In May 2018, when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), it paved the way for legalized sports betting on a state-by-state basis. You’d have to live under a rock to not know how much sports betting has almost taken over the landscape of professional sports and big-time college athletics.
You cannot turn on a game of any kind or a talk radio station without being absolutely bombarded with ads pitching great bonuses for signing up with a sports betting app. This bombardment now seems to be never-ending. The assault on the senses is very real.
What is becoming a problem for the players is the lunatic fringe of bettors who reach out to players who ruin wagers. The most public instances of this occurred within days of each other in May. Two pitchers, Red Sox reliever Liam Hendriks and Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers, both received death threats via social media.
The Houston police tracked down a young man down who has admitted to betting on McCullers, losing his wager, getting drunk and threatening to kill McCullers’ kids. The police have not released the knucklehead’s name because no charges have been filed yet. The police say that this guy was apologetic and asked the police to pass that along to McCullers and his family.
At the same time, the outspoken Liam Hendriks said he was the target of similar social media threats, with one person wishing that Hendriks had died from the cancer Hendriks was battling the past two years.
Astros owner Jim Crane hired 24-hour security for McCullers and his family. Hendriks has declined to hire security but his building in Boston has stepped up security for his family.
Look, escalating salaries play a role in leagues reaching partnerships with gambling entities, as this is a brand new and lucrative revenue stream. So, you could take the point of view that players make out just fine on the deal. Really?
Chances are, in the cases of McCullers and Hendriks, these are just drunk cranks who wouldn’t step out from behind their computers. But it only takes one to act upon their deranged mindset to really alter the sports landscape entirely.
Leadership with the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB need to convene some sort of commission to study this problem and come up with some concrete measures to counter what seems to be just the tip of the iceberg of chilling problems intersecting with sports and legalized betting.
Now here are my power rankings for the week of June 9:
1. Detroit Tigers (43-24, No. 1 last week): The Tigers have something nobody else in baseball has: Tarik Skubal. In case you hadn’t noticed, his partner in crime Jack Flaherty gives Detroit quite the 1-2 punch. Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson are both on pace for 100-plus RBI seasons.
2. New York Mets (42-24, No. 3): The Mets have the best record in the National League and that is with the 8,000-pound elephant in the room and $765 million man Juan Soto batting just .244 with 11 HRS and 31 RBIs. If Soto earns that money, the Mets may make it very deep into October. No pressure, Juan.
3. Chicago Cubs (40-25, No. 4): Manager Craig Counsell has himself a powerful offensive squad, led by breakout star Pete-Crow Armstrong, Seiya Suzuki and Kyle Tucker. Mathew Boyd and James Taillon head a staff decimated by injuries to Justin Steele and Shota Imanaga. Rookie Cade Horton is keeping his head above water, but how club president Jed Hoyer and GM Carter Hawkins add to the rotation will determine if the Cubs can make a real run at all the marbles.
4. Los Angeles Dodgers (39-27, No. 2): This is not what we expected from the Dodgers. Their pitching staff has been decimated with injuries. They’ve already used 25 pitchers and there are no real timelines on Tyler Glasnow or Blake Snell. Roki Sasaki could be back around July 1.
5. New York Yankees (39-25, No. 5): The Yankees are 20-10 in the last five weeks. The offseason pick-ups to replace Juan Soto and Anthony Rizzo — Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt — have fit in and become key contributors. With Luke Weaver out, Devin Williams has no choice but to rise to the occasion as the closer.
6. San Francisco Giants (38-28, No. 9): Logan Webb, Robbie Ray and Landon Roupp have combined to start 40 games and hurl 233 innings of quality ball, helping to keep the Giants’ solid pen fresh. Quick, who is their leading RBI guy? Wilmer Flores with 49.
7. St. Louis Cardinals (36-29, No. 8): Sonny Gray is still pitching at a high level at the age of 35. The right-hander has posted a 3.35 ERA in 75.1 innings, striking out 81 hitters and walking 14.
8. Philadelphia Phillies (37-28, No. 6): I’m not going to sleep on the Phillies based on a bad 10 days in early June, but Aaron Nola was 1-7 with a 6.16 ERA and 1.51 WHIP prior to landing on the IL with an ankle injury. The offense is middle of the pack and the bullpen sucks. Sounds like Dave Dombrowski is about to get busy.
9. San Diego Padres (37-27, No. 7): The Padres are just 10-9 in the last three weeks. No question they miss Michael King in that rotation. They host the Dodgers this week for three. Maybe that’ll get their juices flowing again. They seem stale.
10. Houston Astros (36-29, No. 10): This has been a bumpier ride than Astros fans are used to. They started 20-19 but are 16-10 since then. They are counting on a new cast of characters with Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker gone and Yordan Alvarez (right hand) out. Jeremy Peña is playing some great baseball. Isaac Paredes is chipping in along with Jake Meyers, who is growing into his role. Yainer Diaz seems to be heating up a good bit.
11. Tampa Bay Rays (35-30, No. 15)
12. Minnesota Twins (35-30, No. 12)
13. Toronto Blue Jays (35-30, No. 18)
14. Milwaukee Brewers (35-31, No. 17)
15. Seattle Mariners (33-31, No. 11)
16. Cleveland Guardians (34-30, No. 13)
17. Kansas City Royals (34-32, No. 14)
18. Cincinnati Reds (33-33, No. 19)
19. Texas Rangers (31-35, No. 20)
20. Arizona Diamondbacks (31-34, No. 21)
21. Los Angeles Angels (30-34, No. 24)
22. Washington Nationals (30-35, No. 23)
23. Atlanta Braves (27-37, No. 16)
24. Boston Red Sox (32-35, No. 22)
25. Baltimore Orioles (26-38, No. 25)
26. Athletics (26-41, No. 26)
27. Pittsburgh Pirates (26-40, No. 28)
28. Chicago White Sox (22-44, No. 29)
29. Miami Marlins (24-39, No. 27)
30. Colorado Rockies (12-53, No. 30)