MLBPA Puts MLB In No-Win Situation Over Prop Bets

1. If you are a sports bettor, you will want to keep your eye on a story broken by ESPN’s Jeff Passan and David Purdum on Thursday.

The Major League Baseball Players Association has reportedly proposed on player prop bets in response to the online harassment players face from gamblers who lose money.

It will be fascinating to see how MLB responds to the union’s request.

The players only want prop bets banned. Under the proposal, betting companies could still offer plays on sides and totals, so this wouldn’t affect the millions and millions of dollars that the league and teams make off of Draft Kings, FanDuel and others advertising in stadium and on television.

An MLB official told ESPN that the league would respond to the union's proposal during negotiations.

If the players are going to the league to say that the harassment they face as a result of individual prop bets has gotten out of control, it will be a terrible look if the league denies the request to ban props.

However, the betting operators make a BOATLOAD of money off of prop bets. Will MLB risk damage to its relationship with betting companies?

The MLBPA has backed MLB in a corner. Everything says MLB should grant the MLBPA’s request and sign off on ending individual prop bets. However, this would lead to a big drop in revenue for MLB’s gambling partners.

Will the almighty dollar win out or will MLB do right by its players?

2. ESPN announced Thursday that it signed versatile play-by-play voice Dave Pasch to a contract extension. In addition, Pasch’s role at ESPN will now include NFL games. The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand recently reported that Pasch was in the running to be part of the network’s secondary NFL booth. Chris Fowler had that role for the past few years.

3. I don’t know the context behind this conversation, but YES play-by-play voice Michael Kay brought up DMX during Thursday’s Yankees-Red Sox game. The awkwardness was off the charts because Kay clearly didn’t know that DMX died in 2021, but it’s not hard to figure out that a producer must’ve been screaming in his ear to give him the information.

You can hear the moment Michael Kay finds out DMX passed away 5 years ago, this was so awkward😭 pic.twitter.com/1oAhGfuJrW
— joe (@BurdenBurner) June 25, 2026

4. This post from Diamondbacks pitcher Paul Sewald reminded me of the old days of Twitter when athletes would just let things fly.

No you’re right thank you @Cardinals for not moving our game up to this afternoon when we politely asked given the whole world knew it was going to rain tonight. I actually was really hoping we could lose an off day and turn it into a 4 city road trip 👍🏻
— Paul Sewald (@ItsPaulSewald) June 26, 2026

Apparently, Arizona asked St. Louis to move up Thursday’s game because bad weather was expected during the evening. The Cardinals refused. The game got rained out. The Diamondbacks were pissed.

There were many unhappy people in the DBacks clubhouse today. They were in touch with MLB as long as two days ago, given the forecast, and the league was not amenable to moving the start time. https://t.co/83vAI3pwjh
— Jeff Jones (@jmjones) June 26, 2026

5. This is a fun clip of the Chargers’ Cameron Dicker explaining what a week in the life of an NFL kicker is like during the season.

6. A brand-new episode of SI Media With Jimmy Traina came out Thursday morning. This show features a conversation with The Athletic’s sports media reporter, Andrew Marchand.

Topics discussed include Pat McAfee’s expected monster deal with ESPN; massive ratings increases for sports across the board; the significance of Fox buying Roku; who CBS should pair with Andrew Catalon on the NFL this season; CBS’s hiring of Russell Wilson and Kyle Long for The NFL Today; the breakup between Dan Le Batard and Stugotz; Linda Cohn retiring from ESPN, the lack of buzz surrounding Caitlin Clark and much more.

Following Marchand, Sal Licata from SNY TV and The Sal Licata Show joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, we discuss coming off the high of the Knicks’ postseason run, the World Cup, my horrible U.S. Open betting loss, Fanatics Fest, Larry David’s new show and the massive stir I caused on social media over a Dunkin’ Donuts post.

You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Happy 52nd birthday to Yankees legend Derek Jeter.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.

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