Guardians Pitchers Clase, Ortiz Plead Not Guilty to Bribery

Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase was arrested Thursday at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York upon returning from the Dominican Republic and pleaded not guilty in federal court in Brooklyn to charges alleging he accepted bribes to manipulate pitches and aid gamblers in winning bets. His teammate, pitcher Luis Ortiz, entered the same plea a day earlier in the same court as part of the same alleged scheme.

Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York charged both players with conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery, wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy. The indictment, unsealed earlier this month, accuses Clase of beginning the collusion in May 2023 by providing inside information on specific pitches to two unnamed bettors from the Dominican Republic. In exchange for thousands of dollars in bribes, Clase allegedly threw pitches at predetermined speeds or locations, often on the first pitch of an at-bat, to ensure they were called balls rather than strikes. Examples include a May 19, 2023, game against the New York Mets, where he threw faster than 94.95...