Cleveland Guardians‘ closer Emmanuel Clase just went from the trade deadline rumor mill to MLB’s non-disciplinary leave list. MLB announced that the star closer will join teammate and fellow reliever Luis Ortiz on leave, through Aug. 31, as part of their ongoing investigation into sports-betting.
The Guardians said in a statement that they “have been informed that no additional players or club personnel are expected to be impacted.” MLB said in a statement that Clase had been placed on leave per an agreement with the players’ association while the league “continues its sports betting investigation.” It declined further comment.
Cleveland was slated to begin a three-game series against Colorado on Monday night. The Guardians are second in the AL Central with a 52-53 record.
The investigation began after betting-integrity firm IC360 sent alerts to sportsbook operators over two specific pitches Ortiz threw in June, ESPN reported. In both pitches (one in a game on June 15, the other in a game on June 27), Ortiz threw a ball outside the strike zone for the first pitch of an inning, causing an alert to trigger from the betting-integrity firm, ESPN added in its report. Some sportsbooks allow users to wager on the result of the first pitch of the inning, which includes a possible wager for the pitcher to throw a ball or hit the batter.
The situation with Clase and Ortiz comes after MLB suspended five players for gambling in June 2024, including a lifetime ban for San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano. MLB said Marcano placed 387 baseball bets totaling more than $150,000 with a legal sportsbook in 2022 and 2023.
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Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly and three minor leaguers — San Diego pitcher Jay Groome, Arizona pitcher Andrew Saalfrank and Philadelphia infielder Jose Rodriguez — received one-year suspensions.
Umpire Pat Hoberg was fired by Major League Baseball in February for sharing his legal sports gambling accounts with a friend who bet on baseball games, and for intentionally deleting electronic messages pertinent to the league’s investigation.
Clase, as a player under contract beyond 2025 on a team that might sell at the deadline, was being openly targeted by multiple teams to aid their bullpens down the stretch run. As he won’t be available to return until Aug. 31 at the minimum, however, it’s unlikely that anyone will inquire on him further, never mind actually trade for him. Ortiz’s paid leave was already extended once, and there’s no indication that MLB’s investigation will actually be over at the current end-date.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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