TORONTO -- Commissioner Rob Manfred said Major League Baseball's "No. 1 priority is to protect the integrity of the game" and that the league has been "really vigilant" amid increasing questions about professional sports' ability to police the fallout from the widespread legalization of sports gambling.
Following the arrests this week of Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and longtime NBA player and coach Damon Jones for their alleged participation in fraudulent bets, sports leagues have grappled with maintaining competitive reliability in an environment ripe for corruption. Two Cleveland Guardians pitchers, closer Emmanuel Clase and starter Luis Ortiz, remain under investigation by MLB after a betting-integrity firm flagged multiple suspicious bets in June.