MLB Players Stance on League's Gambling Safeguards a Year After Clase Scandal

More than a year ago, Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase was implicated in a pitch-rigging scheme. However, players still question whether MLB has done enough to keep players from partnering with gamblers.

Clase and former teammate Luis Ortiz face a November trial in federal court in Brooklyn on wire fraud and conspiracy charges. Prosecutors say the scheme began in May 2023 but was not discovered for more than two years. During a 25-day stretch last July, after Ortiz had already been placed on leave, Clase continued to travel, practice, and pitch with the Guardians as though nothing were wrong. 

A recent anonymous player poll found that a majority believe the league has put enough attention and resources toward preventing players from getting entangled with gamblers. More than a quarter of respondents said they either had no strong opinion or did not feel informed enough to answer, while 18 players expressed dissatisfaction with the league's current safeguards. 

Many players who felt satisfied pointed to Rule 21's prohibition on betting on baseball as clear and well understood throughout the league. They noted that MLB delivers an annual presentation on the subject during spring training and that the rule is posted in every clubhouse. 

Several compared the issue to performance-enhancing drug use, arguing that any violation comes down to individual choice rather than a lack of education. Some players said the Clase case itself could serve as a cautionary example for others going forward.

Others, however, said the league's own ties to sports betting operators, including the best sports betting sites, complicate that message. 

“It’s in every stadium,” said one player. “There’s f---ing ads everywhere — BetMGM, Bet Hard Rock, all this s---. There’s nothing saying, ‘Don’t do it.’ It would be too easy. We already saw it.” 

Betting's reach extends beyond the clubhouse rulebook 

That tension between policing players and profiting from gambling shows up elsewhere in the sport. At the All-Star Game in Philadelphia this July, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and MLB Players Association interim executive director Bruce Meyer agreed on little, except that both the league and its players should benefit financially from legalized sports betting and prediction markets. 

The union struck a multi-year licensing deal with Hard Rock Bet in April, even as Meyer acknowledged that widespread legal betting has left players facing near-constant harassment from fans. 

Players described being targeted on social media after games, particularly relievers whose outings often decide outcomes. Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. hired security after a bettor threatened his family, and police later identified the person responsible. 

The union has proposed jointly lobbying with MLB to ban prop bets, arguing they invite more harassment than standard wagers. Manfred also defended his decision to partner with Polymarket earlier this year, saying he wanted to get ahead of an already operating and loosely regulated industry rather than watch from the sidelines.