November 11: Ken Rosenthal and Zack Meisel of The Athletic report that MLB is hopeful of imposing discipline by the beginning of Spring Training. The pitchers remain on paid administrative leave, though obviously they’re not collecting salary during the offseason. If there’s no change to their status by the time games resume, the Guardians would need to continue paying them until discipline is formally imposed.
That doesn’t matter much for the Guardians with Ortiz, who had yet to reach arbitration. Clase had been slated to earn $6MM next year, though, and the Guardians would prefer not to pay that if the pitcher is unavailable. A suspension would get them off the hook for that money. Players found to have bet on games in which their team has been involved are given a lifetime ban. Attorneys for Clase and Ortiz released statements denying their involvement in the wake of the criminal charges.
November 9: Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz have been indicted by prosecutors in Brooklyn on charges involving sports betting, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN, among others. Ortiz was arrested earlier today. Clase is not currently in custody.
Clase and Ortiz are charged 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” according to the Department of Justice, relayed by Zack Meisel of The Athletic. The indictment details an alleged scheme that involves the pitchers purposely throwing balls so gamblers could bet on pitches being balls or strikes.
The allegations from prosecutors in the indictment include a specific incident on June 15, when Ortiz was paid $5K for throwing an intentional ball, and Clase received $5K for facilitating it. Co-conspirators won at least $400K on fraudulent wagers relating to Clase and at least $60K on fraudulent wagers relating to Ortiz, prosecutors allege in the indictment. (Meisel explored some of the incidents detailed in the indictment in a longer piece for The Athletic.) Clase and Ortiz face up to 65 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
“MLB contacted federal law enforcement at the outset of its investigation and has fully cooperated throughout the process. We are aware of the indictment and today’s arrest, and our investigation is ongoing,” the league said in a statement to ESPN.
Man clase had a shot at getting high up the all-time saves leaderboard, really sad to see a great baseball career end so early
He also stood to make a lot of money in free agency next year. Talk about not seeing the big picture
@Ronk325
He wasn’t a free agent next year.
Has Clase sadly left a lot of money on the table by grabbing guaranteed money early and getting involved with questionable investment schemes, sure, but he looks even more pathetic when you realize how small his gambling related “earnings” are compared to his current baseball-related wages and what he stood to gain in the future. He probably looked around and felt he wasn’t making as much as he should and tried making up for it.
Let’s face it; he’s from a poor place, is uneducated, got lousy advice and counsel, and lacked any perspective whatsoever. None of which is unusual for athletes in his circumstances.
Are you suggesting educated people don’t commit crimes. As a retired corrections officer I can assure you there are many educated people sitting in a cell
With most of the Latin-American athletes signing pro contracts when they’re around 16, I’m assuming by “uneducated” he means naive and not straight up stupid. The international signing process is also at least a little bit predatory.
That said, Clase specifically was still making millions from a contract he willingly agreed to, even if he was underpaid relative to his talent. But players should understand the risks involved with signing early extensions and the risk goes both ways because teams don’t always come out ahead either.
I have a VERY slight amount of empathy for Clase and Ortiz (more so Ortiz because he was still pre-arb and only got roped into the scheme this year), but I’m mainly shocked that they could make such a stupid and short-sighted decision to throw away their careers, no matter what their reasoning for it was. And I’m a Guardians fan so my opinion probably has a slight amount of bias to it, but they deserve whatever they get.
Educated people are sitting in Club Fed for 18 months while pocketing millions. White collar crime pays,
Don’t confuse ‘educated’ with ‘smart’.
I guess that’s one way to look at it; the other is that players are given hours=long lectures on gambling and specifically, what is not allowed and what the punishment would be, by MLB every Spring training.
Yeah 2 cheap options for 2027-2028
We don’t really know how large or small his “gambling earnings” were; we only know about the times for which he got caught.
“Did you just make a generalization because I know of an anomaly that will add nothing to the conversation whatsoever.”
He is or was under contract for three more years two of them team options which would have been picked up barring a TJ or shoulder explosion.
If you or someone you know is struggling with gambling addiction, reach out to the National Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-522-4700. They offer free, confidential support and resources 24/7 to help you find the assistance you need.
Sad-totally self-inflicted. Would’ve been fun to see how far he could’ve got in his career but allegedly he chose this path.
CLNC – Same could be said for Wander. Unfortunately some players think they are invincible and untouchable ….. when in reality, only very few such as Ohtani are.
Fever-Could not agree more.
Agree. Sad happening.
I don’t know, but is there more to this than we have been told?
For the sake of these two people, and baseball, I hope not.
Not sad at all. Grown man tried to cheat people, the game, and you, the fan. Throw the book at this bum.
Agree in part Slowcurve. Let it first play out in court and judge each case separately.
65 years for sports betting is outrageously extreme imo
65 years is just the start of negotiations. Eventually they’ll plead some of the charges & get a smaller sentence, etc.
Yes we all know that Cleveland but it’s still an outrageous starting point. As Vegas fan stated, I also know people who’ve been convicted of much worse than being paid to throw a few errant baseballs and gotten little to no time
The 65 years is for fixing the outcomes.
oh – It was more than just betting, it was their actions that impacted games. Big difference.
So, 65 years is way too much for the crimes they allegedly committed
If he’s in the Dominican, he might be hard to extradite unless his lawyer makes the deal first.
The US has an extradition treaty with the DR. They’ll hand him over with zero problems.
Oh no how dare they mess with baseball’s thing, brought to you by Draft Kings. Clutch those pearls. Meantime, guessing the organizers of this sham and those who benefited won’t be sentenced the 65 years. Meanwhile, what about the beneficiaries of the enormous insider crypto heist? Crickets…
Your point is well taken. He threw a small handful of PITCHES, not even several hitters or innings or games, and he’s looking at this kind of time. For it to be even a starting point is mind-boggling, let alone to consider the small payoff compared to what he was risking. These ridiculous prop bets are an evil temptation that should be outlawed.
Slow-Nobody uses books anymore. They’ll have to throw an iPad at him.
All the books have been burned or banished, along with the libraries and schools that housed them. Easier for billionaires to control the masses that way
Oh, I thought they did that through the schools and libraries.
“they don’t gotta burn the books they just remove ‘em while arms warehouses full as quick as the cells…” – rage against the machine
CLNC – They can throw a flashdrive at them.
THROW THE DONGLE!
I smiled a sad smile at your comment (I would say s sad laugh, but this is really not funny), but that is the road we are on.
Excellent sir
Up to 65 years? I know someone convicted of 32 felonies that served no time.
@VegasSDfan
The judge looked at him with tears in his eyes and said, Sir. This is the most beautiful pronouncement that I have ever given the likes of which I’ve never seen before.
And the man convicted of 32 felonies will serve no time.
Those who prosecuted him (HIM?) may yet do so.
Yeah but those 32 felonies were all made up and weren’t actually felonies. Try again.
I see what you did there. And said convicts family just got enormously wealthy on crypto
Oh no, hes in a cult. And not Cubnation
Yep….and he colluded with Russia, prostitutes peed on him, he said that the klan were good people, was hiding classified documents led an insurrection etc…
No trial?
Ban him
Again – no trial? Now it is true MLB doesn’t need a conviction to ban him.
MLB does not want a trial. That’s the last thing they would want. Look how the NBA circled the wagons on Tim Donaghy. They made it to be only about him
Sports as we know them would not exist without gambling. Do you really believe people are fanatical about dudes playing children’s games? No, people care about their money. They’ve got money riding on Bama, Judge, Curry, Mahomes, or Duke. Probably all of them
I don’t bet, and I don’t play fantasy sports. I just love baseball. The only money I spend on baseball is on tickets, parking, concessions, etc.
Well, I do buy a new Red Sox hat every spring to replace the one I burned the previous fall!
Fenway, yes the small percentage of people who frequent sights like these lean more to the fanatical side. Still I’d imagine many here have DraftKings or whichever app they favor, the degenerate will have all of them.
oh – I for one can proudly say I have never wagered on any sporting event.
I do wager on WS futures, picking the two teams who will be in it. But that’s a once-a-season thing that involves final standings only.
The only “sport” that heavily relies on gambling is horse racing. Without gambling, horse racing would cease to exist.
Baseball deserves it, they allow sports books in their stadiums and crawl on every broadcast is showing something related to gambling.
He already got caught using PEDs. Let’s just say the guy is no member of Mensa.
Nothing sad about it, he’s a criminal
Birdie – It’s sad when gifted athletes choose to engage in criminal activity. If he was an average Joe struggling to make ends meet, then it would be a different story.
Fever, I agree “sad when gifted athletes choose to engage in criminal.”
MLB players make over three quarters of a million dollars- minimum.
If they then gamble on the game, they deserve what they get,
Whether fans like it or not.
And for what, throwing a stinking illegal ball.
Make Sports Betting Illegal Again
Whoa, that’s what happens when you’re in bed with gambling.
In previous eras this would have happened without being discovered. Legalized gambling is just exposing things that happened more often when organized crime controlled gambling.
Acting like gambling crimes started recently is creating this mess is baffling.
Yeah, I hate how in bed these leagues are with gambling, but the connection has nothing to do with this. If anything, it actually should PREVENT things like this, because the gambling companies in particular don’t want this to happen.
The gambling companies don’t want players to cheat because it costs them money. That said, they use AI and all means available to get patrons to bet more and more. At least online they can’t serve you alcohol so you’ll end up getting more than you might otherwise have. I never understood why free drinks are allowed to be served in gambling establishments.
dewey – Gambling establishments are all about doing everything they possibly can to take your money.
It’s not just the free drinks.
It’s the fact they don’t usually have outside windows or clocks, so you lose track of time.
It’s the fact slot machines don’t use coins anymore, they use tickets to encourage you to gamble faster.
It’s the fact they have giveaways, promotions, comps, anything and everything to get you in there where you’re likely to gamble.
It’s the fact they make you wait in long lines to cash in, which influences some people to continue playing.
Believe me, there’s a ton of gimmicks they use to take your money.
I never understood why free drinks are allowed to be served in gambling establishments.
======================
I like getting drunk, and betting a few quid on 5 different games.
@HalosHeaven Acting like people are upset about it happening not the very predictable proliferation is baffling. What makes you say people are acting like these are ‘recently created’?
The comment states this happened because MLB accepts gambling sponsorship money.
MLB started accepting that money recently.
Pretty simple.
Might’ve well said people in California smoke weed now that it’s legal.
You’re 100 percent correct. No room in organized professional sports to have a working relationship with gambling
Amen! But the rich Suits at the top only care about the paycheck. None (zero. zilch. nada) of them give a rip about the sport itself.
Apparently there is when the league is making a $hit ton of money from it.
Youre saying this happened more often when organized crime was in charge and accusing randoms of acting like that wasnt the case. And youre comparing that to another thing nobody has ever said by bringing up weed and California. So many strawman arguments…and Im not even sure what your point is. Can you please explain what youre trying to say?
wvsteve – Well said.
“None (zero. zilch. nada) of them give a rip about the sport itself.”
========================
I don’t care any more about this that I do about Ohtani. There is very, very likely not a single profession in the world where you don’t have bad actors.
A few doctors bilking Medicare doesn’t stop me from going to doctors, and a couple of cheaters in BB won’t stop me from watching BB. And if someone lost a $100 bet because they need action on every pitch, then their biggest issue probably is not the $100.
Pete Rose was banned for life for gambling on sports. He never bet against his team or conspired to manipulate results. It was against the rules, but it was completely different from what Clase and Ortiz allegedly did.
Pete Rose did bet against his team. The games Rose did not bet on the Reds to win was a bet against them.
Actually SLL Sports Illustrtared writers wrote a great piece years ago looking into some of the games Rose Managed/played and was none to have gambled on. There were multiple very questionable moves as well as questionable moves in game prior that would affect pitcher availability in some of those games.
So simply put, he was never found either guilty or innocent of not betting against his team. He also was not found innocent or guilty of making managing decisions with his interests taking presendent over that if his team winning. What we do know is he took a lifetime ban to suppress the results of MLBs investigation.
Lastly Rose was banned for life for betting on MLB baseball as a player and as a manager. He was not.punished for betting on anything other than MLB games.
Nobody said gambling crimes started recently, Legalizing gambling didn’t start this mess, but it absolutely caused it to explode. Gambling has become much more widespread thanks to legalization, and bookies have much more access than before. There had been one or two gambling scandals in the 4 majors sports over the last few decades. Now we’ve had several in just the last few years.
VegasMoved
Now we’ve had several in just the last few years.
========================
1-These types of wagers are almost definitely on the rise.
2-But gambling has probably gone on forever. The only reason why you hear bout it now is because it is happening in the public domain. 30 years ago, you could’ve bet $20k with my bookie on Gunhill Road, and no one would ever hear about it. A computer program can highlight a questionable wager as soon as you make it.
We had an explosion of positive PED tests from 2003 on, too.
Just because we know things now doesn’t mean there just started happening. It means that things previously kept on the dark are coming to light.
Prior to the gambling apps, you could not bet on every pitch! Not even in Vegas
Workers with the Gamblers; Mafia et al, is what they do. All of these Gambling companies know how it works…Protection
Yes, there’s always been some risk of game fixing/point shaving with illegal gambling, or U.S. sports betting legal only in Nevada.
What’s different now with the apps is the crazy number of prop bets, including individual ball/strike calls (the alleged fixing by Ortiz and Clase) and single-game stat over/unders for players in regular season NBA games (which got Jontay Porter banned for life from the NBA).
Agreed. It’s very short-sighted thinking.
No that’s what happens when you are stupid and greedy and can’t do math. Earning $10k while risking millions of dollars??
Make Sports Betting Illegal Again
Organized crime would love this.
The the mafia? Pete Rose knows… Cincinnati streets were flooded with cocaine to pay for his gambling debts. The same people are pretty much in charge of legalized gambling…
You know you need some protection
Dummies, especially Clase who signed a life-changing contract. What are they making by tossing 1st pitch balls? $50k? Idiots
It was actually only $7k
Well, Clase did miss a year due to PED’s in 2020 so his level of smarts is questionable in the first place. But he literally wrote off $8.4 mil for ’26 and beyond (probably a lot more) by doing the gambling thing.
Clase would have gotten nearly $100m in this market after what Diaz got
Hard to say as Clase’s deal had him locked up (if he performed) through 2028 season at 6.4/10/10m salaries.
With the lockout, CBA upheaval pending, who knows what the market would be like by the time he hit, with a QO most Likely attached.
Way more than the chump change he got here, but, sometimes I wonder if some of these situation are less about the money and more about what happens if you dont play along.
@GASoxFan Heat from unscrupulous characters can be bought off. All he had to do was to guarantee them X amount of future earnings. Even organized criminals are not that short-sighted.
It happened twice this season. They each got paid 5K the first time & 7K the second time so 12 K total. And now their career is finished.
I’m curious how the gambling ring actually makes a profit off this. Is there really enough money to be made in the outcome of a random MLB pitch, to cover the payoff made to a pitcher? Or is it more that the pitcher is deliberately putting himself into a hitters count, and is less likely to succeed?
You can specifically bet on the outcome of each pitch, so if they know the first pitch of an inning will be a ball…
can you actually live bet on balls/strikes?
Suitcase, if you have an opinion on something someone will take a bet against it. They can’t help themselves
Yes
Yes.
Suit – I’ve sat next to guys at games who were betting on whether the ball stopped on the infield grass or on the pitcher mound dirt at the end of every inning.
“Co-conspirators won at least $400K on fraudulent wagers relating to Clase and at least $60K on fraudulent wagers relating to Ortiz, prosecutors allege in the indictment.”
they paid clase,ortiz a total of 24k to make half a million. so yea enormous profit
Someone sought them out…
Make Sports Betting Illegal Again
I’m not excusing them, but there will be more cases like this as sport betting continues to take over sports.
I dunno; there was plenty of stuff like this back when sports gambling was banned.
Pete Rose
Hal Chase
The Black Sox
Point-shaving scandals in college basketball.
True, but now we have live TV broadcasts giving us odds on Fan Duel for everything in game. The broadcast booth itself will mention it too. It is so much more involved and open now.
All Anyone has been talking about today is fanduel. GRONK is PUMPED about this!
Notice how all those events were decades ago? Sports had mostly cleaned itself up.. Then it decided it was time to get dirty again.
Every sport is going to single out a handful of gambling involved people and then proudly announce how their efforts to clean up their sport have worked well. The NFL, NBA, Pro Soccer are all involved. MLB too
Make Sports Betting Illegal Again
They should’ve just blamed their interpreters.
All these sports betting sponsorships are very much not a good look right now.
That is exactly why people get addicted to gambling. They have ads everywhere and that is like putting alcohol on a table in front of someone trying to stop drinking. Just like cigarette commercials, it should be illegal to show advertisements for these sportsbooks.
Absolutely 100% correct. i have some libertarian leanings, so I don’t mind seeing some questionable behavior legalized. But you’re 100% correct comparing it to cigarettes.
It makes me sick to think that the Manning brothers, who might be billionaires between the two of them, still feel the need to make a few million more off the misery of addicted gamblers.
Make Sports Betting Illegal Again
Tip of the iceberg, 6 just went down in college basketball for gambling more to come. It’s the next opioid crisis.
Make Sports Betting Illegal Again
I’d much rather have this activity exposed than go back to Pete Rose secretly managing like Game 7 when he had a bet down and letting his pitchers get shelled when he didn’t.
Ortiz’s career is over and Clase will be back in 3-4 years.
More like both are going to be banned for life
IF they are found guilty…
Not necessarily. MLB doesn’t need to follow the DOJ’s standards. They could be acquitted and still be banned.
true, the 1919 White Sox were acquitted in trial and banned for life anyway.
@For Love of the Game
MLB is an organization that does not require the legal system to hand out punishment. One player, recently was banned for life without having a trial.
They’re both done in MLB baseball. The feds have a conviction rate of over 90%. They do not indict if they do not think they have overwhelming evidence to win a case.
Barring it coming out that Clase was falsely accused and wasn’t involved, he will definitely not be back in 3-4 years. Guys did less and got banned for life. Clase is done.
Make Sports Betting Illegal Again
Use promo INDICTMENT for 30% off in draftkings today!
Well played.
@chandlerbing
Really did LOL.
Cleveland.com this morning had a statement that says if Clase is found to have violated MLB’s gambling guidelines then it would go to an arbitrator to decide if Cleveland had to pay part or all of Clase’s salary. Why? In what world should an MLB team pay a player who screwed up off the field?
Dang, no money off the books? Poor paul
Guaranteed contracts.
Just being charged *I dont think* allows you onto the restricted list, if youre still in the country, and not locked up.
Other high profile situations, like Franco, where there were charges you had visa issues for them getting back in. This is sort of the opposite of that.
I wouldnt imagine we see a plea deal or quick resolution before the season, and, if you recall, when the whole ohtani mess was being sorted out, he wasnt suspended or unpaid while they tried to figure out his involvement. So you’ve got that recent precedent you’ve got to follow
I can’t remember, did ohtani even miss any games?
Meat – not only did he not miss games, he played while the ‘official MLB investigation’ separate from the feds was ongoing.
If you do anything other than that here, MLBPA will go ballistic against CLE and MLB – and that relationship is already so strained headed into this CBA….
Well that’s weird!
Lololol
Both clase and Ortiz, and Bauer and Franco…, were already suspended during their investigations
Oh, they already knew ohtani didn’t do nothin, no need to suspend, I understand
Ohtani was not suspended and he did not miss any games during the time MLB conducted its 12-hour investigation.
David Fletcher was also not suspended while he was being investigated for placing bets with the same bookie Ippei used. The reason Fletcher was never suspended by MLB despite admittedly placing bets with a bookie in violation of California law is that the investigation showed that none of Fletcher’s bets were on baseball, which is the only thing MLB cares about when it comes to gambling. I find it odd, by the way, that all the conspiracy theorists who think Ippei was merely a fall guy ignore the fact that Fletcher admits he was the one who introduced Ippei to the bookie, at a poker game Fletcher and Ippei regularly played in. There’s never been any evidence connecting Ohtani to the bookie.
Do we know if the bookie spoke Japanese? I genuinely don’t know
socal- you find it odd? Have you read the comments those people make? Reasoning is not their strong suit…
@MeatJerkinBeefBoy
Read the Ippei indictment. Ohtani was interviewed by the Feds. So was the bookie Bowyer who ended up cooperating with them for a reduced sentence.
No. He’s done numerous recent YT interviews talking about the entire ordeal before reporting to serve his sentence.
I just put it all together!
Ipp was the interpreter between the bookie who didn’t speak Japanese and the ohtani who didn’t speak English
Boooooooom
socal – That was the whole point of Ippei placing the bets, many believe he was doing it for Ohtani to protect him by not having any interaction with the bookie.
Here’s the thing everyone using critical thinking has pointed out numerous times: It made zero sense for him to make illegal bets with a bookie on several sports, but not on baseball. Obviously Ippei would have had an advantage betting on certain baseball games … so why didn’t he?
Fever- maybe because he knew he could be identified as Ohtani’s interpreter in which case it wouldn’t look so great to the bookie if he won a bunch of cash because he knew things like a certain someone wasn’t feeling great before certain games. Also, maybe he didn’t want to risk getting banned from MLB if he got caught? Also, why the hell would a guy like Ohtani, with all that money risk it all n gambling illegally? It makes more sense, that the interpreter was envious of all the money that Ohtani had and tried to make more for himself by using Ohtani’s money to make bets.
The other math doesnt make sense either.
Ippei ‘stole’ 17m, or at least, thats his restitution to ohtani, including money stolen for dental work and such.
Yet he reportedly placed over $330m in bets?
Meanwhile, he had a roughly 300-500k salary as interpreter and whatnot, since 2017 with the angels. Purportedly he lost 40m in his own money.
So, how does the math add up? He owes $1m to the IRS, ostensibly from unpaid taxes. Yet, the tax burden on a solid 150m in payouts to cover the other 150m+ he lost… way higher.
Just do the math and it doesnt add up
This article specifically deals with players expected to make many millions and blew it all to make a couple thousand
Why would ohtani do it too? I dunno
Most gamblers aren’t doing it to make money. It’s for dopamine. Clase and Ortiz weren’t gambling. They were fixing prop bets
That is what is great about living in a non-communist country. If there is no evidence, then you don’t get thrown in prison. See how that works?
@GASoxFan I take it that you don’t gamble? Ippei didn’t lose all of his bets. That’a the total amount he wagered with the bookie. I’d imagine he wasn’t a -EV (losing) bettor. He did pay a boatload of winning bet commissions (vig) to the bookie. He also owed the bookie money since he floated him a line of credit.
One can claim gambling losses with the IRS.
YBC – youre correct, I dont gamble much in the traditional sense. Sure, the occasional card game, or even a casino once every 5 or 7 years if a group heads out. Actually havent been since maybe 2009 though LOL.
But, I figured to wager 300+m, and have been in the hole to steal 16m, you split the difference – losing roughly 150m, winning 150m.
I never knew you could claim gambling losses as a tax deduction though. Interesting.
GaSox – You can claim losses only up to the amount of gambling winnings declared as income on your fed return.
I’m shocked! Shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.
– MLB & MLBPA in a joint statement sponsored by FanDuel, BetMGM & DraftKings
Clase was potentially on a HOF trajectory and he had aleady locked in over $15 million in guaranteed money, and was likely to make tens of millions more in his career.
Absolutely wild that he apparently threw it all away for the cheap, fleeting thrill of gambling.
They should’ve hired an interpreter.
Gambling is just as insidious as drugs and other societal blights.
And just as fun too 😎
Not only do they know its addictive, but they try to set the hook and get you accustomed with all those ‘free credits with your initial bet’ promotions.
If anything, id say the legalization of so many types of sports betting has only *increased* the illegal betting. Illegal books would let you bet on credit, that was always their hook. Nowadays, some gets used to legal betting but runs short on cash, wants that same rush, they now *turn* to illegal books when they never wouldve before.
remember tobacco companies saying there was no evidence cigarettes are harmful? members of lucrative industries lie with every breath they take
Worse in some ways. Drugs and alcohol will likely kill you before they bankrupt your family. I use to play in some local games, and there would be people coming in and blowing their paycheck, and they never had a chance in the game. Guys with good construction jobs that would have thousands going on FB games. So many sad stories.
As much as I enjoyed it, I wouldn’t go back. The money wasn’t worth the damage it did to some people.
These guys arent English speaking. Surely they have an interpreter. Dummies
And whose fault is that? No excuse for criminal activity.
The several commentors who point out that MLB’s involvement and partnership with legal gambling actually works as a corrective AGAINST this sort of thing are right. Fanduels, Draftkings, etc. are opposed to this kind of thing and want to see it exposed and ended.
At the same time, in a broader sense, MLB giving gambling its imprimateur, and making (big) money from it, makes this kind of thing inevitable.
Both things are true.
So you saying Fanduels of the world only want you to gamble with them? And that’s supposed to help? Gotcha.
No, Fanduels doesn’t want to be defrauded. It was the gambling industry noticing the unusual betting patterns when Ortiz and Clase pitched that led to this thing being uncovered.
Well, yes. Millions of people like me don’t mind blowing a few quid on season-long under/over props, or fantasy teams. Fanduel expedites that for a fee. It is way, way in the best interest that they never get any bad publicity.
We don’t know what if any outside pressure was put on these guys to do this. Of course that’s not to say the areas they come from are anything less than Disney land.
The craziest part about all of this is that the gambling ring was not even in the United States. From what the Spanish media is saying the gambling ring operates in the Caribbean and South America
If it’s news from any major news organization it’s fake
@shaft – So where do you go for all of your news?
From the voices in his head.
Ok shaft. Stick with what you learn from the men’s room wall
From Cy Young candidate to this…ugh
7 grand apiece? Wow stupidity at its greatest
Im going to speculate, because this is a rumors site. Why not gossip?
It could be they were to get a ‘cut’ of whatever the action generated. And, you look where they came from, there could’ve been a you cooperate or else xyz happens to someone you know. Thats a bit more common where that ring supposedly operated, and, $7k is a lot more money there.
I seem to recall stories of mlb players families being ransomed before somewhere in the recesses of my mind.
Im not excusing what happened, but, id be curious if that might be the case. And if it is, the same threat may hold…. you tell anyone about the threats, and we do worse…
Cleveland fans thought this guy should have won the Cy Young award over Tarik Skubal, huh? PEDs AND gambling? Class act.
No rational fan believed that he deserved to win the Cy Young over Skubal lmao
Join us next Thursday for the MLB Awards Show, live from beautiful Las Vegas Nevada, brought to you by our partners at Draftkings.
Except Draftkings is illegal in Nevada.
Baseball fans naivety astounds. Fixes have been in before legalized gambling. People who believe the unicorn wasn’t complicit imagine the Astros were the only team cheating in 2017-18. Top of the tier franchises have ways and means to ensure their continued success, MLB is a $85 billion dollar conglomerate.. Do you really think everything is above board?
Beltran brought ideas with him to the Astros…
GASoxFan- and cora brought ideas with him to Boston
MLB found no evidence Cora did anything in Boston. He was punished only for his actions in Houston.
Ohtani did not know.
crazy that these guys risked their careers for small amounts of money.. obviously it was more than just the 1 ball that they got paid 5k for but even just that one incident would be enough to get you banned from baseball.
Maybe home plate umpires should have been investigated
I hope all of them are. Many of their calls are extremely suspicious if not obvious.
What’s the use? The umps lawyers will just use the “Three Blind Mice” defense.
An indictment is neither a guilty plea nor a conviction. In this country, you are innocent until proven guilty.
“innocent until proven guilty” is a theoretical concept that is sometimes true and sometimes not.
Your president does not agree.
GOOD! Maybe this will be the wake-up call the betting on sports is bad for sports (it won’t).
@PotterManiac777
Sports have become entertainment. So it might be better to say, betting on sports is bad for entertainment?
There will be more. A lot more.
Don’t think it be wake up call since MLB has sponsor deal with gambling
Outlawing prop bets would put an end to a lot of this. How you make that work is another matter.
Ortiz/Clase pitched in Ohio, and the prop bets in Ohio on the sportsbetting apps are overwhelming to say the least compared to the state i live in. I wonder if they would have been caught up in this if they had pitched in a state with ‘limited’ props like PA/NY, or a state without the apps altogether (CA, FL, TX)
Just dumb beyond belief. Both these guys had enormous money waiting for them in baseball. And they threw away millions for a little extra change from gamblers.
Of course, cutting off legalized gambling would be no solution at all. See Sox, Black. Too bad we can’t cut off stupidity.
these guys made their own decisions but the absurd amount of in-game real-time micro bets made this inevitable. mlb with assume the moral high ground while not taking a nanosecond to reconsider its close partnership with sports gambling
First Clase and the PED’s, then he comes back and he puts up an all time great stretch as a closer, setting himself up for the payday of all paydays and then proceeds to throw it all away… for a few thousand bucks. PED’s are one thing but my brother, you are never throwing another pitch in affiliated ball again.
People never satisfy with what they have
Paid the price
Making millions and can make more millions
At least they are not the only ones
Hopefully others learn from them and don’t make mistakes
The stupiding of Merica just keeps on keeping on.
I wonder if the penalties are so high due to the three-strike sentencing guidelines…
Imagine losing everything. Over peanuts.
Stoopid athletes
65 Years!! They should have signed with the Dodgers so they could get the time deferred!
Sign with the dodgers and you get a call guy
Edit: interpreter***
Other than the fact it was the Angels who hooked ohtani up with ippei as a paid interpreter…meh.
Maybe MLB will re-examine it’s partnership with betting outlets. They decided the money was worth more than their integrity. If nothing else can they ban the commercials from the broadcasts they are so F’N annoying!
Just absolutely stupid.
Ortiz is a guy no one will remember in 5 years. Clase gave MLB the one thing they’ve been hoping for: an All Star player who isn’t a Yankee or a Dodger that most have heard of but won’t be missed that they can nail to the wall and make an example of
Surprised comments are not closed here
Good riddance
So they threw away generations of money and their entire lives, for 5k?
The professional athlete is generally not one of God’s smartest creatures
The same could be said of many other types of people.
This is just the tip of the iceberg in professional sports.
What a surprise! 2 men blow saves, end careers…can’t wait for the movie
This is why it’s important for pitchers to work on their hitting.
Kidding….sort of…
This all seemed inevitable after the initial leave was extended.
As a practical matter, I assume they will be moved to unpaid leave and remain on the restricted list until the case is resolved. So they will not count towards Cleveland’s roster.
Not that the league needs them to be convicted to issue their lifetime ban.. it is probably just a bit cleaner that way.
Truly a shame.. Both had great stuff.
A reason why sports betting is a doorway to ruin . Careers gone, do people learn from this?
Gambling will continue to invade the sport. The fans threaten the players. The players find these seemingly quiet loopholes to benefit. Why is this good?
Guilt has not been determined yet.
Whenever I hear stories about guys ruining their career over some extra pocket money via gambling/fixing games vs the insanely larger amounts they’d earn just playing the game, it boggles my mind.
Makes me think that they’re really in it for the risk and the dopamine hit of the illicit activity and it wasn’t about the money.
I think about people who cheat on their partners but say they love and cherish their partners, they just need to have something illicit they do, some kind of a dangerous secret they somehow continue to get away with by the skin of their teeth- they like the stress and the edge and the ‘high’ of getting away with something they’d get in trouble for if they were found out.
This must be that.
Because with how much Clase and Ortiz were making as pro ball players, there was no real financial gain to be made by risking their careers on sports betting.
This and the fact that many—if not most—who engage in criminal activity simply don’t believe they’ll ever get caught.
John Roberts has done such incalculable damage that this one is on the low end of his list, but still bad.
Gotta love legalized sports betting. 🙄
Exactly the type of ads you want your child to see when watching a game.
Innocent until proven guilty it…I’d be shocked to see either Ortiz or Clase throw another pitch in MLB.
Yet the Astros cheated in 2017, likely influencing some bets on people in the know and skewing some betting lines and had nothing of great consequence done to them.
Good point!
Because it was a widespread issue across the league. How is this still not known by baseball fans?
This story brought to you by Fan Duel. As the team announcers always say, let’s bet the over every time.
Seriously, how can we really trust the integrity of a sport that is in bed with a gambling site that takes action on virtually everything that happens on the field of play? This should never have happened because no one should ever be betting on whether any pitch is a ball or a strike.
Shows the hyposcisy of MLB Baseball, they let Ohtani walk free and they placed the blame on a low level sucker (probably paid him off handsomely as well), as well the fact the heavily promote gambling and betting on all their broadcasts and websites, eeven have programs dedicated to it, yet these 2 are gonna be thrown under the bus
Ignorant.
lol at the people who are legit butt hurt about this.
It’s a game played by grown men. Who the hell cares. The outcomes should have zero effect on your lives and if it does YOU should be ashamed of yourselves.
Who the hell cares? Pretty much everyone that calls themselves a sports fan. The outcome of the games don’t have a huge affect on my life, but for a time I am far more pleasant to be around after my team wins than when my team loses.
If you don’t care about the outcome, then why are wasting your time watching or thinking about sports at all? Go spend your limited time on this planet doing something that you do care about. Write poetry, read Russian novels, build a better mouse trap, whatever. Although I am guessing that poetry might be a little too ambitious for someone that uses the phrase “butt hurt.”
Oh grow up…your mood changes because of the outcome of a game? Seek help.
You’re going to put men in jail when literally nobody got hurt, nobody. Not physically, not mentally, not emotionally, not spiritually…..completely victimless crime and you want them in jail!!! Holy hell there are so many wrongs in the world that could use this type of energy you have for this.
And I watch sports because it’s entertaining. It’s top tier athletes pushing their bodies to places the ordinary individual can’t. It really is that simple. I don’t need to hate another group of men and have “my guys” beat them to be entertained…what are you a cave man?
I am not putting anyone in jail, I am just talking on a message board. I do not have the authority to detain and incarcerate people. If you are getting this agitated over a simple conversation, maybe it is you that really needs to grow up.
Now if you will excuse me, I am going to go next door. My neighbor just discovered this new trick called fire and I want to check it out.
What are your thoughts on Pete Rose?
Does it bother you that he is a pedophile and the MLB swept his disgusting crimes under the rug?
Somebody tell hiflew that there’s no way he’s EVER pleasant to be around. He banned me for politely asking him to stop posting the political comments that he obviously feels everyone here needs to listen to.
Dumb comment.
Really riveting rebuttal buddy. So much intellect oozing out of it I don’t even know how to respond. You got me…checkmate!!!
Might still be time to get a Presidential pardon by donating to White House ballroom /throne room project.
Wrong color. They are far more likely to get a trip to Alligator Alcatraz than get a pardon from this administration.
The evidence suggests a very insincere piece of flattery will get it done.
As the Prophet Dangerfield once said, “My father was an idiot. He worked in a bank for 40 years and they fired him for stealing pens.”
Will this be limited to just those two or will they find more?
Their agents must be pulling their hair out
Throwing away a lucrative MLB career, and potentially spending up to 65 years in prison, for $5000.
Can someone explain how throwing a few pitches in the dirt gets you 65 years. I understand the ban from baseball but the jail time I don’t get. I get a fine/small jail time for betting with an illegal bookmaker but if he did it legally on draft kings would it be legally punishable?
The Ohtani bookie admitted to taking a billion dollars worth of wagers, too at least $16M from Ohtani, pleaded guilty to lying to the IRS, and got one year in prison. You’d go to prison for 20 years.
The real shame is gambling normalization these past years. Not surprising it has touched up the major sports one by one. Too bad about it. Clase is a very talented arm.
If sports betting gets worse, I’m a little worried about baseball’s future.
All pro and college sports, really.
It’s becoming akin to being a fan of professional wrestling. It’s hard to believe in “ the sanctity of athletic contests” when those in charge have caved to sports books
Think it’s time to watch the kids. They haven’t been corrupted in this manner.
Yet
Apparently the “Ohtani Blessing & Treatment” is subjective.
We are likely being permitted to read / view only the proverbial tip of MLB’s intrusive gambling & gaming Iceberg…..so far.
The degenerate gambling, gaming & private equity relationship with pro & NCAA will be the ruin of the pro spurts i as a legitimate fan friendly pastime & industry.
Imagine throwing your career and reputation away over 5K lol. How sad and moronic.
I was dumbfounded when the Pirates traded Ortiz as he seemed to be an up and coming arm
Now, I have to think that perhaps Cherington finally made a good move
Tax Dodging Deferrals makes the point with few words. All the leagues, all the teams profit from sports gambling. They all take the ad money.MLBTV shows batter by batter odds.
Did they really believe all this would stay clean as the wind driven snow? Did they once consider the number of younger, less affluent fans who would get caught up in what starts with a few taps on your cellphone?
So baseball tries to make money off of gambling and don’t expect players to be tempted to make money off of gambling?
I wonder when umpires will be arrested?
I bet they won’t pitch again. Oh wait! Only MLB commissioner’s office is allowed to make money on betting.
I guess they didn’t have interpreters willing to take the fall.
how about that, the pirates ‘won’ a trade. (/s)
I think you’re going to have to wait until Horwitz and Hartle’s careers and subsequent transactions are over before you can come to that conclusion. It’ll be awhile.
(/s) = sarcasm statement
the real measure will be if Ortiz is allowed to play in the MLB again. at least Horowitz will be allowed on the field.. well… unless he did something silly like that too.
What were the odds…
Wait. Are you a player or fan? If you are a player you are not allowed to bet. But if you are a fan, by all means, please place your bets.
funny how the league is making about 1.1billion from gambling.. and still raising ticket .. parking and food prices.. gekko is still right .. greed is good
I guess Clase and Ortiz didn’t bet on getting caught.
This has been predictable for quite some time. Not for these specific players, but for sports in general, ever since widespread legalization and digital mobilization (with proliferation of prop bets) of gambling took hold. Rigging the outcome of a game was difficult. Rigging the outcome of a pitch not so much.
At the college level there has already been a slew of betting scandals, and of course the NBA has had their issues.
I am a bit surprised that a name as big as Clase got involved.
Couple of things everyone is missing here:
Clase has been on the take most if not all of his career in Cleveland.
Its not about the money. Its about the integrity of the game. Sure throwing one ball an at bat doesn’t seem like anything terrible. But once these guys are on the take, they’re on the take for good. Clase’s meltdown in the playoffs last year no longer looks like wear and tear, but gamblers telling him to blow the series.
“It’s easy to say: It’s just one ball, right?
Well, in 2025, after a pitcher started an at-bat with a strike, batters hit .217/.263/.344. At-bats that began with a ball, on the other hand, led to hitters posting a .255/.375/.431 slash line.
So, the difference between a single ball or strike accounted for 38 points of batting average, well over 100 points of on-base percentage and nearly 90 points of slug.
Though it’s a much smaller sample for the individuals involved in this case, the difference in on-base percentage particularly is stark.
Against Clase in 2025, batters hit .239/.250/.364 after 0-1 counts and .258/.383/.303 after 1-0.
For Ortiz, it was .202/.240/.313 after 0-1 and .234/.411/.421 after 1-0” – ESPN, Jeff Passan
Appreciate the stats YBC, good job digging that out.
Idiots. There, I said it!
These are just 2 that got caught. How many others haven’t been caught?
Sports betting is bad for baseball. It makes the game and league management look whorish.
I bet (pun intended) there are a slew in the minors where money is tighter that we probably hear nothing about.
Legalized gambling has ruined the integrity of all sports.
Say it was the Interpreter you’ll go free guys…
Just the tip of the iceberg…..
I think that the problem goes much further, these 2 just got caught. Kind of like how you couldn’t bet on NCAA and have to sign a pledge, but the entire college track team I was part of spent a 5 hour bus ride creating an NCAA basketball tournament pool.
They let the dirty mess of gambling into the sport, of course its going to leave mud on the carpet.
The prison softball team is gonna have one hell of a closer now ..better score early
There’s players who did worse that got to play again. If they don’t go to jail, it’s possible, even if unlikely, someone would give them a chance. I didn’t see the word banned in the post, although with MLB anything is possible. These sports were asking for trouble messing with sports betting.
If they are found guilty, the league will ban them for life. There is no question about it.
How do these fools throw away their careers over a few lousy thousand dollars, when they were potentially set to at worst make a few million over their careers and at best a few hundred million? Did they have gambling debts they had to cover themselves?
Kerkering had some money on the Dodgers….
The sports books can make announcements about how they’re limiting these micro-bets but the drunk 20 something jamming them into a 24 leg parlay is their most profitable customer, so that isn’t going anywhere unless we get some legislation restricting it (which we won’t). And then you have to consider the sites like polymarket/Kalshi that have somehow circumvented the already lax gambling laws. The Pandora’s box is open and we’re going to see a lot more of this stuff happening soon unfortunately
Just threw his whole career away.
How ironic, once the greatest closer closes his own career for the last time. I’m sure it can be a real “save” for him.
Lifetime ban. Only acceptable punishment. Manfred should lifetime ban himself whiles he’s at it.
If they are found guilty, I do not think there is any question they will receive a lifetime ban.
I don’t understand why the Guards have to continue paying them while all of this is going down. If MLB wants to continue dragging this out, MLB should be paying their salaries.
CLE signed the contract.
There’s a process that has to be followed, and you can be sure the MLBPA reps are watching every step to make sure of it.
Cover up story of the gambling in baseball. Sho lie ohtani got caught to, in a different way
Unless there’s an MLB pitcher willing to take a lifetime ban for 5K…then theres a LOT more going on. Thats chump change on what would be his 6M salary in 2026. We probably don’t want to know the depth of gambling in the game now