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Cleveland Guardians star pitcher Emmanuel Clase was arrested Thursday at John F. Kennedy Airport on charges accusing him of taking bribes to help gamblers win bets on his pitches.
Clase, 27, was taken into custody after arriving on a morning flight from his native Dominican Republic, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
The three-time All-Star and two-time American League Reliever of the Year is expected to appear in Brooklyn federal court later Thursday for his arraignment.
His Guardians’ teammate Luis Ortiz, who was also implicated in the alleged scheme, pleaded not guilty Wednesday.
The two pitchers have been on non-disciplinary paid leave since July, when MLB began investigating what it said was unusually high in-game betting activity when they pitched.
According to prosecutors, the two accepted thousands of dollars in bribes to help two unnamed gamblers in their native Dominican Republic win at least $460,000 on bets placed on the speed and outcome of their pitches.
They allege that Clase, who is on the fourth season of a $20 million, five-year contract, began providing the bettors with information about his pitches in 2023, but didn’t ask for payoffs until earlier this year.
Prosecutors say Clase often threw the rigged pitches on the first pitch of an at-bat, making sure to throw the ball in the dirt and well outside the strike zone in order to assure the umpire called it a ball rather than a strike.
During an April game against the Boston Red Sox, Clase even spoke to one of the betters by phone just before taking the mound, prosecutors contend. Minutes later, the bettor and his associates won $11,000 on a wager that Clase would toss a certain pitch slower than 97.95 mph (157.63 kph).
Prosecutors say Clase recruited Ortiz to join the scheme earlier this year and sometimes provided money to the gamblers to fund the bets.
Michael Ferrara, one of Clase’s lawyers, has said the Guardians’ all-time saves leader maintains his innocence.
“Emmanuel Clase has devoted his life to baseball and doing everything in his power to help his team win,” Ferrara said in a statement Wednesday.
Chris Georgalis, a lawyer for Ortiz, has also denied the charges, saying payments between his client and individuals in the Dominican Republic were for legal activities.
Clase and Ortiz are each charged with wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery. The top charges carry a potential punishment of up to 20 years in prison.
Following the pitchers’ indictments, Major League Baseball announced new limits on betting on individual pitches.
The charges against Clase and Ortiz are the latest gambling scandals to roil American professional sports following the landmark 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized sports betting in most states.
Last month, more than 30 people, including Portland Trail Blazers head coach and Basketball Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, were arrested in a gambling sweep that involved leaked inside information about NBA athletes and rigged poker games backed by Mafia families.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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