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All the talk around Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase this week was supposed to be about whether he would be traded as the deadline approaches. Instead, Clase is on the restricted list as the subject of an MLB gambling probe.
He joined Luis Ortiz as the other Cleveland player under investigation for potential sports gambling. ESPN's MLB insider Jeff Passan had a sobering take on the situation.
“When you see multiple players from the same team, you worry, like, ‘oh god, could this be another situation like the Black Sox where everybody is involved in something?'” Passan said in a Tuesday appearance on the Pat McAfee show. “The Guardians put out a statement yesterday saying that it is expected that these will be the only two players who are involved in it. Major League Baseball continues to do its investigation right now and the Guardians are not going to say that if MLB doesn’t give them a sense that they haven’t found anything yet.”
That doesn't mean he believes the Guardians are, for sure, out of the woods.
“We also know that these sorts of things tend to have different layers to them,” he continued. “So I’m not going to sit here and say the Guardians are in the clear at this point. I hope as a baseball fan and for the sake of Major League Baseball that that is the case.”
Passan also called for MLB to try and work on banning micro-bets in baseball, which allow people to bet on whether a given pitch will be a ball or strike. Such bets, he said, make it difficult to guarantee that every MLB player will be able to avoid the temptation to make a quick buck.
Guardians do not expect others to be named in gambling probe
As Passan said, the Guardians do not believe any additional players other than Ortiz and Clase will be investigated.
“The Guardians have been notified by Major League Baseball that as part of their sports betting investigation Emmanuel Clase has been placed on non-disciplinary paid leave per an agreement with the Players Association,” the team said in a statement on Monday. “We have been informed that no additional players or Club personnel are expected to be impacted. The Guardians are not permitted to comment further at this time and will respect the league’s confidential investigative process as we continue to fully cooperate.”
As it stands, the Guardians are 52-54 and are expected to be sellers at the trade deadline later this week. The team wanted to keep Clase anyway, but now can't even listen to offers from teams desperate for bullpen help.
