What we know about the Clase-Ortiz pitch-rigging indictments and what happens next - ESPN

Former Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz were indicted on charges related to a gambling scheme, the latest in a string of betting scandals that have rocked sports.

Two and a half weeks after indicting an NBA player and two coaches for their alleged roles in gambling schemes, the United States Attorney's Office out of the Eastern District of New York accused Clase and Ortiz of rigging individual pitches to benefit unnamed bettors. The indictment alleges that Clase and Ortiz received kickbacks for agreeing to manipulate their performance so that associates could profit from bets on their individual pitches' location and velocity.

«Through this scheme, the defendants defrauded betting platforms, deprived Major League Baseball and the Cleveland Guardians of their honest services, illegally enriched themselves and their co-conspirators, misled the public, and betrayed America's pastime,» the U.S. Attorney's Office said in the release announcing the indictment.

MLB insider Jeff Passan and sports betting reporter David Purdum explain the details of the indictments, what's next for those involved and what this means for the MLB.

Clase was the closer for the Cleveland Guardians and one of the best relief pitchers in Major League Baseball, a three-time All-Star and two-time winner of the Mariano Rivera Reliever of the Year award. The Guardians acquired Ortiz, a 26-year-old right-handed starter, in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates last December.

The 27-year-old Clase, according to the indictment unsealed Sunday by federal prosecutors, started the alleged pitch-rigging scheme as early as May 2023. According to the indictment, he and an unnamed bettor would target specific proposition bets related to an