeners straight into it, and it sounds nothing like a normal episode of Tipping Pitches. What about this idea was appealing to you?

ALEX: I just— as you mentioned, sports betting has kind of been on our minds in a somewhat, I think, latent fashion in the last couple years, right? It’s like— it’s like it’s everywhere and nowhere. You know? Sports betting is impacting every part of our lives as fans and also, like, what does that mean? Especially if you’re someone who is not actively participating in or tuned in, you know, to the extent that you can tune out of this sort of thing. Like, we talk a lot about how this changes the dynamic of competitive sports, how it changes the dy— the— the relationship between fans and players, how it changes the relationship between, like, players and the game that they are playing. But a lot of that is— it’s hard to really quantify what that means. And, you know, I— I— like, it’s a lot of like— I don’t want to call it like doomsday talk, you know? But there’s a lot of, sort of, anxiety around where sports move forward from here. And I think I was really interested in sort of exploring what would happen if those anxieties came to fruition, right? What would it look like if that worst-case scenario came to pass, and what would that fallout look like? And what would it mean for us as— as fans talking about this, thinking about it? How far would it— would it reach? And so— and— and— and again, we— we started talking about this like, I think, a few weeks before the— the news around Ippei Mizuhara and Shohei Ohtani bubbled up, and we were undeterred, right? Because— because that was a very sort of specific and weird case, and I think we’re still sort of interested in exploring what a— a wider reaching scandal might look like. One, which—

BOBBY: Yes.

ALEX:  —I will note, baseball is no stranger to.

BOBBY: Throughout its long history, there are many of them.

ALEX: Uh-hmm.

BOBBY: Two extremely famous ones. This what— what you are about to hear just as a— as a quick primer, is not really like those scandals. It’s not— you know, to borrow a phrase that you use, technically, really the worst-case scenario. There are worst things that could happen. For example, like the Ippei Mizuhara, Shohei Ohtani case. If it had turned out that Ohtani was placing all of those bets, that is legitimately the worst case scenario for Major League Baseball. We were less interested in that than we were interested in asking questions and then confusing people based on the— the results, and the details, and the answers. Because when this happens, and I say when this happens, because something like this is going to happen, we need to prepare ourselves for it. When this happens, it’s going to feel more— it’s going to feel more confusing and weird and hard to parse than the Black Sox scandal. That was, like, a pretty obvious thing that happened, and a pretty obvious result from it. It’s pretty cut and dry. I wasn’t around, but the way that I understand it, it’s like they fixed the World Series, they’re banned for life. Done. It’s over. I mean, I’m sure there are a lot of ancillary details that we don’t remember 100 years on, just like there would be if something like what you’re about to hear would happen. But again, we live in this world of— this compartmentalized world, where things are happening over here that no one knows about, and things are happening over there that no one knows about. And things are about, and things are happening online, and things are happening underground. And it’s just not quite as— we don’t live in as tactile of a world, and so the betting scandal that we’re gonna get is gonna feel very ephemeral, you know? It’s gonna feel very hard to get your hands around.

ALEX: Yeah. I mean, it’s— it’s easy to forget, like, sort of how nascent this industry still is, right? I mean, the rise of sports betting as we know it, this era, you know, as— as many listeners may know, was sort of opened by— the— the floodgates were opened by the Supreme Court ruling in 2018. They basically legalized it. And I think we’re up to, like, 38 states that have legal sports betting, right? And so it’s still growing. It’s a 10-billion industry that, I think, even you and I are still kind of on a day-to-day basis, trying to figure out the— the more pernicious ways in which it’s— you know, sort of warming into our consciousness and our experience of— of watching these games. And so to— to your point, like I think it’s going to creep up on us in a manner that we are probably not expecting, that’s going to make it hard to assign blame, and—

BOBBY: Even harder to prevent and—

ALEX: And even harder to prevent. Yes.

BOBBY: Yeah.

ALEX: Yes, exactly.

BOBBY: The part that we’re leaving out here is that the real reason we’re doing this is not because— it’s— it’s partially because we were really interested in this, but it’s really just because, like, you’re going away for three weeks, and we need something to fill the feed. And we’re like, “Yeah, we could do two parts of this.” So you’re gonna hear today on this episode, you’re gonna hear the actual scandal, the fictitious scandal that we have written and performed for you. Next week on the feed, a week from now, you’re going to hear a conversation with a friend of the show that we’ve invited on to come on and talk about this as if it were a real thing that happened, and talk about it the way that we would talk about it had it happened. How would it unfold? How would people react? How would the media react? What lessons would we learn from this, if any? How would the industry change? How would Major League Baseball change? How would the entire sports landscape change? So that— next week is going to be a podcast conversation about a fictional podcast, and this week is going to be a fictional podcast. I hope everybody is willing to strap in. This is something that you and I care about. This is something that many of our listeners care about. I’m certain that people who listen to this podcast, many of them probably play sports wagers, and can hold in their— their mind the idea that it’s something that people can do for fun. It’s a way that you can add enjoyment into the game. But it is overstepping right now in its current state, and it is providing backdoors for bad actors.

ALEX: Yeah. I think that framing overstepping is kind of important because, I mean, longtime listeners of this podcast may be familiar with our perspectives on sports betting, but— but that’s also kind of irrelevant to this story here. And— and frankly, like, I— if you want to bet on sports, I think that’s— that is your God— I think that’s—

BOBBY: Right.

ALEX: —the 11th amendment to the Bill of Rights. You know?

BOBBY: It’s the same way— it feels like if you want to root for the Yankees, you can. I wouldn’t, but you can.

ALEX: Right. But— but I think that—

BOBBY: What’s the— what’s the— the Voltaire quote? “I don’t agree with what you say, but I’ll fight to the death to defend your right to say it.”

ALEX: We’re already doing great. I— the— the point of this, again, is— is not to, you know, create a blanket statement that sports betting is bad and it’s ruining sports, and here’s why, and here’s what’s going to happen. It is meant to be an exploration of all the gray areas that this kind of industry brings up and— and the ways in which we’re about to have to grapple with these. Very soon, probably sooner, I think, than many of us are considering.

BOBBY: All time funniest thing that could happen would be if we got an actual, real sports betting scandal in between these two episodes.

ALEX: Uh-hmm. Yeah.

BOBBY: Wow, I’m really— I’m actually hoping for that.

ALEX: Yeah?

BOBBY: No. It’s called a reverse jinx, Alex. Don’t know if you ever heard of it.

ALEX: Nicely done.

BOBBY: Anything else that you want to note for our listeners before we get into it?

ALEX: I mean, I think the last thing I will just say, before we embark on this narrative journey is, I think the exercise of putting this story together got me thinking a lot about kind of who is left holding the bag in these situations. And when we— when we talk about sports betting and its impact on the games that we watch, who are the ones who are actually bearing the brunt of a lot of these pains? I think it is often not the superstars, the— the Pete Roses, so to speak, of this world. It’s often people who are maybe a little more vulnerable, maybe have a little bit more to lose. And I— and I think you’ll see that reflected a little bit in this story that we’re going to share. But as we’ve gone through this exercise, and— and just as these stories continue to dribble out, as they do, I— that’s something I— I urge the listeners to keep in mind and— and it’s something that I think I’m— I’m trying to remind myself daily, right? Is like, if you think it’s bad for you, just think about the next guy down the line.

BOBBY: What a— what a kicking off point. Thanks for getting everybody really in the mood.

ALEX: And with that—

BOBBY: And with that, my name is Bobby Wagner.

ALEX: My name is Alex Bazeley. We’ve never done the intro like that.

BOBBY: And this is a work of fiction, unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this podcast are either the product of our imaginations or used in a fictitious manner, any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental on this episode of Tipping Pitches.

[theme]

BOBBY: The baseball team? Yes, we’re really going to call them the baseball team. You didn’t think we were going to get ourselves sued by calling them the [bleep] or the [bleep] did you? They’ve had a middling half decade. They’ve been hovering around 500, missing the playoffs all but one year, and they got eliminated in the wildcard round. But things are looking up. Their GM, hired four off-seasons ago, made some tough decisions the last couple years at the trade deadline. He let go a handful of veterans, he reset the payroll. He’s cleared some roster spots for top prospects to come up over the last 18 months.

[music]

BOBBY: Things aren’t going perfectly this season. They never are. But it’s the first time since the deep playoff run 10 years ago, the fans can see a clear picture of their team’s next great core. It seemed like it happened fast too, but that wasn’t by accident. Their GM started his career in player development at an elite college baseball program. Not only does he have a leg up on scouting college talent, he enjoys the flexibility of a relatively gracious owner, whatever that means, who has empowered the GM to call up prospects early, and in many cases, even offer early career extensions. After all, these guys were often 21 or 22 by the time they came into the org, so the sooner they can get to the show, the better. Fast forward to now, the organizational direction is set. They’re building around a college catcher named Mason Nolan, two college starting pitchers, one of whom Jackson Armstrong, was battery maids with Nolan at Southeastern State University and a promising High School Center who is toolsy, but still not quite there yet. Yes, we did have the internet generate these names for us. The media can’t get enough of the battery mates, remaking the baseball team into a contender. The team centered around starting pitching and the catcher holding it all together, feels strangely refreshing. Their rebuild feels fast tracked, straight from college into the pros, no five-year wait.

[music]

ALEX: Major betting scandal unfolds in college baseball. Links to MLB players suspected. A multi-year investigation uncovers a widespread betting scheme at Southeastern State University, ensnaring top MLB prospects and shaking the foundations of America’s pastime. In a developing story that could become one of the most significant scandals in college sports history, federal investigators have uncovered a potential betting scheme involving one of the nation’s top college baseball programs, Southeastern State University. Early reports suggest that the scandal may also implicate several players who are now rising stars in Major League Baseball. According to sources, the investigation spearheaded by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and cooperation with the NCAA began quietly over a year ago following a tip from an insider at SSU’s athletic department. The whistleblower, who has requested anonymity due to fear of retaliation, reportedly approached school officials with concerns about unusual activity surrounding the team’s performance during the 2025 College World Series. The focus of the investigation appears to be a College World Series elimination game from two years ago in which SSU suffered an unexpectedly heavy defeat. Authorities are examining whether the outcome of that game was manipulated through the involvement of coaching staff and players in an illegal betting operation. While no names have been officially released, insiders suggest that at least two players who are now in Major League Baseball could be involved. At least one player currently on SSU’s roster is facing a lifetime ban from collegiate sports. Sources close to the investigation indicate that player A and player B, both of whom were identified in the investigation, but are not yet being named publicly, were not aware of the betting scheme at the time, but may have become aware of it in the ensuing weeks and failed to bring it to the attention of NCAA officials. In exchange, they allegedly received financial incentives from the betting syndicate, funneled through intermediaries connected to the coaching staff. The implications of this scandal for Major League Baseball could be profound. Commissioner Rob Manfred has issued a statement expressing deep concern over the findings and has vowed to take decisive action. The integrity of our sport is paramount. The statement read, “We are working closely with federal authorities and will take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that those involved are held accountable.”

BOBBY: This news breaking in an otherwise slow June has thrown the baseball world into complete chaos, particularly because there are currently seven players from Southeastern State in affiliated ball, including four in the majors. Cue the discourse cycle, baseball leading sports coverage as it so rarely does. Fans take into social media to dismiss the reporting as unlikely or illogical. Opposing fans hoping for lifetime bans, media members taking a critical, if premature, look at sports gambling company’s influence on the game, rinse, repeat. The baseball team’s GM was contacted in advance of the publishing of the article, as were the GMs of the other MLB franchises that may be involved in this story. The GM releases a boilerplate statement that they won’t allow time for the investigation to be completed before commenting further.

[music]

ALEX: Earlier today, we were made aware of an ongoing federal investigation into allegations of a betting scandal involving the Southeastern State University college baseball program. It has come to our attention that this investigation may involve one of our current players who is a member of that college team at the time in question. “The integrity of our sport is the foundation upon which everything else rests. We hold our players, coaches and staff to the highest ethical standards, and any actions that undermine the trust of our fans is deeply concerning. We are committed to cooperating fully with federal authorities as they work to uncover the truth. As this is an ongoing investigation, we will not be making further comments at this time. Our focus remains on supporting our team on the field in their playoff race.”

BOBBY: But media is already picking this statement apart at the first press availability that the GM gives.

ALEX: What is the timeline for the conclusion of the commissioner’s investigation?

BOBBY: The MLBPA has already implied that they will file agreements over any unilateral decision made by Rob Manfred to suspend a player for betting while the player was not yet part of pro baseball. In your understanding, can these players even be suspended for this?

ALEX: Are questions around sports betting part of the routine scouting and draft evaluation process?

BOBBY: Early reporting suggests that the FBI’s investigation was launched after a tip from someone inside the SSU program. Was anyone in the organization warned about the players’ involvement in this?

[music]

BOBBY: With the entire focus of the national sports media on this story, not just the reporters plugged into these worlds, but the radio hosts, podcasters, fan blogs, TV personalities, writers who work at outlets primarily funded by sports betting companies. It becomes a maelstrom of conspiracy and half-truths. I heard that Armstrong intentionally tipped his pitches in the College World Series game, and Nolan helped the batters pick up on those tips. It was all the head coach who was in charge of the whole thing and the players had no involvement. This was an ongoing rumor in College Baseball circles. There’s no way the organization didn’t know anything about this when drafting these players. Six weeks have gone by and the joint NCAA and FBI investigation has concluded.

ALEX: A new bombshell in the Southeastern State University betting scandal. Two assist assistant coaches have been indicted on federal bribery charges linked to the team’s elimination series in the College World Series two years ago. ESPN can now confirm that the team’s strength coach and pitching coach have been fired for their involvement, and the team’s head coach has resigned in the wake of the news. Sources within the FBI have confirmed anonymously that Jackson Armstrong and Mason Nolan, now teammates at the professional level with the baseball team, were not the center of the scheme, but were paid in exchange for their silence. Both were named as people of interest after an anonymous whistleblower within the SSU came forward with allegations that their blowout elimination loss in the 2025 College World Series was orchestrated by a sports gambling syndicate. The syndicate made their approach through the team’s strength coach, who enlisted the help of the pitching coach to devise a scheme to give away the team’s pitching signs and locations in exchange for payments of $50,000 and forgiveness of debts accumulated with the gambling syndicate. Members of the program at Southeastern State University started to raise concerns when the team’s strength coach was said to be bragging about a number of winning bets he placed on various sports in the aftermath of receiving his payment. Sources say the gambling syndicate then approached Armstrong and Nolan, who were at the time the unwitting victims of the pitching sign scheme the strength coach and pitching coach developed, and offered to pay them an unknown amount in exchange for their silence on mounting rumors. Both players who had already declared for the draft accepted the payments. It’s unclear the extent to which Commissioner Rob Manfred has the power to enforce MLB’s Rule 21 against players who were involved in betting on baseball when at the college level. So suspensions are yet to be levied. A source within the Commissioner’s Office indicated that suspensions are more likely to be sorted out after the FBI makes a recommendation on racketeering charges for those involved in the illegal gambling syndicate. SSU’s athletic director, facing pressure from the school’s administrators and boosters to step down, will host a press conference this afternoon. Now, let’s take it over to the campus where our senior reporter is on the scene.

BOBBY: The conclusion of the FBI’s report sends shock waves across the sports landscape. If a premiere program like Southeastern State University can be completely ripped apart by a betting scandal this flagrant, it suddenly seems like a betting scandal is right around the corner in every sport at every level. But it’s the ensuing Commissioner’s report on the incident that strikes the death blow for the baseball team. Manfred’s report reveals that at least two scouts, one roving hitting coach and the assistant GM of the baseball team, had knowledge of Armstrong and Nolan’s involvement in the cover up of this story. The same anonymous whistleblower, who eventually went to the FBI, had come to the baseball team during the draft process and was rebuffed. After repeated attempts to communicate the scope and the severity of the gambling syndicate’s influence over Southeastern State University and the players involved, the whistleblower finally made contact with two baseball team scouts and revealed that they were worried that Armstrong and Nolan had been compromised by this scandal. Though, at the time, the whistleblower did not know about the anonymous payments, whether the players were principally involved, or whether they were involved against their will. Upon finding out about how serious this scandal had become, the two scouts enlisted the support of the team’s roving hitting coach to raise the story up the chain to the assistant GM. After hearing the details incomplete, though they were at the time, the baseball team’s assistant GM killed the story and told the scouts and coach to stop pursuing it, saying, quote, “If it happened before they were part of our organization, there’s no sense in drudging it up and making it seem like it was our fault. These players are going to be in the major soon. There’s just too much riding on this.” It’s really hard to say what the fallout would be from a scandal like this. Certainly, there would be a dissolution of trust, the size of which we haven’t seen in decades, if not, a century. There would be suspensions, there would be calls for, at minimum, the named employees of the baseball team to lose their job in addition to the GM. A show like ours would wonder how something like this could happen, and no one from ownership would be directly held accountable, standard yelling into the void things. Here are some hypotheticals we wondered about where thought might be likely to happen. The assistant GM who squashed the story when the whistleblower came to the team, though he played a minor role in the events themselves, would be the first fired, the fall guy, so to speak. Not a very good movie. He would receive a minimum of a one-year suspension, probably more likely in the three to five-year range, akin to the John Coppola suspension in practice. The GM, though not directly implicated in the findings of any investigation or story in the media, would be fired for failing to have awareness of something like this going on in the organization. Would he get another job in baseball? Probably, but not for a few years, at least. The league would get a soft mandate from the Commissioner’s Office not to hire him back immediately. And GMs are always somewhat replaceable. As for the players, well, we went back and forth on this. Ultimately, I don’t think they’d be formally suspended under Rule 21. They didn’t place the bets. They didn’t throw the game, at least not intentionally. And their impropriety occurred when they weren’t under the jurisdiction of Major League Baseball. MLB would want to suspend them for betting to make an example out of them, but their agents, the union, and whatever separate legal representation they acquire, would fight it, tooth and nail. Rob would have a field day trying to pin this on a legal loophole, not so subtly implying it’s the pesky union’s fault for keeping them from being suspended. I do think MLB would end up suspending the players, though, on the grounds that racketeering charges, if they were to be brought forward, would violate Article 12 Section B of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, conduct detrimental or prejudicial to baseball, which reads, “Players may be disciplined for just cause for conduct that is materially detrimental or materially prejudicial to the best interests of baseball.” Capital B, Baseball, by the way. “Including, but not limited to engaging in conduct in violation of federal, state or local law. The Commissioner and a Club shall not discipline a player for the same act or conduct under this provision. In cases of this type, a club may only discipline a player or take other adverse action against him when the Commissioner refers the disciplinary decision to the club.” Translated for those who don’t often read CBAs in their free time, if you do something that embarrasses baseball, they can still suspend you. This coda is one long winded way of saying, “This would be a disaster from top to bottom.” I like to think that somewhere on Sixth Avenue, the Commissioner’s Office has a crisis PR plan developed for them by handsomely paid management consultants in the event of a scandal, mirroring the one we’ve laid out for you. It has a flowchart. If this happens, work from this prepared statement. If that happens, release a statement, saying you need more time to investigate. Come to your own conclusions. Delay, delay, delay. The PowerPoint, well, you know, it’s expertly written. It’s color-coded. It’s got a strong Sans Serif font, really expert shit. But when the rubber hits the road, do you trust them to put the plan into motion? Make decisive action and prevent the baseball world from unraveling?

[music]

BOBBY: This special episode of Tipping Pitches was written, edited and produced by Alex Bazeley and me, Bobby Wagner. Sound design, mixing and mastering by Bobby Wagner. This episode features music from Epidemic Sound. Thanks as always, Steve Sladkowski, for our intro music. Thank you for listening. Tune in next week for part two, where we invite friend of the show, Bradford William Davis on to discuss the hypothetical fallout from something like this, and really just the wider landscape of betting in professional sports leagues right now. Bradford’s great. It’s a great conversation. We’re really looking forward to hearing it. We’ll see you then.

ALEX RODRIGUEZ: Hello, everybody. I’m Alex Rodriguez. Tipping Pitches. Tipping Pitches. This is the one that I love the most. Tipping Pitches. So, we’ll see you next week. See ya!

ALEX: Should I do like my— my movie trailer voice?

BOBBY: In a world [30:41]

ALEX: A multi-year investigation—

BOBBY: —unfolds in College Baseball.

ALEX: —uncovers a wide— exactly.

BOBBY: Do you want to do some accent work on this one?

ALEX: Yeah.

BOBBY: British DM.

ALEX: British DM. I’m doing my— I’m doing my newscaster read, you know?

BOBBY: Yeah, you’re like fucking— you’re like Walter Cronkite.

ALEX: Walter— us both trying to think of newscasters.

BOBBY: Like [31:06]

ALEX: Brian— Brian Wilson?

BOBBY: No. We got a regular Walter Cronkite on our hands here.

ALEX: Sources in the FBI confirmed anonymously—

BOBBY: You should do it Transatlantic. A new bombshell, you see, in the Southeastern State University betting scandal. Two assistant coaches, count them, one, two assistant coaches have been indicted on federal bribery charges linked to the team’s elimination series two years ago.

ALEX: You’re doing great.

BOBBY: ESPN can now confirm that the strength coach and the pitching coach have been fired for their involvement, and the head coach, oh, well, he has resigned in the wake of the news, as you would if you were so ashamed.