Major League Baseball and the Official Starting Lineup

My apologies. I have had my hands full handicapping and wagering on all the Madness of March. This story is something I intended to flesh out a bit, but had no time until now. David Purdum of ESPN faithfully reported the new and official requirement to submit all daily lineups to the MLB league office before the information is released to the public.

I know it is not Mr. Purdum’s job to analyze and editorialize the stories he is reporting, that’s our job here at ESBN, but I would think he would ask a few more questions. Afterall, he gets a by-line. By the looks of the story, as published, Mr. Purdum didn’t ask a single question about this policy, instead publishing the statement he was handed by MLB. You will note he “quotes” directly from the statement.

So, here is what’s really going on. You recall that Major League Baseball inked a couple deals with, oh hell, if Purdum is going to be lazy, I will too and quote directly, to wit:

Last week, MLB announced a wide-ranging partnership with sports data intelligence provider Sportradar that will allow official real-time statistics to be distributed to sportsbooks in regulated jurisdictions. In November, baseball partnered with MGM Resorts, making the casino giant the first official gaming and entertainment partner of MLB. Through the deal, MGM sportsbooks will have access to MLB’s official data feed.

I wager the deal MLB inked with MGM Resorts allows it to get the lineups first, which will then be shared amongst all the oddsmakers, before this information is available to the betting public. This way, the oddsmakers get to adjust their moneylines and totals before they get bet into by sophisticated bettors, shaving a few percentage points from Advantage Players.

This requirement makes it mandatory to submit the official lineups 15 minutes prior to their general release. It may be interesting to see what kind of effect this new rule will have on the betting lines released as “overnights” the night before the games are scheduled to be played. We will have our eyes on this and issue an updated story, if anything changes from the old way of putting out overnight lines.

This is the Brave New World we bettors now face. With all these “partnerships,” it will become increasingly more difficult to scratch out a daily advantage.

Hey, for those of you new to baseball handicapping and wagering, take a look at this handy “How To Bet on Sports Lesson,” we have here on the website, which considers betting on baseball a little more specifically.