How Stupid Can You Be

Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz of the Cleveland Guardians have been indicted on sports gambling charges.
Clase and Ortiz are charged with “wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery, and money laundering conspiracy, for their alleged roles in a scheme to rig bets on pitches thrown” according to the Department of Justice.
The allegations from prosecutors in the indictment include a specific incident on June 15, when Ortiz was paid $5K for throwing an intentional ball, and Clase received $5K for facilitating it. Co-conspirators won at least $400K on fraudulent wagers relating to Clase and at least $60K on fraudulent wagers relating to Ortiz, prosecutors allege in the indictment.
Clase and Ortiz face up to 65 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
MLB contacted federal law enforcement at the outset of its investigation and has fully cooperated throughout the process. We are aware of the indictment and today’s arrest, and our investigation is ongoing.
Ortiz was placed on non-disciplinary paid leave in early July, and Clase followed later in the month. The pitchers had their absences extended “until further notice” at the end of August as the league continued its gambling investigation.
I guess what they make as MLB Players isn't enough. They always get caught.

I read the article in the Athletic this morning - these guys are both going to lose their careers over a few thousand dollars. This is from Ken Rosenthal:

In addition to being illegal, this would also have been a colossally stupid gambit. Clase is set to make $6.4 million in 2026. Ortiz was set to receive a pre-arbitration raise from his 2025 salary of $782,600.

It’s not known exactly how much Clase or Ortiz are alleged to have made from the conspiracy in total, but it’s certainly less than the combined ~$460,000 that the bettors reportedly won from the bets.

Highly unlikely they (especially Clase) did it for the money for themselves. They did it for their friends who were getting money off it. Still stupid. Wouldn’t be surprising if at some point even if he tried to get out, he’d be threatened.

The crazy thing is that they will not be the last to get caught. It is so easy for the Casinos to run reports on any anomaly each day. It is a shame because it was not like these guys were scrubs. The best closer in the game and a solid #3 or #4 rotation starting pitcher.

Clearly they never heard about the tale of Pete Rose the Unfortunate. Its not a story the MLB officials will tell you

Heh. Star Wars reference lol

Seriously though. Dude was banned for life for betting on games, even though he was betting on his team to WIN, rather than other examples of betting against their team and then throwing the game

*glances over at a certain group of 8 players on the White Sox in 1919*

Unfortunately he was still cast out of the sport anyway due to their exceptionally strict rules on the matter

I think, the biggest picture here, is that members of criminal organisations from the US and foreing countries are having access to the locker rooms...and putting pressure on players.

thinking Clase and Ortiz are the only ones is the mixtake.... they are the only one who got caught in baseball as of now.

The problem is now in many sports...

When FanDuel can go on TV and tell us that they've paid out over a billion dollars the few million that these guys might make, pales. Gambling is big business. Bigger than MLB, bigger than the NFL, bigger than the NBA or the NHL. Money talks. That's the world we live in.

I saw the other day where one of the gambling sites now has a "guarantee " to give you your money back if the player you bet on is injured in the first half and doesn't come back . Yeah , that will fix the gambling problem , not .