Two Cleveland Guardians pitchers just got handed a trial date after getting caught up in some sketchy gambling mess. Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz are looking at jury selection, kicking off next spring, with prosecutors claiming they took bribes from Dominican Republic gamblers who wanted to bet on how fast their pitches would come in and whether certain throws would land as strikes or balls.
The feds say Clase started working with the betting ring a couple of years back before pulling Ortiz into the scheme later on. The whole operation supposedly raked in over 460k from rigged wagers, and investigators are sitting on hundreds of gigabytes worth of electronic evidence. Neither player has cut a deal yet, and MLB has them both on paid leave while everything plays out in court.
The feds say Clase started working with the betting ring a couple of years back before pulling Ortiz into the scheme later on. The whole operation supposedly raked in over 460k from rigged wagers, and investigators are sitting on hundreds of gigabytes worth of electronic evidence. Neither player has cut a deal yet, and MLB has them both on paid leave while everything plays out in court.
