Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase de la Cruz and Luis Leandro Ortiz Ribera have been indicted on charges of rigging professional baseball games to benefit gamblers as sports gambling continues to wreak havoc across leagues.
Federal authorities allege that the two players manipulated specific pitches, giving an unfair advantage to select bettors while undermining the integrity of the sport.
Both players face potential criminal penalties if convicted, while Major League Baseball has vowed to continue monitoring gambling activity among its athletes.
United States Attorney Joseph Nocella outlined the seriousness of the allegations in a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
“Professional athletes, like Luis Leandro Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase de la Cruz hold a position of trust—not only with their teammates and their professional leagues, but with fans who believe in fair play,” he wrote.
The indictment alleges that Clase’s involvement in the gambling ring began around May 2023, with the two sides agreeing that the pitcher would “throw balls (instead of strikes) and slower ‘slider’ pitches (rather than faster cut fastball ‘cutter’ pitches).”
These bettors would allegedly place wagers on Clase’s pitches being balls or strikes, and whether a specific pitch during an at-bat would exceed a certain speed, with the DOJ providing examples of multiple instances in which these bets occurred.
The indictment further alleges that Clase, beginning in or around April 2025, started requesting and receiving “bribe and kickback payments in exchange for agreeing to throw specific pitches.”
Federal prosecutors further allege that Ortiz joined the gambling ring around June 2025, when the starting pitcher “agreed to throw balls (instead of strikes) on certain pitches in exchange for bribes or kickbacks.”
These kickbacks, according to federal prosecutors, were roughly $5,000 and provided to both Clase and Ortiz for the alleged rigged pitching, with additional rigged bets providing similar payments.
Notably, Clase was scheduled to make over $25 million over the next three MLB seasons, while Ortiz made $782,600 during the 2024 season and was also in line for another contract before these allegations.
Clase and Ortiz have each been charged with wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery, and money laundering conspiracy, according to the DOJ.
Both pitchers could receive a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison due to their alleged involvement in this gambling ring.
Allegations related to sports gambling have seemingly increased in recent months, with the NBA being involved in a major gambling scandal that allegedly involved a current player and head coach.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Portland Trailblazers Head Coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier were recently arrested due to separate but seemingly related gambling allegations.
While there are potential options for both the league and the government to address these issues, there have also been infrequent discussions about either side making real changes to help manage these crimes.