Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase has been placed on leave for involvement in an ongoing MLB investigation on sports gambling

Welp, another Cleveland arm just got caught in the gambling web. According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, Guardians All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase has been placed on paid leave as part of an ongoing MLB investigation into sports betting.

The league later confirmed that Clase is now off the field through at least August 31, making him the second Guardians pitcher caught up in the scandal this month, following Luis Ortiz.

Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase has been placed on leave for involvement in an ongoing MLB investigation on sports gambling

Breaking: Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase has been placed on non-disciplinary paid leave as part of MLB’s sports-betting investigation, sources tell @JeffPassan.

Get breaking news alerts from Jeff Passan through the ESPN app: https://t.co/DoBzGLeRbb pic.twitter.com/DzMuVfZWZr

— ESPN (@espn) July 28, 2025

This isn’t a suspension yet. It’s being labeled as “non-disciplinary leave,” which is MLB’s way of saying, “We’re looking into this, but we’re not ready to drop the hammer just yet.” Still, the writing might be on the wall.

Gambling, Gambling Everywhere

Sports betting has been leaking into baseball at every turn this year. From big names like Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter scandal to rising stars and fringe players, the league is now in damage-control mode. While NFL and NBA have had their own issues, MLB seems to be one more name away from a full-blown crisis.

Also, it’s wild that Shohei Ohtani’s gambling case just opened and closed within 48 hours while other players like Clase are now caught up with investigations that will last well-over a month. Seems fishy, right?

Emmanuel Clase has been one of the best closers in baseball over the last few years. He led the AL in saves from 2022 to 2024, peaking with a ridiculous 0.61 ERA last season. This year, though, things have fallen off. His ERA has ballooned to 3.23, he’s blown five saves, and now he’s out of the Guardians’ bullpen entirely just days before the trade deadline.

Impact to the Cleveland Guardians

This isn’t just a PR nightmare. It’s a roster nightmare, too.

Cleveland is hovering just under .500 and 3.5 games out of a wild card. With Clase gone, and Ortiz already out, their bullpen just lost two major arms heading into the most pivotal week of the season.

The Guardians are suddenly a team with playoff hopes and no closer, and MLB’s investigation doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

They’ll either have to stand pat, sell off assets, or if they want to keep competing, find bullpen help fast. Even then, there’s the issue of optics. I can’t think of any team that would be willing to be publicly entangled in baseball’s latest gambling scandal.

This isn’t just about Clase anymore. MLB has a serious gambling problem, and the more names come out, the more obvious it becomes that the league failed to take the rise of sports betting seriously until it started blowing up in their face.

Emmanuel Clase may not be the last big name to get caught but he’s the latest, and for the Guardians, it couldn’t come at a worse time.

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