Clase and Ortiz Face Brooklyn Trial Monday on Charges They Took Bribes to Help Bettors Win on Pitches

Two former Cleveland Guardians pitchers are scheduled to go on trial today, Monday, Nov. 2, in Brooklyn federal court. Prosecutors say they took bribes while working with gamblers who won money betting on individual pitches.

Emmanuel Clase, the Guardians' former closer, and Luis Ortiz, a starter, have pleaded not guilty. Both are on nondisciplinary leave from the club without pay until the case is resolved. The jury trial is expected to last roughly a month.

What prosecutors allege

According to the indictment, the pitchers accepted several thousand dollars in payoffs. In return, two gamblers from the pitchers' native Dominican Republic allegedly won at least $460,000 on in-game prop bets tied to the speed and outcome of certain pitches.

Prosecutors allege Clase began giving the bettors information about his pitches in 2023. They allege he recruited Ortiz into the arrangement in 2025.

The charges are wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery. The charges were made public in November 2025.

These are allegations. Neither man has been convicted of anything.

The defense

Defense lawyers are expected to argue that the pitchers did not collude with any gamblers. Their position, as described going into trial, is that the pitchers were varying the placement of their pitches on purpose to fool batters.

That is the core factual dispute the jury will have to sort out. A pitcher changing locations and speeds is ordinary baseball. Prosecutors will have to show that the variation was coordinated with bettors and paid for.

Ortiz's lawyers tried to have him tried separately from Clase. Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto denied the request, so both men face the same jury.

A ruling on tax evidence

On Friday, Matsumoto ruled that prosecutors cannot show jurors evidence that Clase owed $500,000 in U.S. taxes. The government gave that material to the defense only days earlier, long after the deadline for turning over evidence had passed.

A prosecutor had argued the evidence was needed to counter any claim by Clase's lawyers that he had no financial incentive to collude with gamblers. The defense could make that claim because Clase had several million dollars in financial accounts in the Dominican Republic.

With the tax evidence out, prosecutors lose one piece of their answer to a no-motive argument. Clase's finances will still be part of the picture.

The players and the money

Clase, 28, is a three-time All-Star and two-time American League Reliever of the Year. He had finished the fourth season of a $20 million, five-year contract when the charges surfaced.

Ortiz, 27, earned $782,600 as a Guardians starter in 2025.

The indictment puts the alleged payoffs at several thousand dollars. That is small next to Clase's contract. Prosecutors do not have to prove a rational motive, but jurors will likely ask why a pitcher earning that much would take the risk, and the sides will likely answer differently.

Witnesses and the league's role

Several professional baseball players, including catchers, and baseball executives are expected to testify. Catchers matter here because they call pitches and know what was thrown and why.

Major League Baseball and the Guardians have both said they fully cooperated with authorities. MLB has said it contacted federal law enforcement when it began investigating unusual betting activity.

What happens today

Matsumoto said at a conference Friday that she hopes to finish jury selection quickly enough for lawyers to deliver relatively short opening statements this afternoon.

The open question is what the testimony from catchers and team executives will show about those pitches. Prosecutors say they were sold. The defense says they were simply good pitching.