And now it is Major League Baseball’s turn to have a gambling scandal, as two MLB pitchers are now under federal indictment.

This story broke back in July, when two pitchers for the Cleveland Guardians, Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, were both accused of being involved in rigging pitches during games in order to win gambling bets. Both players were placed by MLB on “non-disciplinary paid leave” in July while the allegations were investigated. The leave was extended indefinitely at the end of August, no doubt to the consternation of the Cleveland Guardians, who managed to snag the American League Central championship, but ended up losing to their division rival, the Detroit Tigers, in the wild card playoff round. Clase was an All Star player, and played a huge role in their bullpen. It’s hard to imagine that he would risk all of that to win kickbacks off prop bets – but that is exactly what he, along with his teammate Ortiz, is alleged to have done.

The federal indictment was unsealed Sunday afternoon, and if convicted, a lifetime ban from MLB is the least of their concerns, as both men could face decades in prison.

Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, an indictment was unsealed charging two defendants, Emmanuel Clase de la Cruz and Luis Leandro Ortiz Ribera, with wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery, and money laundering conspiracy, for their alleged roles in a scheme to rig bets on pitches thrown during Major League Baseball (MLB) games. Ortiz was arrested earlier today in Boston, Massachusetts, and will make an initial appearance in federal court in Boston, Massachusetts on November 10, 2025. Ortiz will be arraigned in the Eastern District of New York at a later date. Clase is currently not in U.S. custody.

Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; and Christopher G. Raia, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI) announced the indictment and arrest.

“Luis Leandro Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase de la Cruz allegedly rigged their pitches in professional baseball games, so that an inner circle, and occasionally themselves, could quietly cash out their winnings,” stated FBI Assistant Director in Charge Raia. “The defendants’ alleged greed not only established an unfair advantage for select bettors, but also sullied the reputation of America’s pastime. The FBI will ensure any individual who exploits their position as a professional athlete at the expense of others strikes out.”

As set forth in the indictment, the defendants agreed in advance with their co-conspirators on specific pitches that they would throw in MLB games. The co-conspirators then used that information to place hundreds of fraudulent bets on those pitches.

Beginning in or around May 2023, Clase, a relief pitcher for the Cleveland Guardians, agreed with corrupt sports bettors to rig proposition bets – or “prop” bets – on particular pitches he threw. The bettors wagered on the speed and type of Clase’s pitches, based on information they knew in advance by coordinating with Clase, sometimes even during MLB games. Clase often threw these rigged pitches on the first pitch of an at-bat. To ensure certain pitches were called as balls, Clase threw many of them in the dirt, well outside the strike zone. The bettors used the advanced, inside information that Clase provided about his future pitches to wager thousands of dollars at online sportsbooks.

Clase at times received bribes and kickbacks from the bettors in exchange for providing advanced, non-public information. He also sometimes provided money to the bettors in advance to fund the scheme. The indictment includes numerous examples of pitches that Clase rigged, including one in the Eastern District of New York in a game against the New York Mets. In total, by rigging pitches, Clase caused his co-conspirator bettors to win at least $400,000 in fraudulent wagers.

In or around June 2025, Ortiz, a starting pitcher for the Cleveland Guardians, joined the criminal scheme. Together with Clase, Ortiz agreed in advance to throw balls (instead of strikes) on pitches in two games in exchange for bribes and kickbacks. Before an MLB game on June 15, 2025, Ortiz agreed with his co-conspirators to throw a ball on a particular pitch in exchange for bribes. The bettors agreed to pay Ortiz a $5,000 bribe for throwing the rigged pitch and Clase a $5,000 bribe for arranging the rigged pitch.

The charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment on the wire fraud conspiracy count, 20 years’ imprisonment on the honest services wire fraud conspiracy count, five years’ imprisonment on the conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery count, and 20 years’ imprisonment on the money laundering conspiracy count.

Both pitchers are from the Dominican Republic, which is where the bettors were allegedly located. While Clase is accused of being the instigator of the scheme, it was Ortiz’s pitches that caught the attention of those who monitor sports gambling.

Clase, a three-time All-Star and two-time Reliever of the Year, and Ortiz were placed on non-disciplinary paid leave by MLB in July after betting integrity firms flagged irregular wagering on a pair of pitches thrown by Ortiz in June.

Clase has made more than $12 million over a major league career that has spanned seven seasons, and he was scheduled to make $6.4 million in 2026. Ortiz’s salary in 2025 was $782,600.

Ortiz’s lawyer is proclaiming his innocence after his arrest.

In a statement to ESPN, Ortiz’s attorney Chris Georgalis denied the charges, saying his client “has never, and would never, improperly influence a game — not for anyone and not for anything.” A message to Clase’s attorney seeking comment has not been returned.

“As Luis’ defense team extensively explained and documented to the government before these charges were brought, Luis’ payments and other transfers of money between him and individuals in the Dominican Republic were for lawful activities,” the statement read. “Notably, the indictment completely lacks any alleged evidence connecting Luis to these alleged bettors or demonstrating any purposeful involvement in a scheme.

“There is no credible evidence Luis knowingly did anything other than try to win games, with every pitch and in every inning. Luis looks forward to fighting these charges in court. The government’s case is weak and circumstantial. He will defend himself, and he will be prevail (sic).”

For their part, both the Cleveland Guardians and MLB are simply allowing the investigation to play out at the moment.

The Guardians released a statement following the news.

“We are aware of the recent law enforcement action,” the Guardians’ statement reads. “We will continue to fully cooperate with both law enforcement and Major League Baseball as their investigations continue.”

Major League Baseball also released a statement following Sunday’s news.

“MLB contacted federal law enforcement at the outset of its investigation and has fully cooperated throughout the process,” the league’s statement reads. “We are aware of the indictment and today’s arrest, and our investigation is ongoing.”

Obviously, neither Clase nor Ortiz will be playing baseball while they are under indictment, and if they are convicted and sentenced to prison time, MLB won’t have to do much – other than announce their banning from the sport, which won’t be nearly the punishment it was for previous players who weren’t incarcerated.

The real problem is that all the professional sports advocated for this legalized gambling, and when the Supreme Court opened that door in 2018, all the professional leagues, sports networks, and sports commentators immediately partook of the poisoned chalice.

This ESPN news story brought to you by our partners at DraftKings. https://t.co/cJ5VksVuti

— Magills (@magills_) November 9, 2025

We have just seen prominent NBA figures get caught up in rigging prop bets and being involved in a Mafia gambling scheme, and you would think that MLB would be smarter about watching how their players deal with gambling. MLB history is unfortunately littered with scandals surrounding throwing games or betting on the sport, from the Black Sox scandal of 1919, to Pete Rose’s lifetime ban, to Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter gambling on games with Ohtani’s money. After the Ohtani story, and the terminating of one of the better umpires in MLB over sharing a sports betting account with a friend, it seemed MLB was going with a zero tolerance policy regarding even the appearance of impropriety. And all the while, Clase is alleged have been texting bettors DURING GAMES to arrange prop bets and bribes.

If you want there to be any integrity left in professional sports, then Clase and Ortiz (who are entitled to a fair trial) need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, as do those indicted via the NBA gambling scandal. However, it’s obvious that we have a gambling problem as a society, and there needs to be a long, hard look at how these prop bets have become a huge fixture in sports betting. I don’t have a good answer for it – the floodgates have been opened and there is no predicting what crazy thing people will decide to bet on. But this kind of gambling can and will ruin sports, both amateur and professional.

Featured image via Pixabay, Pixabay license free for commercial use