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Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz have been shifted from paid to unpaid leave amid an investigation of allegations that they manipulated pitches for gamblers who benefited on prop bets.
The pay status shift comes after an agreement between MLB and the MLBPA, the league announced Friday.
“This agreement is not an admission of any wrongdoing by Clase or Ortiz,” MLB said in a statement. “MLB has been closely monitoring the matter since alerting federal law enforcement at the outset of its investigation and will have no further comment until its investigation has been completed.”
Clase and Ortiz were first placed on non-disciplinary leave last July. They were indicted in November by the U.S. Department of Justice, which accused them of playing significant roles in a “scheme to rig bets on pitches during Major League Baseball games.”
The pitchers were accused of intentionally throwing balls during at-bats, leading to a windfall of at least $450,000 for gamblers who were in on the scheme. The indictment said Clase and Ortiz received bribes that were as small as $5,000 in some cases. Clase, a three-time All-Star, was in the middle of a five-year contract worth $20 million. Ortiz earned nearly $800,000 from the Guardians last season.
After the indictment, Clase’s attorney, Michael Ferrara, said his client “has devoted his life to baseball and doing everything in his power to help his team win” and that he was “innocent of all charges and looks forward to clearing his name in court.”
Ortiz “has never, and would never, improperly influence a game—not for anyone and not for anything. … There is no credible evidence Luis knowingly did anything other than try to win games, with every pitch and in every inning,” his attorney, Chris Georgalis, said.
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