Guardians pitchers face fraud trial

Former Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz entered a federal jury trial Monday in Brooklyn, New York.

The two men stand accused of accepting bribes while coordinating with gamblers to place winning bets on specific in-game pitch outcomes.

Prosecutors allege the scheme generated at least $460,000 in profits for two bettors from the Dominican Republic.

Clase, the former closer, and Ortiz, a starting pitcher, both pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges.

They are currently on nondisciplinary leave from the Guardians without pay while the legal process moves forward.

The indictment states that Clase began sharing pitch information with the bettors in 2023.

He is alleged to have recruited Ortiz into the arrangement in 2025.

The trial is expected to last approximately one month in federal court.

Witnesses scheduled to testify include several professional baseball players, catchers, and baseball executives.

Clase, 28, is a three-time All-Star and two-time American League Reliever of the Year.

He was completing the fourth year of a five-year contract worth $20 million when the charges became public in November 2025.

Ortiz, 27, earned $782,600 as a starter for the Guardians during the 2025 season defense attorneys for Ortiz sought a separate trial but the court denied the request Judge Kiyo A. Matsumoto presided over a pretrial conference Friday where she indicated she aims to finish jury selection quickly She hopes to allow for short opening statements later that afternoon The pitchers face charges including wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy They are also charged with conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery Defense lawyers plan to argue that the pitchers did not collude with the gamblers Instead they will contend that the pitchers were simply varying pitch placement strategically to confuse batters In a ruling on Friday the judge barred prosecutors from showing the jury evidence that Clase owed $500,000 in U.S. taxes The judge determined the government missed the deadline to turn over that specific evidence to the defense A prosecutor had argued the tax debt helped explain why Clase might have sought additional income despite holding millions of dollars in financial accounts in the Dominican Republic Major League Baseball and the Guardians stated they have fully cooperated with authorities MLB officials said they contacted federal law enforcement when they began investigating unusual betting activity