[82lsju]

Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were charged with fraud, conspiracy and bribery stemming from an alleged scheme to rig individual pitches that led to gamblers winning hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to an indictment unsealed by federal prosecutors Sunday.

Ortiz, 26, was arrested Sunday morning in Boston and will appear in court Monday, according to prosecutors. Clase, 27, is not in custody.

Prosecutors at the Eastern District of New York, the Brooklyn-based United States Attorney's office that levied similar charges against NBA player Terry Rozier and multiple coaches in late October, said in the indictment that Clase arranged with a bettor as early as May 2023 to throw specific pitches for balls so the gambler could place prop bets and profit. Ortiz, prosecutors said, joined the scheme in June 2025, and between the two, gamblers won at least $450,000 wagering on their pitches, while Clase and Ortiz were given kickbacks for their participation.

Clase and Ortiz each could face up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud conspiracy, 20 years for honest services wire fraud conspiracy, 20 years for money laundering conspiracy and five years for conspiracy to influence sporting events by bribery, according to prosecutors.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/4690...ch-rigging

[82lsju]

Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were charged with fraud, conspiracy and bribery stemming from an alleged scheme to rig individual pitches that led to gamblers winning hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to an indictment unsealed by federal prosecutors Sunday.

Ortiz, 26, was arrested Sunday morning in Boston and will appear in court Monday, according to prosecutors. Clase, 27, is not in custody.

Prosecutors at the Eastern District of New York, the Brooklyn-based United States Attorney's office that levied similar charges against NBA player Terry Rozier and multiple coaches in late October, said in the indictment that Clase arranged with a bettor as early as May 2023 to throw specific pitches for balls so the gambler could place prop bets and profit. Ortiz, prosecutors said, joined the scheme in June 2025, and between the two, gamblers won at least $450,000 wagering on their pitches, while Clase and Ortiz were given kickbacks for their participation.

Clase and Ortiz each could face up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud conspiracy, 20 years for honest services wire fraud conspiracy, 20 years for money laundering conspiracy and five years for conspiracy to influence sporting events by bribery, according to prosecutors.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/4690...ch-rigging

[burger]

This story is bonkers.  Clase was making $4.9M this year, Ortiz $782k.  And they risked their careers and jail time for maybe a few tens of thousands of dollars--the total wasn't clear from the story, but they were talking about $5-7K per pitch.

We're going to see more and more of these stories, and probably for much higher stakes, both in terms of $ value and effects on game outcomes.

Great job, supreme court!

[burger]

This story is bonkers.  Clase was making $4.9M this year, Ortiz $782k.  And they risked their careers and jail time for maybe a few tens of thousands of dollars--the total wasn't clear from the story, but they were talking about $5-7K per pitch.

We're going to see more and more of these stories, and probably for much higher stakes, both in terms of $ value and effects on game outcomes.

Great job, supreme court!

[82lsju]

is the barn door still open??

Two Cleveland pitchers were accused of colluding with bettors. The league and its gambling company partners have put a $200 limit on wagers on individual pitches.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/nyreg...?smtyp=cur

[82lsju]

is the barn door still open??

Two Cleveland pitchers were accused of colluding with bettors. The league and its gambling company partners have put a $200 limit on wagers on individual pitches.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/nyreg...?smtyp=cur

[Giants]

is the barn door still open??

Two Cleveland pitchers were accused of colluding with bettors. The league and its gambling company partners have put a $200 limit on wagers on individual pitches.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/nyreg...?smtyp=cur

I think that door is closed; however, there are other doors still wide open.  Prop betting is the scourge of collegiate and professional sports.  To date, I think we have only seen a small sample of the problems caused by those types of bets.

[Giants]

is the barn door still open??

Two Cleveland pitchers were accused of colluding with bettors. The league and its gambling company partners have put a $200 limit on wagers on individual pitches.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/nyreg...?smtyp=cur

I think that door is closed; however, there are other doors still wide open.  Prop betting is the scourge of collegiate and professional sports.  To date, I think we have only seen a small sample of the problems caused by those types of bets.

[BostonCard]

and collegiate athletes implicated in the most recent arrests.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nc...258648007/

Who could have possibly foreseen this?

BC

[BostonCard]

and collegiate athletes implicated in the most recent arrests.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nc...258648007/

Who could have possibly foreseen this?

BC

[Mick]

and collegiate athletes implicated in the most recent arrests.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nc...258648007/

Who could have possibly foreseen this?

BC

A friend of mine is a sports agent who also represents entertainers. I once casually opined that it must be difficult to constantly deal with gigantic egos, and I asked him which were worse, the athletes or the entertainers...he said "the athletes, easily. The entertainers weren't the cool kids growing up, they were the glee club and theater kids. The star athletes, however, have been catered to their entire lives. Not only are their egos outsized, but they rarely deal with failure or resistance."

If you have that kind of mentality, then you think you can do just about anything and get away with it. So, to your point, the gambling-related arrests of athletes don't surprise me much.

[Mick]

and collegiate athletes implicated in the most recent arrests.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nc...258648007/

Who could have possibly foreseen this?

BC

A friend of mine is a sports agent who also represents entertainers. I once casually opined that it must be difficult to constantly deal with gigantic egos, and I asked him which were worse, the athletes or the entertainers...he said "the athletes, easily. The entertainers weren't the cool kids growing up, they were the glee club and theater kids. The star athletes, however, have been catered to their entire lives. Not only are their egos outsized, but they rarely deal with failure or resistance."

If you have that kind of mentality, then you think you can do just about anything and get away with it. So, to your point, the gambling-related arrests of athletes don't surprise me much.