The story of MLB keeping a former minor league pitcher out of baseball for a few piddling bets may be a bit more complex than that.
Earlier this month, Peter Bayer, a former pitcher in the A's system, said that he was banned for three straight years for "placing wagers on a few MLB games during the 2020 COVID year when [minor league baseball] did not have a season."
On Monday, The Athletic reported that MLB's investigation found that Bayer allegedly lied about his gambling habits and tried to obstruct the league's investigation over the matter, according to a letter from Commissioner Rob Manfred.