MLB investigating claims that Jarred Cosart bet on sports

Major League Baseball is investigating Miami Marlins pitcher Jarred Cosart for allegations that tie the 24 year-old to gambling.

Update (3:25PM): JARRED COSART’S GAMBLING MESSAGES DIDN’T INVOLVE BASEBALL BETS, TWITTER LEAKER SAYS | Miami New Times

Late Tuesday night, these screenshots of Twitter DM’s surfaced that appear pretty clearly to be the right-hander discussing gambling in various instances. The legitimacy of these messages is yet to be determined and the Marlins declined to comment on the matter.

Take a look:

The NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament, as well as Cosart’s own starts in MLB games (Edit: apparently he did not bet on baseball, according to this afternoon’s updates) appear to be the subjects of the alleged discussions.

Cosart is by no means a high-profile pitcher, so there doesn’t exist a logical motive for someone to publicly fabricate this story, unless it’s by a person who has some personal vendetta against him. You then have to question the common sense of a professional athlete who has to know that at any time his league’s sanctioning body, his team’s front office, and the public alike could all be watching his every move, presuming that’s actually Cosart behind those messages.

Cosart has received criticism for speaking his mind too openly on Twitter in the past, so this isn’t the first time something he’s “said” could potentially land the hurler in hot water.

A Twitter user who may or may not be Cosart himself sent out a few innocuous tweets after the screenshots surfaced, but the account was never verified and was soon deactivated:

Major League Baseball obviously doesn’t take kindly to betting on baseball. I don’t need to introduce a Pete Rose comparison here. You already know how serious this could potentially be. And for a marginal starter, who didn’t do much in his big league career before finding limited success in a small, 10-start sample size with the Marlins after a trade from the Houston Astros in 2014, this is something we shouldn’t be talking about with Opening Day less than two weeks away.

Mike Redmond has hinted at Cosart being the team’s number two starter when the season starts, but pending investigation by MLB, the Marlins could be looking at trouble within the rotation.

Stay connected with Marlin Maniac for updates as this situation develops.

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MLB investigating claims that Jarred Cosart bet on sports

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