In November, federal prosecutors indicted Clase with throwing rigged pitches in games from 2023 to 2025. Federal prosecutors went on to say that Clase brought Ortiz into the scheme during the 2025 season. But Friday\u2019s indictment was the first time prosecutors said Clase threw a fixed pitch in a postseason game.<\/p>\n
The Guardians won the Oct. 5 game against the Tigers, 7-0. Clase threw a scoreless ninth inning, but bettors cashed in because prosecutors said they knew one of Clase\u2019s pitches would be a ball thrown at less than 99.45 mph.<\/p>\n
In 2024, Clase had one of the best seasons for a reliever in MLB history. He went 4-3 with 0.61 ERA and 47 saves in 50 chances. The Guardians went 66-8 in his 74 appearances.<\/p>\n
In the postseason, however, he went 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA. In eight innings, he allowed eight earned runs on 12 hits. In the regular season, he allowed five earned runs in 74 1\/3 innings.<\/p>\n
Friday\u2019s indictment revealed another new wrinkle. Robinson Vasquez Germosen was named by federal prosecutors as a co-conspirator with Clase and Ortiz. Germosen, according to prosecutors, served as a middleman between Clase and bettors. He is also accused of lying to the FBI.<\/p>\n
![\"Luis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/IYTDTX2DTNF37AVL6IKS2CFBO4.jpg\")
Guardians’ pitcher Luis Ortiz.Getty Images<\/p>\n
On Feb. 10, in another development, Ortiz\u2019s lawyer asked a federal judge to sever his case from Clase. Attorney Christos N. Georgalis told the judge that Clase\u2019s degree of culpability was much greater than Ortiz\u2019s. In November\u2019s indictment, prosecutors questioned nine pitches thrown by Clase dating back to 2023, while only two pitches by Ortiz were tagged as possibly fraudulent.<\/p>\n
In January, prosecutors told a judge that they were still investigating the case and that the number of rigged pitches thrown by Clase could increase. November\u2019s indictment charged Ortiz with throwing two fixed pitches. Prosecutors indicated that the number has not changed.<\/p>\n
MLB informed the Guardians recently that both pitchers will not be allowed to report to spring training in Goodyear, Ariz. Clase\u2019s attorney asked the judge in charge of the case, Kiyo A. Matsumoto, if his client could go to Arizona to meet with his agent, who posted his $600,000 bond, and train. The judge gave his approval.<\/p>\n
There is still much to be decided.<\/p>\n
MLB indicated that Commissioner Rob Manfred would like to make a ruling on Clase and Ortiz \u2014 they both face a potential lifetime ban \u2014 before the start of spring training. That didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n
The Guardians, meanwhile, would like to find out if they\u2019re on the hook for the guaranteed $6.4 million they owe Clase for 2026. If MLB imposes a penalty on Clase, they will not have to pay him.<\/p>\n
They are still waiting for that news.<\/p>\n
As the legal process continues, Clase and Ortiz maintain their innocence and are scheduled to go to trial on May 4. Ortiz\u2019s attorney has asked the judge for more time.<\/p>\n
![\"Ben](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Y4I32TLLBBG5BDCCZSXKDEKN4Y.jpg\")
Ben Lively, Cleveland Guardians.APGood move<\/p>\n
It was good to see the Guardians sign right-hander Ben Lively on Thursday to a two-year minor league deal. He was removed from the roster and chose free agency rather than being outrighted to Triple-A Columbus.<\/p>\n
Lively, who underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow on June 4, will make $1.25 million if he gets back to the big leagues this year. He could also earn $500,000 in bonuses.<\/p>\n
If he doesn\u2019t make it back to the big leagues until 2027, he\u2019ll make $1.75 million with another potential $1.3 million in bonuses.<\/p>\n
![\"Shane](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AV4RITTNLZAJLLSSCUMR5NDYM4.jpg\")
The Blue Jays say Shane Bieber won’t be ready for the start of spring training because of soreness in his right forearm.Getty ImagesNames to rememberRHP Aaron Davenport, a spring training invitee and Cleveland\u2019s sixth round pick in 2021 from the University of Hawaii, underwent Tommy John surgery on Feb. 4 and is done for the season.RHP Shane Bieber, who won the Cy Young for Cleveland in 2020, won\u2019t be ready to open the season for Toronto because of right forearm fatigue.RHP Enyel De Los Santos, who pitched for the Guardians in 2022 and 2023, has been temporarily shut down by Houston because of a sore right knee.RHP Nick Sandlin, who pitched for the Guardians from 2021 through 2024, is scheduled to start throwing bullpen sessions for the Angels after undergoing right elbow surgery in October.RHP Aaron Civale, 29-23 in 76 starts for the Guardians, has signed a one-year $6 million deal with the A\u2019s. Civale pitched for the Brewers, White Sox and Cubs last year.RHP Julian Merryweather, Cleveland\u2019s fifth round pick in 2014, has signed a minor league deal with the Twins. He has been invited to big-league camp.INF Gio Urshela, who spent parts of 10 seasons in Cleveland\u2019s organization, will be in camp with Twins on a minor league deal.INF Andruw Monasterio, former minor leaguer for the Guardians, was traded Monday by Milwaukee to Boston as part of a six-player deal. He hit .270 (34 for 126) last year for the Brewers. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLEVELAND, Ohio \u2014 The Guardians did a nice job of outrunning the shadow of Emmanuel Clase and Luis…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":468739,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[1558,6234,363,99,6235],"class_list":["post-468738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-baseball","tag-bestof","tag-mlb","tag-sports","tag-topix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=468738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/468738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/468739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=468738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=468738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=468738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}