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

SaveSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkEmmanuel 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]By APPublished On 2 Nov 20262 Nov 2026Former 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.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Coventry win leaves Man United on brink of Premier League relegation zonelist 2 of 4Yamaha pulls out of Qatar MotoGP over ‘situation in the Middle East’list 3 of 4Dakar Youth Olympics: Who gets to hold the flame?list 4 of 4Canelo Alvarez reclaims WBC belt after defeating Mbilli in Riyadhend of listClase, 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.