Ex-mobster Michael Franzese says the latest Major League Baseball betting case isn’t a shocking one-off.
In his view, it’s exactly what he’s been warning about for decades.
In a recent video, Franzese walks through the federal case against Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase and pitcher Luis Ortiz and explains why he thinks this is only the start of something much bigger.
And he’s blunt: if the FBI keeps digging, he believes they’re going to find a lot more.
Ex-Mobster Turned League Adviser Says “I Told You So”
Franzese starts by reminding viewers who he is and why the leagues once came to him.
He says he ran a massive gambling operation back in his mob days, with bookmakers under him and athletes from “all the sports in New York and surrounding areas” betting with his crew.
According to Franzese, that’s exactly why the NBA, MLB, and others recruited him years ago to lecture players about gambling.
He says he’s been telling them the same thing for 30 years: the more access you give players to gambling, the more trouble you’re going to have.
Franzese argues that players are naturally wired to gamble.
Their competitive drive doesn’t shut off when the game ends; it just shifts into cards, betting lines, and now phone apps.
He reminds viewers that just two weeks ago he called the NBA gambling scandal “the tip of the iceberg.”
Now, with a federal indictment hitting Major League Baseball, he says that prediction is already coming true – and he doesn’t see it stopping here.
Inside the Clase Case: Rigged Pitches and “Bettor One”
To put the new scandal in context, Franzese reads through a news article on the federal indictment of Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz.
He stresses that these are allegations and repeats that everyone is innocent until proven guilty.
As Franzese summarizes it, prosecutors claim Clase and Ortiz agreed ahead of time with certain gamblers to throw specific pitches – usually balls instead of strikes – so those gamblers could win proposition bets on individual pitch outcomes.
These weren’t bets on who wins the game. They were bets on what a single pitch would be.
Franzese highlights one key moment described in the indictment: a May 28, 2025 game in Cleveland.
According to the article he reads, Clase was supposed to throw a ball out of the strike zone so “Bettor One” could cash in on a prop bet. Instead, Dodgers hitter Andy Pages swung at the pitch, missed, and turned it into a strike – blowing up the plan and costing the bettors money.
Franzese notes how the indictment says Bettor One then texted Clase a GIF of a man hanging himself with toilet paper.
About 10 minutes later, Clase allegedly replied with a sad puppy GIF.
To Franzese, the most interesting detail isn’t the GIFs.
It’s the fact that “Bettor One” is not named in the indictment.
He tells viewers that, based on his experience, that usually means one thing:
Bettor One is probably cooperating with the government—or could even be an undercover agent placed to sniff out schemes like this.
Why Prop Bets Are a Fixer’s Dream
Franzese spends a lot of time explaining why proposition bets make this kind of scheme so easy.
He calls them “bets on things that happen during the game that are separate and apart from the score.”
If you’re a pitcher, he says, you can tell someone in advance, “The next pitch is going to be a ball,” or “I’m going to hit the batter,” and they can hammer that outcome on a betting app.
To the casual fan, the game looks normal. The pitcher might still get the outs he needs and his team might still win.
That’s what Franzese says makes this so dangerous.
You can rig small events without obviously throwing a game. And if you do it over and over, you can make serious money without ever tanking a final score.
He notes that, according to the article he’s reading, prosecutors say Clase started doing this in 2023 and kept going for about two years before being caught.
Franzese asks the logical question: if that’s true, how much money was made over that stretch?
He also pushes back on the idea that the bettors themselves are the core criminals here.
If someone tells you, “I know the next pitch will be a ball,” and you place a legal bet with that information, he asks, what exactly did you do wrong? In his view, the inside player manipulating the sport is the real problem.
From a practical angle, his explanation is chilling.
You don’t need a massive conspiracy. You just need one trusted player and one trusted bettor, and a world full of apps that let you wager on every tiny moment in a game.
Legal Gambling, Rising Crime, and Desperate Gamblers
Franzese isn’t just focused on athletes.
He zooms out to talk about legalized gambling in general and claims he’s seen the dark side of it up close.
He says that in every city where legalized gambling expanded, crime rose “in every single category” from petty theft to serious offenses.
His explanation is simple: gamblers lose money, get desperate, and start doing desperate things to get it back.
To drive the point home, Franzese shares personal stories from his life.
He recalls his father warning him that three things can destroy a man – “wine, gambling, and women” – and telling him to stay away.
He even tells a story from his teens, when he went to the racetrack with friends, lost seven out of nine races, and then came out to the parking lot to find all the hubcaps stolen off his Lincoln.
He says he took that as a sign from God and swore off gambling with his own money from that point forward.
Franzese argues that gambling is as addictive as drugs or alcohol, but more insidious because there are no physical signs.
You can look perfectly normal on the outside and be completely wrecked on the inside – until the debt comes due and you do something reckless.
He claims he’s seen people rob banks over relatively small gambling debts and says he could tell “story after story” of people whose lives fell apart because of it.
When you pair that kind of addiction with enormous access and anonymous apps, he believes you’re almost guaranteed to see more crime.
Players Resent Leagues’ Gambling Partnerships
One of Franzese’s sharpest criticisms is aimed not just at players, but at the leagues themselves.
He says the NFL, NBA, MLB, and others have cozied up to betting companies while still telling players they can’t gamble on their own sports.
According to Franzese, the leagues are now “in bed” with gambling sites and are making large sums of money off sponsorships and partnerships.
All of that revenue, he notes, is being generated off the performances of the players.
Franzese says he’s been in contact with people in the sports world in recent weeks and insists some players resent the double standard.
In his telling, some are asking: Why should we hold back when the league is making money on our backs?
He doesn’t excuse any illegal behavior, but he believes that resentment is real.
When you mix that emotional stew with easy access to prop betting and the illusion of anonymity, he thinks it becomes much more tempting for a player in debt – or just greedy – to cross the line.
From a fan’s perspective, this is where the integrity question gets scary.
If players feel used by leagues that preach purity while cashing gambling checks, you can see how the guardrails start to crack.
“Tip of the Iceberg”: Why Franzese Thinks This Will Spread
Throughout the video, Franzese keeps coming back to the same theme: this isn’t new, it’s just easier now.
He says players and league personnel “are gambling more now than they did in my day” because they don’t have to hunt for a bookmaker or fly to Vegas – they just pull out a phone.
He points to the recent NBA scandal, where one alleged insider reportedly had thousands of texts with co-conspirators.
To Franzese, that shows not only how sloppy people can be, but also how much evidence is out there waiting to be found once the government starts looking.
He warns that if the FBI or Department of Justice decides to create a dedicated unit to monitor gambling in pro and college sports, they will “continue making these arrests” for as long as they want to.
In his view, there is no shortage of players, staff, and outsiders already dabbling in these schemes.
Franzese also sees a looming problem in college sports now that many athletes are being paid and, in some cases, allowed to bet on pro games.
He thinks that mix – youth, money, and access – sets the stage for even more scandals if regulators pay attention.
From a broader perspective, his argument is pretty straightforward.
When you legalize and normalize something addictive, plug it into every smartphone, and surround it with big-money incentives, you shouldn’t be surprised when people push it too far.
A Warning From Someone Who’s Seen It From the Inside
In the end, Michael Franzese’s message is part analysis and part warning.
He keeps reminding viewers that Clase and Ortiz are innocent until proven guilty, and that the courts will decide what really happened.
But as a former mob captain who once lived off the gambling racket, he’s adamant that this kind of scheme is both easy and tempting in today’s sports landscape.
He believes the Clase case is proof that the “tip of the iceberg” he talked about after the NBA scandal is already breaking the surface in baseball.
His advice to athletes is blunt: protect your career, your family, and your freedom – stay away from this stuff while you’re still in the game.
He says the players aren’t “street people,” they don’t always recognize informants or undercover agents, and they’re far more likely to get caught than they think.
From a fan’s standpoint, it’s hard not to share at least some of his concern.
If even a small slice of pro athletes start treating prop bets as a side hustle, the trust that makes sports watchable can evaporate fast.
Franzese ends his video the way he often does – urging people to be careful and calling on leagues to own their role in this mess.
Whether you agree with all of his conclusions or not, his main point lands with force: with today’s gambling environment, the MLB scandal we’re seeing now may only be the beginning.
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The article Ex-Mobster Says The MLB Gambling Scandal Is Just Beginning first appeared on Survival World.
Mark grew up in the heart of Texas, where tornadoes and extreme weather were a part of life. His early experiences sparked a fascination with emergency preparedness and homesteading. A father of three, Mark is dedicated to teaching families how to be self-sufficient, with a focus on food storage, DIY projects, and energy independence. His writing empowers everyday people to take small steps toward greater self-reliance without feeling overwhelmed.
