The widening sports-betting scandal that has rocked Major League Baseball reached another turning point today(November 13) when Cleveland Guardians All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase was arrested by FBI agents at John F. Kennedy International Airport. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, the 27-year-old was taken into custody upon arriving on a morning flight from the Dominican Republic and was scheduled to be arraigned in Brooklyn federal court later that day.
Prosecutors allege that Clase and fellow Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz accepted thousands of dollars in bribes to manipulate pitch outcomes and speed readings for the benefit of Dominican-based gamblers who collectively earned more than $460,000 from the rigged bets. The indictment contends Clase began sharing pitching information in 2023 but did not solicit direct payments until early 2025, often signaling bettors when he would throw a ball rather than a strike.
Investigators say Clase even made a phone call to one of the bettors moments before taking the mound during an April 2025 game against the Boston Red Sox, minutes before the same gambler and associates cashed an $11,000 win on a wager predicting a pitch slower than 97.95 mph (157.63 kph).
The entire 23-page indictment can be read HERE
Federal prosecutors accuse Clase of recruiting Ortiz into the scheme earlier this year and of occasionally providing the bettors with cash to fund their wagers. Both pitchers have been on non-disciplinary paid leave since July, when MLB’s internal integrity unit began investigating suspicious in-game betting activity during their appearances.
Ortiz, who was arrested in Boston earlier this week, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday. His attorney, Chris Georgalis, maintains that the payments between his client and associates in the Dominican Republic were tied to legal business ventures, not gambling.
Clase’s attorney, Michael Ferrara, insists that the three-time All-Star and two-time American League Reliever of the Year is innocent: “Emmanuel Clase has devoted his life to baseball and doing everything in his power to help his team win,” Ferrara said in a statement.
Both players face multiple felony counts; wire-fraud conspiracy, honest-services wire-fraud conspiracy, money-laundering conspiracy, and conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery. The top charges carry potential sentences of up to 20 years in federal prison.
The Guardians, already burdened by consecutive losing seasons, are without their franchise saves leader just four years into his five-year, $20 million contract. Following the indictments, Major League Baseball announced new restrictions on betting markets involving individual pitches and player prop bets in real time, signaling the league’s intent to curb vulnerabilities exposed by this case.
The Clase-Ortiz scandal adds to a growing list of gambling investigations reshaping professional sports since the 2018 Supreme Court ruling that legalized widespread sports betting in the U.S. What once looked like a lucrative partnership between leagues and sportsbooks has now exposed a darker side—one where integrity, player accountability, and the credibility of the game itself are back under the microscope.