MLB 'Spot-Fixing' Trial Set to Begin in New York Court
The trial of two former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitchers accused of 'spot-fixing' is set to begin on Monday in Brooklyn federal court in New York. The accused are former Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz.
The two face charges of conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery. According to the allegations, they colluded with gamblers by providing advance information about the speed and outcome of certain pitches to help the gamblers win bets.
Clase and Ortiz have both pleaded not guilty to the conspiracy charges. They remain on non-disciplinary leave from the club without pay while their fate is determined.
According to the indictment, the pitchers accepted thousands of dollars in payoffs. Two gamblers from their native Dominican Republic made at least $460,000 on in-game prop bets on the speed and outcome of certain pitches, the indictment alleges.
Prosecutors allege that Clase began providing the bettors 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.
The jury trial is expected to unfold over the next month. Several professional baseball players, including catchers and baseball executives, are among the witnesses expected to testify.
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. He had completed his fourth season of a $20 million, five-year contract when the 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 provided the evidence to defence lawyers only 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.
