Bombshell Gambling Indictments & Arrests For 2 Star Guardians Pitchers

The recent gambling scandal that’s surrounded the NBA has now hit Major League Baseball like a ton of bricks. Three-time All-Star Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase has been indicted and is being sought for arrest, while his teammate Luis Ortiz has been arrested on Sunday. They’re both indicted on a pitch fixing/gambling scheme.

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. pic.twitter.com/9UjlZ2Iw7m
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 9, 2025

Clase and Ortiz face up to 65 years in prison, according to Jeff Passan’s reporting, after being indicted on fraud, conspiracy and bribery charges.

The indictment states that the two pitchers conspired and “agreed in advance with their co-conspirators on specific pitches that they would throw in MLB games… then used that information to place hundreds of fraudulent bets on those pitches.”

The investigation found that Clase would usually throw the fixed pitches on the first pitch of an at-bat, some of them wildly in the dirt, to ensure that they wouldn’t be called a strike. He would then get “kickbacks” from his co-conspirators of $12,000.

This, from a player with a $4.5 million salary this past season, in the middle of a five-year, $20 million contract. To this point, according to Sportrac, he’s had over $15M in career earnings.

Ortiz, 26, though a key part of the Cleveland rotation heading into 2025, was less established at this point, and had earned just over $2 million to this point in his four-year career.

The charges include wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery and money laundering conspiracy. Ortiz has denied the charges, through his lawyer.

Both Clase and Ortiz had been placed on leave by MLB in July while baseball’s investigation into the matter ramped up.

It’s a dizzying fall from grace for Clase, who was the top reliever in baseball for three straight years, and even finished third in Cy Young balloting in 2024.