Cleveland Guardians standout pitcher Emmanuel Clase was apprehended at John F. Kennedy Airport on Thursday for allegedly receiving bribes to manipulate game outcomes for bettors. Clase, aged 27, was detained upon his arrival from the Dominican Republic. The U.S. attorney’s office confirmed Clase, a three-time all-star and two-time American League reliever of the year, is set to make a court appearance in Brooklyn later in the day.
His teammate Luis Ortiz, also implicated in the scandal, pleaded not guilty the day before. Both players have been on paid leave since July as Major League Baseball (MLB) probed unusually high betting activities during their games. Prosecutors claimed the duo accepted bribes totaling thousands of dollars to assist unnamed gamblers in the Dominican Republic win over $460,000 on pitch-related bets. Clase, in the fourth year of a $20 million contract, allegedly shared pitching details with bettors since 2023 but only demanded payoffs this year.
Allegations suggest Clase strategically threw rigged pitches, ensuring they were outside the strike zone to favor the bettors. Notably, during an April game against the Boston Red Sox, Clase allegedly communicated with a bettor before pitching, leading to a substantial win for the gamblers.
Clase reportedly recruited Ortiz to participate in the scheme and occasionally provided funds to support the bets. Defense attorneys for both players maintain their clients’ innocence. Clase’s lawyer emphasized his client’s dedication to baseball and winning for his team, while Ortiz’s lawyer insisted that the financial transactions between Ortiz and individuals in the Dominican Republic were legitimate.
Clase and Ortiz face multiple charges, including wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, and attempting to influence sporting events through bribery, with each charge carrying a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. MLB responded to the indictments by implementing restrictions on betting on individual pitches. These developments add to a series of gambling controversies in American professional sports since the legalization of sports betting in most states post the 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
In a related incident, over 30 individuals, including prominent NBA figures like Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, were recently arrested in a gambling investigation involving insider information on NBA players and manipulated poker games associated with organized crime.