Posted on: January 13, 2026, 09:11h.
Last updated on: January 13, 2026, 09:11h.
- Court documents claim Clase and gambler were texting about cockfighting, not MLB pitching
- Gambling trial involving Cleveland Guardians’ pitchers set for May
- Cockfighting both legal and hugely popular in Clase’s home country, the Dominican Republic
The court case looking into whether Cleveland Guardians’ relief pitcher Emmanuel Clase worked with gamblers to manipulate his pitching performances on the mound, feeding that information to sports bettors so they could take in hundreds of thousands of dollars in gambling winnings, just took a turn for the bizarre.
According to a New York Times story, a gambler involved in the case, whom federal prosecutors allege was exchanging text messages with Clase, where the pitcher would tip him off on what he would be throwing, said the text messages weren’t about pitching at all. They were actually about gambling on cockfighting in the Dominican Republic, where Clase is from.
Cockfighting Operation
Cockfighting, known locally as “pelea de gallos”, where two specially bred roosters fight it out in a blood sport, is both legal and hugely popular in that country, deeply rooted in culture, going back centuries. There is heavy betting involved in the events, some of which are held in dedicated arenas.
Federal prosecutors in the Clase case allege he was exchanging text messages about his pitching with gamblers for two years. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in winnings were claimed by the gamblers in the illicit operation.
Risks in Micro Betting
In the Times story, though, referencing court documents, one of the gamblers said Clase actually ran a cockfighting operation in his home country. The bettor wasn’t named in the court documents, filed by lawyers representing both Clase and fellow Guardians pitcher Luis Ortiz, who is also accused of having manipulated his pitching performances for gambling purposes.
Prosecutors allege the two pitchers betrayed baseball. The defence says prosecutors misinterpreted the messages, thinking they were code words for gambling on baseball. The gambler said he never discussed pitches with Clase.
The trial is scheduled for May.
Wire Fraud Charges
As we’ve written previously, the trial is shedding light on the proliferation of prop bets and microbets, and the risks inherent in that type of sports betting. Micro betting really gets into the weeds of a player’s performance – in the case of MLB, putting money down on specific pitches a pitcher will be throwing.
The pitchers face charges including wire fraud, conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery, and money laundering for their alleged roles in a gambler scheme to rig bets on pitches, including purposefully throwing balls into the dirt during MLB games. Ortiz and Clase are also accused of having cashed in on these bets.
New MLB Policy
According to Times reporting, when Clase told the gambler via text to send some of the winnings off a bet on the speed of one of Clase’s pitches in an MLB game, back to the Dominican Republic, the gambler said those proceeds were intended for the cockfighting operation.
According to a statement from the United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York, in November, before an MLB game on June 27, 2025, Clase withdrew $50,000 in cash and provided $15,000 to a co-conspirator, who used the money to wager on a rigged pitch by Ortiz that game. In total, by rigging pitches for bribes, Ortiz caused his co-conspirator bettors to win at least $60,000 in fraudulent wagers.
MLB has already set a new policy in partnership with sportsbooks in response to all of this, implementing a $200 wagering limit on micro-betting around pitches during games, as well as prohibiting these types of bets from being included in parlays.
Rigged Pitches for Bribes
If convicted of what they have been accused of, both Clase and Ortiz face a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment on the wire fraud conspiracy count, 20 years’ imprisonment on the honest services wire fraud conspiracy count, five years’ imprisonment on the conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery count, and 20 years’ imprisonment on the money laundering conspiracy count.
Neither Clase nor Ortiz have been suspended by MLB, as yet. Both are on non-disciplinary paid leave “until further notice”.
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