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Marlins Pitcher Jarred Cosart Facing MLB Investigation Regarding Gambling Tweets

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – With a new baseball season just days away from beginning, a Miami Marlins pitcher finds himself dealing with what could be a very serious controversy.

Jarred Cosart could be a part of a new MLB investigation that stems from some strong allegations that may tie the pitcher to illegal gambling.

The accusations started when some basically anonymous Twitter user sent out an image that shows Cosart's account direct messaging a gambling expert asking for betting advice.

The MLB will have to figure out of this Twitter user is any kind of reliable source.  As of now there is no indication if these allegations in any way implicate Cosart participating in any gambling-related activities, or if they involve the game of baseball.

Cosart received a quick backlash on Twitter from users accusing him of gambling.  He later deleted his account and claimed that it was hacked, and that's where those messages came from.

The user who originally tweeted the image often will send out gambling advice but has no name or personal information linked to their account.

It's also worth noting that in this user's profile, they say "Also troll a bit here and there" which doesn't exactly add to their credibility.

Taking it a step further, they also laughed about making an MLB player delete his Twitter account.

Gambling is an issue that Major League Baseball takes very seriously, making it no surprise that they quickly announced their intention to "look into" the claims.

MLB rule 21(d) clearly says a player cannot "bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game," or they will face a one-year ban, though that's only if "the better has no duty to perform" in the game that the bet was placed.

Now if a player was to bet on a game that they were playing in they would be subject to a lifetime ban from baseball.

Follow David on Twitter (@DavidDwork

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