Ex-Cleveland Guardians pitchers,
including star reliever, go to trial in New York on fraud charges
[November 02, 2026]
NEW YORK (AP) — Former Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel
Clase and Luis Ortiz go to trial Monday on charges that they
accepted bribes as they colluded with gamblers who made hundreds of
thousands of dollars betting correctly on individual pitches.
Their careers and possibly their freedom are at stake in the jury
trial expected to unfold over the next month in Brooklyn federal
court. Several professional baseball players, including catchers and
baseball executives, are among witnesses expected to testify.
Clase, the Guardians’ former closer, and Ortiz, a starter, have
pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges and are on nondisciplinary
leave from the club without pay while their fate is determined.
According to an indictment, the pitchers accepted several thousand
dollars in payoffs to help two gamblers from their native Dominican
Republic win at least $460,000 on in-game prop bets on the speed and
outcome of certain pitches.
Prosecutors allege that Clase began providing the bettors with
information about his pitches in 2023 and recruited Ortiz into the
scheme in 2025. Lawyers for Ortiz unsuccessfully sought to have
Ortiz tried separately from Clase.
Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto said at a conference Friday that she hopes
to complete jury selection quickly enough that lawyers can deliver
relatively short opening statements in the afternoon.
Clase, 28, is a three-time All-Star and two-time American League
Reliever of the Year who had completed his fourth season of a $20
million, five-year contract when charges against the pitchers were
revealed in November 2025.
Ortiz, 27, had earned $782,600 as a starting pitcher for the
Guardians during the 2025 season.
The pitchers have been charged with wire fraud conspiracy, honest
services wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and
conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery.
[to top of second column] |
Cleveland Guardians' Emmanuel Clase leaves Brooklyn federal court,
on Feb. 18, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)
Defense lawyers are expected to argue that the
pitchers did not collude with gamblers and instead were varying the
placement of pitches strategically to fool batters.
On Friday, the judge ruled that prosecutors cannot show the jury
proof that Clase owed $500,000 in U.S. taxes because they had only
provided the evidence to defense lawyers several days earlier and
long after a deadline had passed to turn over evidence to their
adversaries.
A prosecutor had argued that the government wanted to put the
evidence in the trial to offset any claim by Clase's lawyers that he
had no incentive to collude with gamblers because he had several
million dollars in financial accounts in the Dominican Republic.
Major League Baseball and the Guardians have both said they've fully
cooperated with authorities. MLB has said it contacted federal law
enforcement when it began investigating unusual betting activity.
All contents © copyright 2026 Associated Press. All rights reserved
 |
