MLB pitcher Emmanuel Clase out on bail after pleading not guilty to rigging bets

BROOKLYN (CN) — Cleveland Guardians pitcher Emmanuel Clase pleaded not guilty on Thursday to taking bribes from gamblers in exchange for fixing bets in MLB games.

Clase is charged with wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, influencing sporting contests by bribery and money laundering conspiracy for a purported scheme to rig bets on pitches he threw during Guardians games. He was arrested earlier Thursday at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City off a flight from his home country of the Dominican Republic.

The three-time All-Star will have to await trial with GPS monitoring. A federal magistrate judge in Brooklyn invoked Clase’s family ties to the Dominican Republic and his hefty five-year, $20 million contract in determining that he presents a risk of flight.

“He has millions of dollars,” said U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph Marutollo, calling those funds “ample means to finance flights for both him and his family.”

Neither federal prosecutors nor pretrial services recommended location monitoring for Clase. Clase’s attorney Michael Ferrara noted that his client flew from the Dominican Republic to New York City that morning to get arraigned voluntarily.

“That should demonstrate he is no risk of flight,” Ferrara said. “He traveled here for this express purpose.”

Pretrial services acknowledged Clase’s nearly 10-year work history in the United States and did not deem the 27-year-old pitcher a risk of flight. But Marutollo thought otherwise, citing the substantial sentence Clase could face if convicted for the pitch-rigging scheme.

“I am going to order GPS monitoring,” he said.

Marutollo also brought up Clase’s league suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs. In 2020, the relief pitcher was suspended 80 games after he tested positive for the anabolic steroid boldenone.

“That substance was legal in the Dominican Republic,” Ferrara told the judge, urging him not to factor the suspension into his client’s bail package.

Clase was ultimately released on a $600,000 bail, secured by his home in Cleveland, Ohio. His agent, Kelvin Nova, will be his surety. At the request of the judge, Clase will be precluded from gambling in the leadup to his trial.

The 6-foot-2 pitcher sat at the defense table in a black tee shirt, gray jacket and blue jeans, flanked by a Spanish language translator throughout the hearing.

“Sí,” Clase responded when the judge asked him if he understood his right to remain silent.

A day prior, fellow Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz was in the same seat. Prosecutors charged Ortiz and Clase together on Sunday, accusing them both of tipping off gamblers on which specific pitches they’d throw in exchange for kickbacks on more than $400,000 in winnings.

The pair agreed in advance to throw balls instead of strikes in two games over the summer, according to the government, netting them $12,000 apiece. Clase now risks losing out on the $6.4 million the Guardians were set to pay him for 2026.

“As alleged, the defendants sold that trust to gamblers by fixing pitches,” Joseph Nocella, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement Sunday. “In doing so, the defendants deprived the Cleveland Guardians and Major League Baseball of their honest services. They defrauded the online betting platforms where the bets were placed. And they betrayed America’s pastime. Integrity, honesty and fair play are part of the DNA of professional sports.”

Ortiz was arraigned on Wednesday by the same judge. He pleaded not guilty and was released on a $500,000 bond with his wife as a surety. Ortiz, too, will be subject to location monitoring and precluded from gambling.

Ortiz and Clase are next due in court on Dec. 2.

Their indictment is the second major illegal sports gambling case to hit the Eastern District of New York in the past month. Last week, former NBA player Damon Jones pleaded not guilty to sharing insider information to gamblers in exchange for kickbacks. Current Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier is charged in the same indictment, accused of purposely exiting at least one basketball game early to benefit bettors.

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