BAD DEAL! CLAUSE CAUGHT CHEATING | Cubs Baseball Channel Podcast

BAD DEAL! CLAUSE CAUGHT CHEATING | Cubs Baseball Channel Podcast

one of the biggest pieces that was potentially on the trademark last year and helped Cleveland make their incredible run to the postseason and actually overtake the Tigers for the division busted by the Department of Justice for cheating. We’re going to talk about that guy Emanuel Class and his teammate that are in a lot of trouble right now. What that means to the game of baseball. Details have also emerged from that alleged Bryce Harper Rob Manfred dust up that happened in Philadelphia. Of course, Harper on the trade block potentially someone that I think the Cubs should target if they can get him. And Kelsey’s markets predict that Kate Horton won’t win the Rookie of the Year. Can they be right? I just can’t see how he doesn’t win. But we’ll get into all that on the Cubs baseball channel. Like, subscribe, thumbs up, hit the bell. Be a part of what we’re doing. Even you Cardinals fans. Let’s go. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Say everybody, Mick Gillespie, Cubs baseball channel. And let’s start this week off with a lot of things to get into. And it starts with this, which is really bad news for the game of baseball. And that’s Emanuel Claus and Luis Ortiz being charged with sports betting, money laundering, conspiracy by the Department of Justice. More of this stuff is coming because it’s going on. the NFL, the NBA, MLB, college sports, just keep an eye out on it. So with Class A and Ortiz, they would maybe not throw games, but they would uh tip pitches, which you can bet on. And this to me is a major major scandal. It’s a major scandal. I mean, Pete Rose was the face of sports betting. And there’s a flyer on every single clubhouse and all levels of baseball that says that if you do it, you’re out. And I’ve never done it. Um, and I don’t play, but to see two active players, and we’ve had other players involved in gambling lately, but to have two guys that could potentially get up to 65 years in prison for this gives you an idea of the seriousness that the Department of Justice and Major League Baseball are dealing with right now. And you wonder how far down the line this goes. Um the Cubs really would have loved to have had Emanuel Claus. He’s a great closer. And the sad part about it is, you know, he doesn’t need the money. I mean, the guy is one of the best closers in baseball and he’s already making a ton of money and it’s not like these bets are a difference maker in his source of income. Class signed a five-year, $20 million contract with Cleveland with team options for 27 and 28. you know, so he was what? 4 million, 6 million, you know, like a lot of money, you know, contract with incentives, club options, all of that stuff. Um, and for him to be involved with this could be the end of his career. Now, the first thing I thought of when I saw this is was his interpreter the guy behind this. You know, it’s really interesting when you look back at that Show Otani interpreter deal. Shay Otani is by far the best player in baseball. His interpreter was the one that gambled the $16 million. And as all these other, you know, people are indicted on these sports betting conspiracies across the games, not just baseball. You know, I wonder if we look back at that and still question it. I mean, I don’t know how many of you guys have said to me or text me or, you know, messaged and said, “Hey, I I I just don’t buy it.” You know, and baseball would have lost by far the game’s best player had he gotten busted. Can you imagine the level of this of a conspiracy with Show Otani? So, I don’t know, but I you almost feel like this stuff is the tip of the iceberg. And I’m I’m curious to see how this kind of pans out. And I wonder how we would feel about this had the Cubs made that trade for Class. You know, what would that have looked like? But, you know, the guy’s one of the best uh best closers in the game and as far as Cleveland’s concerned, I mean, this is a big big hit, you know. um you know the to to not have him really just kind of sits out to me and I’m like okay well you know it hurts the game and it definitely it’s a black eye on baseball and then on top of that you’re like you know how deep does this go 5 and3 record 323 erra and he had 24 saves uh uh 2024 he had 47 saves. I remember a game uh in 24 where it was like he he saved like four games straight against the Cubs. I feel like it was like incredible. So anyway, we’ll we’ll keep an eye on this and you know I say that and I’m like I I don’t know just kind of you know shake my head. So, the other thing, and and I know it doesn’t have as much to do with the Cubs and in this off seasonason, but it’s worth talking about that we’re getting details now of of Bryce Harper um and Rob Manfred’s clubhouse confrontation. Basically, the story is that the commissioner of baseball, which I know a lot of us aren’t huge fans of, didn’t like the way that he handled the Astros cheating, um, you know, and other stuff, too. It’s just like he was just so tonedeaf on that. He’s trying to get before next year, right? Between the 27th season, the owners, I think, want a salary cap. And the players don’t want a salary cap. So the story goes is that he was in the clubhouse and Bryce Harper while he was talking like basically got told him to leave, you know, cussed at him and and then, you know, maybe even got in his face a little bit. I don’t know if that’s true, but told him to get out of the clubhouse and he didn’t said he wasn’t going. And then one of his guys, he’s got henchmen. Then the guy said basically, you know, you don’t talk to the commissioner like that. That’s how people end up in ditches. There’s a lot of money involved in this. And I heard the way that Bryce Harper was talked about by the the guy that runs the organization, the Phillies. And that gives me kind of a a hint that they was it Dave Dumbrski? I just don’t think that they’re happy with him. I go back to and I know a lot of you guys aren’t going to know what I’m talking about, but Baltimore in 82, you know, they had the big labor deal and for some reason Orioles ownership and Doug the Sensei, which was a really good player for Baltimore, got sideways and the Orioles traded the Sensei to the Angels and he was a good player and they won the World Series without him and he was someone that they really could have used and then years later people were like, “Hey, it’s that ownership wasn’t happy about him being, you know, kind of the union rep, I guess, or something, you know, something to that effect. And, you know, that may be kind of how the Phillies feel. You know, you’re getting paid a ton of money, you’re not a elite player anymore, and then you’re disrespecting the commissioner of baseball, who has a lot of say over things that happen in the league. It matters. You know, the time to to get into an argument and scream at people isn’t in the clubhouse when the commissioner is going around meeting all the teams. You listen to what he has to say. You go to your reps and then you start working that out. For Bryce Harper to jump up and act like that to me, I’m just going that guy’s that’s ridiculous. and and it’s not like he’s gonna make more money than probably anybody that that’s going to watch this show in his lifetime. You know, the problem that that I have with with this is that I know that we’re going to end up in one of these labor situations. There’s enough money to go around. I feel like as a fan, I I can’t stand the way that this thing’s structured right now for a few reasons. First off, in no league, if you guys are running a fantasy football league or running a major league baseball team, would would you allow the show Otani contract that the Dodgers did where he’s going to take the league minimum, you’re not going to have to pay uh a penalty on it because he’s going to get all of his money in 10 years. Like it’s it’s honestly it it’s almost cheating to me. It it and the fact that the league would allow that contract to go through is like no. I mean, look, you guys want to pay Otani $700 million. I think he’s worth it. But you gota he needs to be paid that money in the time that he’s playing, not backloaded, so that you can go out and buy every single good player that you want. Now, some of you guys are going to say, “Hey, you know what? At least they’re being creative.” But you have to have a set of rules to make it competitive for everybody. It’s not a surprise to me that they’ve won three World Series since 2020. So just as a fan it’s it’s it’s unfair. Now the second thing is I am that I think that having guaranteed contracts is the worst thing in any sport. I think that you should have some of the money guaranteed, but that the league should not allow for players to all just get the exact amount of money that they’re supposed to get over the term of a contract if they don’t deliver the service that the contract was made for them to deliver. And I mean, I’m going back to Jason Hayward, that trade. It’s like year after year after year watching this guy suck. And he’s the highest paid player on the team. He’s getting paid more than Chris Bryan. He’s getting paid more than Anthony Rizzo. He’s getting paid more than um Jav Bayz. And he can’t hold their jockstraps. That’s the truth. And you as an organization are stuck paying this. The reason that the NFL kicks baseball’s butt is because the league is set up with enough competitive balance. You can’t go and just pay for the best player in the game and put it on a contract for 5 years from now, 6 years from now, eight years from now. You know, the teams have a similar amount of money to spend. And there’s no guaranteed contracts like that. If if a guy doesn’t play, then he’s out. or if he all of a sudden stinks. How do you make that fair? I don’t know. And I know, look, if I was a player, I mean, I would would want this policy because I think we’d all want to go to work and get paid for 10 years. And if we didn’t want to work it, we didn’t have to. If we couldn’t work it, we didn’t have to. and still get paid. And I mean, I’m sorry. I mean, I just I I I totally see it that way. I I feel like for if the Dodgers are good, they still have to have somebody to play, you know? So, it’s it’s not like and and this is where I I guess I differ on than than this than some of you guys, but I feel like when I go to work every day, I don’t have to play another YouTube channel to do the show, right? Like, that’s just my show. I’m going to put it out there and you watch it or you don’t watch it. If I’m playing sports, I have to have another team to play. There’s a value in that. Now, should, you know, should every team have the exact same amount of money to spend? I I don’t I don’t know about that. But to have it set up where, you know, one team can spend a, you know, billions of dollars and then another team financially just isn’t capable of doing even part of that. It ruins the competitive balance. Now, I don’t know that it’s kept, you know, some organizations from not finding success because, you know, you look at teams like Tampa Bay and Cleveland and and Milwaukee and they they win even though they don’t have that huge payroll. You know, Kansas City won a World Series like that. So, I mean, it’s not a definite thing, but the popularity of the game has gone this direction, and the popularity of the NFL has gone this direction. NFL’s a made for TV game, but I think part of it I I think baseball’s the greatest game that’s ever been invented. It’s the greatest game I’ve ever seen. I love every time I watch it. I’ve watched thousands of games and every night you get something different. It is the best game out there and I I I hope for the, you know, the long-term stability of baseball that they’re able to set something up. Now, does Rob Manford really have guys that are going to take Bryce Harper to the train station? I don’t know. I mean, he might I wonder how scared Bryce was. It’s pretty funny. And then the guy that told the story was it was like a third person’s account, right? Uh but it was on the uh it was on an agent podcast and uh pretty funny just just to think that you know there could be some guys that are going to want to give Bryce a ride in Montana somewhere or is that where Yellowstone Anybody watch that show? Let me take the guys to the train station. All right, last thing I want to talk about today is uh Kelshi markets. You know, Kelshi is uh a like a prediction market. Like anytime you see like an election and they always have the predictions on there and stuff and uh I was just curious because you know they’re going to name the National League Rookie of the Year. I think Kate Horton is a shoe in together. Um, but not on Kelshi. So, I don’t know if I should be that concerned. You know, could could Kade getting injured at the end of the year cost him? I don’t know. But a bad Braves team had a good player in Drake Baldwin. And the market right now is predicting that that Baldwin and it look at it. I mean it’s shooting up right now for Baldwin is going to win the rookie of the year. So Kate Horton going the wrong way. You I wonder if somebody got information and that’s kind of where they’re coming up with this. but he hit 19 home runs, 80 runs batted in and it’s a pretty good season for him. Uh, and of course, Kate Horton was, I think, the best pitcher on the Cubs and one of the best pitchers in the National League after the All-Star break. And I think finding a dominant pitcher is tougher than finding a guy that can hit and catch. But they’re both really uh really coveted spots. So, we’ll see what happens. But get in the comments section, tell me what you guys think. Also, don’t forget about Avenue D. This hat going out to some of you guys already. Hit that QR code. Let’s uh pick some games. It’s all free. Maybe win some cash weekly cash prizes and, you know, kind of continue to rock and roll. We’ll see what the Cubs are doing as far as the trade deadline. I mean, the uh the the free agent market looks and and again, I I’m I’m you know, just it feels like some things that I I hope we get some positive news, right? You go from one story where you’re talking about a guy that you wanted to trade for and he’s he’s busted betting and then another guy that you might get that would I think you should go after if he’s available. Um getting into a confrontation and being disrespectful to the commissioner of baseball in front of everybody and then being threatened. So baseball not two those are two strikes right there. You guys give me your opinion though. I’d love to hear it. Maybe it’s not that big a deal. I I don’t think if we did a poll, a lot of people would like Rob Manfred. I think people celebrated when he decided to announce he was going to retire eventually, you know, after the next contract. He’s going to get two expansion teams in baseball. One of them is going to be in Nashville. I think the other one could be in Salt Lake or in Vancouver. I think those one of those two cities, but it’ll be some one of those two. And I think that’ll be the last thing that he does before he steps down. All right, that’s it for the show today. Like, subscribe, thumbs up, get in the comments section. We will do it again tomorrow. Great to talk to you guys as always. And don’t forget, as you’re planning your Christmas, you want to go to the Smoky Mountains. That’s where Santa Claus lives and also talking bears and fish. When you head to the Smoky Mountains, it’s only natural to visit Sevirville. Even we had to check it out. And we’ve been here our whole lives. Experience the adventure of a lifetime. I’m king of the world. Even you can get a bird’s eye view of the Smokies. You’re going down, Billy. [Applause] Wa! Your smokeokies start here. [Music] [Music]

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This Episode:
– Cubs Trade Target Emmanuel Clase along with Luis Ortiz, charged with “sports betting, money laundering conspiracy”
– Details of Bryce Harper vs Rob Manfred
– Kalshi Markets Predict Drake Baldwin over Cade Horton
– AveD “Join Mick Nation!”

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Mick Gillispie has covered the Chicago Cubs since 2007 and has been a fan of the team since the 1984 season. He has broadcasted spring training games or been heard on Cubs.com, MLB.com, 670 The Score, WGN, CSN-Chicago and Marquee Sports Network. He is an award winning play-by-play voice for the Tennessee Smokies Cubs Double-A Affiliate. He has also hosted many forums over the years at Cubs Convention including Down on The Farm.