The Cleveland Guardians have reportedly made the decision to prevent right-handed pitcher Emmanuel Clase from participating in the Venezuelan winter league this offseason.

The Athletic’s Evan Drellich reported that Clase, who is on paid leave by Major League Baseball amid a gambling investigation, was trying to pitch in Venezuela, but had his request denied by Cleveland.

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Clase, a Dominican Republic native, was looking to pitch in Venezuela because the winter league in his hometown had already made the decision to to bar him from pitching there. Neither the Guardians nor MLB could have prevented him from pitching in that league, but didn’t have to due to the league’s decision. According to Drellich, Clase is suing both the Dominican league and its president over that decision.

“Clase intended to instead go pitch for the Tiburones de La Guaira in Venezuela’s winter league, people briefed on the righthander’s plan confirmed,” Drellich wrote. “However, MLB’s agreement with various winter leagues generally forbids a player from joining a team outside of his ‘native’ country, as the agreement describes it, unless he has club and MLB approval.

“The Guardians will not grant that permission while Clase remains under league investigation and MLB has informed Tiburones of that decision, sources said.”

Clase and his teammate, Luis Ortiz, have been under investigation since July regarding potential gambling.

Clase is one of the better relief pitchers in baseball, making three consecutive All-Star appearances from 2022-24. He finished third in American League Cy Young voting in 2024 while also earning down-ballot MVP votes after finishing with a 0.61 ERA and 47 saves across 74.1 innings.

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This year, across 48 appearances, Clase’s ERA was 3.23, barely a career-worst after finishing with a 3.22 ERA in 2023. He had a 1.29 ERA in 2021 and a 1.36 ERA in 2022.

Clase is in the midst of a five-year, $20 million extension he signed with Cleveland. He’s due $6.4 million in 2026 and has $10 million club options in both 2027 and 2028.

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