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Rob Manfred said Major League Baseball will respond “fully and cooperatively and on time” to an inquiry from a Senate committee that requested information regarding its gambling investigations.
Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell sent a letter to MLB on Monday amid the scandal involving a pair of Guardians pitchers, Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, who have been indicted on charges involving rigging pitches to profit on bets.
The Senate committee asked for written responses and documents by Dec. 5.
In response to the scandal, the league and its betting company partners placed caps on wagers on pitch-level markets — gamblers can no longer bet more than $200 on the outcome of individual pitches — and excluded those from parlays.
Manfred does not envision taking further steps to ensure such a scandal is not repeated.
“We think the steps we’ve taken in terms of limiting the size of these prop bets and prohibiting parlays off them is a really, really significant change that should reduce the incentive for anyone to be involved in an inappropriate way,” Manfred said at the owners meetings in Midtown on Wednesday.
The scheme, according to prosecutors, began as early as May 2023, when Clase allegedly helped coconspirator bettors win wagers regarding how hard he would throw a specific pitch.
Clase allegedly recruited Ortiz into the plot this year, and the pair were placed on leave by MLB in July and indicted earlier this month. They have pleaded not guilty and face a maximum of 65 years in jail.
Manfred maintained that the league’s relationship with the gambling world helped identify the scheme.
“The most important undertaking and really the bedrock of the relationship with the sportsbooks is the ability to monitor betting and the ability to discern inappropriate patterns,” Manfred said. “… We understood the prop-bet issue from the very beginning. I’m glad we’ve done something about it.
“But the rest of the program right now, I think we’re generally prepared to move forward under the rules that we have now.”
Asked about a complete ban on prop bets, Manfred said, “We think the changes that we’ve made strike the right balance.”
Manfred said the league’s own investigation into Clase and Ortiz is ongoing.
Manfred sidestepped questions regarding the owners’ plans and wishes as the current collective bargaining agreement is set to expire in December 2026.
The belief is that owners will push for a salary cap. Manfred acknowledged that competitive balance has been one “topic of conversation” during the meetings.
“What I would say about the issue of competitive balance is that we have a significant segment of our fans that have been vocal about the issue of competitive balance,” Manfred said, “and in general we try to pay attention to our fans.”
A lockout is expected. Manfred is hoping that no part of the 2027 season will be lost.
“There has never been a lost game since I became involved as an employee of baseball, and it is my goal to get this next one done keeping that record intact,” Manfred said. “There’s a lot of work to be done between now and then, but that’s my goal.”
MLB announced three-year media rights agreements with ESPN, NBCUniversal and Netflix that will extend through the 2028 season.
NBC will regularly air MLB games for the first time in 26 years, and Netflix’s partnership will grow from original programming to live baseball event coverage.
Among the highlights:
- ESPN will distribute MLB.TV, the league’s out-of-market streaming service. Starting next season, fans can purchase and watch teams’ games outside of their home territory on MLB.TV through ESPN.
- NBCUniversal will air “Sunday Night Baseball,” “Sunday Leadoff,” and all four wild-card series of the postseason.
- Netflix will air the 2026 World Baseball Classic in Japan and will open the MLB season the next three years with a singular game — next season with the Yankees visiting the Giants. The streaming giant also will air the Home Run Derby and next year the “Field of Dreams” game live from Dyersville, Iowa.
That “Field of Dreams” game will return for the first time in four years and feature the Twins and Phillies.
The Brewers and Braves will play in the 2026 Little League Classic in Williamsport, Pa.
MLB announced a six-year agreement with PitchCom, the device used by pitchers and catchers to prevent sign stealing, which will run through at least the 2031 season.
The All-Star weekend schedule has been tweaked.
The draft has been moved up from Sunday to Saturday, and the Futures Game has gone from Saturday to Sunday. It will be followed by a “new All-Star event that will combine former players and celebrities,” Manfred said.
MLB is “really pleased with the progress” that has been made on Tropicana Field, Manfred said.
The Rays are hoping to return next season to their home, which had been wrecked by a hurricane that forced the club to play its home games last season at the Yankees’ Steinbrenner Field.
“They expect the roof to be dried out the first week in December, which is a really important milestone for us,” Manfred said. “There’s going to be new turf and padding, new flooring throughout. … All the air-quality tests have come back fine.”
After the family of the late Peter Seidler announced they were exploring a sale of the Padres, Manfred said he expects “there will be people who are interested in buying.”
“It’s a really appealing franchise,” Manfred said. “They’ve done a great job building a fan base. The in-ballpark experience is probably one of our best. They’ve got some great players.”
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