MLB ‘spot-fixing’ trial set to begin in US court

MLB pitchers charged with conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery go on trial in New York.

Emmanuel Clase leaves the Brooklyn federal court after a hearing on charges of sports betting and money laundering conspiracy in Major League Baseball games, New York, US, February 18, 2026 [Eduardo Munoz/Reuters]

Former Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz go on trial on Monday on charges of accepting bribes after colluding with gamblers who made hundreds of thousands of dollars by betting correctly on individual pitches in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States.

Their careers and possibly their freedom are at stake in the jury trial expected to unfold over the next month in New York’s Brooklyn federal court. Several professional baseball players, including catchers and baseball executives, are among witnesses expected to testify.

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Clase, the Guardians’ former closer, and Ortiz, a starter, have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges and are on non-disciplinary leave from the club without pay while their fate is determined.

Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Emmanuel Clase delivers a pitch against the Kansas City Royals in the ninth inning at Kauffman Stadium in July 2025 [File: Denny Medley/Imagn Images via Reuters]

According to an indictment, the pitchers accepted thousands of dollars in payoffs to help two gamblers from their native Dominican Republic win at least $460,000 on in-game prop bets on the speed and outcome of certain pitches.

Prosecutors allege that Clase began providing the betters with information about his pitches in 2023 and recruited Ortiz into the scheme in 2025. Ortiz’s lawyers unsuccessfully sought to have him tried separately from Clase.

Judge Kiyo A Matsumoto said at a conference last Friday that she hopes to complete jury selection quickly enough that lawyers can deliver relatively short opening statements in the afternoon.

Clase, 28, is a three-time All-Star and two-time American League Reliever of the Year who had completed his fourth season of a $20m, five-year contract when charges against the pitchers were revealed in November 2025.

Ortiz, 27, had earned $782,600 as a starting pitcher for the Guardians during the 2025 season.

The pitchers have been charged with wire fraud conspiracy, honest services wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery.

Defence lawyers are expected to argue that the pitchers did not collude with gamblers and instead were varying the placement of pitches strategically to fool batters.

On Friday, the judge ruled that prosecutors cannot show the jury proof that Clase owed $500,000 in US taxes because they had only provided the evidence to defence lawyers several days earlier and long after a deadline had passed to turn over evidence to their adversaries.

A prosecutor had argued that the government wanted to put the evidence in the trial to offset any claim by Clase’s lawyers that he had no incentive to collude with gamblers because he had several million dollars in financial accounts in the Dominican Republic.

MLB and the Guardians have said they have fully cooperated with authorities. MLB said it contacted federal law enforcement when it began investigating unusual betting activity.

多名美国职业棒球大联盟投手因涉嫌串谋行贿影响体育比赛而在纽约受审。

2026年2月18日，美国纽约，埃马纽埃尔·克拉塞在布鲁克林联邦法院就其在大联盟棒球比赛中涉嫌体育博彩和洗钱阴谋的指控出庭后离开法院。[Eduardo Munoz/路透社]

前克利夫兰卫士队投手伊曼纽尔·克拉塞和路易斯·奥尔蒂斯将于周一受审，他们被指控与赌徒勾结，通过对美国职业棒球大联盟（MLB）的个别投球进行正确投注，收受贿赂，从而赚取了数十万美元。

他们的职业生涯乃至人身自由都可能在下个月于纽约布鲁克林联邦法院举行的陪审团审判中受到威胁。包括捕手和棒球管理人员在内的多名职业棒球运动员预计将出庭作证。

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克拉塞（Clase）是守护者队的前终结者，奥尔蒂斯（Ortiz）是先发投手，两人均对共谋指控表示不认罪，目前已被俱乐部停职，停职期间不发放工资，等待最终裁决。

2025 年 7 月，克利夫兰卫士队救援投手伊曼纽尔·克拉塞在考夫曼球场第九局对阵堪萨斯城皇家队时投球。[图片：丹尼·梅德利/Imagn Images via Reuters]

根据起诉书，这些投手收受了数千美元的贿赂，帮助两名来自他们祖国多米尼加共和国的赌徒在比赛中对某些投球的速度和结果进行投注，赢得了至少 46 万美元。

检方指控克拉塞从 2023 年开始向赌客提供有关他投球的信息，并在 2025 年招募奥尔蒂斯加入该计划。奥尔蒂斯的律师曾试图让他与克拉塞分开审判，但未获成功。

上周五，法官松本清子在一次会议上表示，她希望尽快完成陪审团遴选，以便律师们可以在下午发表相对简短的开庭陈述。

28 岁的克拉塞曾三次入选全明星，两次获得美国联盟年度最佳救援投手称号。2025 年 11 月，针对投手们的指控被曝光时，他刚刚完成了价值 2000 万美元的五年合同的第四个赛季。

27 岁的奥尔蒂斯在 2025 赛季作为守护者队的先发投手，收入为 782,600 美元。

这些投手被指控犯有电信诈骗阴谋罪、诚信服务电信诈骗阴谋罪、洗钱阴谋罪和通过贿赂影响体育比赛的阴谋罪。

辩方律师预计会辩称，投手们并没有与赌徒串通，而是策略性地改变投球位置来迷惑击球手。

周五，法官裁定，检方不能向陪审团出示克拉斯欠美国税款 50 万美元的证据，因为他们只是在几天前才向辩方律师提供了证据，而此时距离向对方提交证据的最后期限早已过去。

检察官辩称，政府希望在审判中提交证据，以反驳克拉塞的律师提出的任何主张，即克拉塞没有动机与赌徒勾结，因为他在多米尼加共和国拥有数百万美元的金融账户。

美国职业棒球大联盟（MLB）和华盛顿卫士队均表示，他们已全力配合当局的调查。MLB称，在开始调查异常投注活动时，他们已联系了联邦执法部门。