{"id":109298,"date":"2025-11-09T17:35:51","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T22:35:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=109298"},"modified":"2025-11-09T17:35:51","modified_gmt":"2025-11-09T22:35:51","slug":"breaking-doj-indicts-mlb-pitchers-emmanuel-clase-luis-ortiz-betting-scandal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/11\/09\/breaking-doj-indicts-mlb-pitchers-emmanuel-clase-luis-ortiz-betting-scandal\/","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: DOJ Indicts Two MLB Pitchers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Eastern District of New York announced Sunday that prosecutors indicted Cleveland Guardians pitchers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/claseem01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-11-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Emmanuel Clase<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=ortizlu03,ortizlu02,ortiz-014lui,ortizlu01&amp;search=Luis+Ortiz&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-11-09_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luis Ortiz<\/a> for their roles in a major sports-betting scandal, as federal investigators say the two MLB players rigged pitches to help gamblers profit from inside information. Since June, both pitchers have remained <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/07\/28\/emmanuel-clase-placed-non-disciplinary-paid-mlb\/\" target=\"_self\">suspended<\/a> for gambling violations and now face serious criminal charges.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_109301\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-109301\" style=\"width: 945px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-109301\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/11\/USATSI_26413427_168400885_lowres-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"945\" height=\"630\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/11\/USATSI_26413427_168400885_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/11\/USATSI_26413427_168400885_lowres-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/11\/USATSI_26413427_168400885_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/11\/USATSI_26413427_168400885_lowres-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/11\/USATSI_26413427_168400885_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/11\/USATSI_26413427_168400885_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/11\/USATSI_26413427_168400885_lowres.jpg 1990w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 945px) 100vw, 945px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-109301\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jun 9, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Luis Ortiz (45) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Two MLB Pitchers Indicted in Betting Scandal<\/h2>\n<h3><b>The Story<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to court documents, Clase and Ortiz worked with bettors from May 2023 through June 2025 to manipulate specific pitch outcomes during Guardians games. The pitchers allegedly agreed in advance to throw slower sliders, intentional balls, or off-speed pitches so that gamblers could place accurate bets using that insider knowledge.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The indictment shows that bettors used \u201cproposition bets,\u201d or \u201cprop bets,\u201d to profit from the players\u2019 cooperation. These bets focused on individual plays rather than the game\u2019s result. For example, the betting platforms allowed users to wager on whether a pitch would become a ball or a hit-by-pitch, or whether the pitch would exceed 94.95 miles per hour.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz face up to 65 years in prison if convicted on all charges, according to the Eastern District of New York, which outlined the case against Clase and Ortiz after indicting them on fraud, conspiracy and bribery charges. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/9UjlZ2Iw7m\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/9UjlZ2Iw7m<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JeffPassan\/status\/1987591704372019409?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 9, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prosecutors claim Clase began coordinating with Dominican bettors in 2023. He allegedly texted them mid-game to confirm which pitches he would throw. During a 2023 matchup against the Minnesota Twins, bettors earned $38,000 after Clase threw a pitch below the agreed-upon speed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By mid-2025, Ortiz joined the conspiracy. On June 15, 2025, prosecutors say Ortiz threw the first pitch of the second inning\u2014a planned ball\u2014against the Seattle Mariners. He allegedly received $5,000 for that pitch. Bettors, who had wagered on that exact outcome, doubled their money and won $26,000 that day.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Investigators traced the total gambling profits to more than $450,000, much of it sent to the Dominican Republic. Both players reportedly accepted bribes and shared the winnings through intermediaries who disguised payments as \u201chouse repairs\u201d or even a \u201chorse purchase\u201d to hide the money\u2019s true origin.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Charges and Legal Fallout<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Federal prosecutors charged Clase and Ortiz with Wire Fraud Conspiracy, Honest Services Wire Fraud Conspiracy, Conspiracy to Influence Sporting Contests by Bribery, and Money Laundering Conspiracy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The government argues that the players betrayed Major League Baseball and the Cleveland Guardians by violating contracts that required honesty, loyalty, and compliance with MLB\u2019s gambling rules. MLB Rule 21 clearly states that any player who bets on a game in which they play \u201cshall be declared permanently ineligible.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Clase allegedly coordinated multiple bets through his phone during live games\u2014another direct violation of MLB policy, which bans player phone use except for emergencies. Prosecutors say both players used their positions to deceive sportsbooks, their team, and fans, undermining public trust in baseball\u2019s integrity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If convicted, Clase and Ortiz could face decades in prison, major fines, and loss of assets tied to illegal profits. The case stands as one of the most serious gambling scandals in modern baseball, recalling the 1919 Black Sox scandal and reigniting debate over the dangers of legalized sports betting in professional sports.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Eastern District of New York announced Sunday that prosecutors indicted Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz for their roles in a major sports-betting scandal, as federal investigators say the two MLB players rigged pitches to help gamblers profit from inside information. Since June, both pitchers have remained suspended for gambling violations and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5663,"featured_media":104931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1071,9,35],"tags":[3258,6213],"class_list":["post-109298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","category-guardians","category-news","tag-emmanuel-clase","tag-luis-ortiz"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5663"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109298"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109302,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109298\/revisions\/109302"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}