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Guardians pitchers Clase, Ortiz shift to unpaid nondisciplinary leave
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- Guardians pitchers Clase, Ortiz shift to unpaid nondisciplinary leave
Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz will no longer receive their salaries as they await trail connected to allegations of a sports gambling scheme.
Clase and Ortiz were both placed on paid nondisciplinary leave last July as Major League Baseball opened its own investigation into their alleged involvement in a scheme that won bettors fraudulent wagers. Both pitchers face up to 65 years in prison and are awaiting trial, which was recently pushed back to November .
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It meant Clase and Ortiz both received their salaries from that date through the end of the 2025 season, and they were on track to continue doing so on Opening Day 2026.
Clase and Ortiz are being shifted to nondisciplinary leave without pay as per an agreement by MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association.
"As the legal proceedings involving Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz continue to move forward, MLB and the MLBPA have agreed that both players will remain on non-disciplinary leave from the Club without pay until further notice," the league said in a statement. "This agreement is not an admission of any wrongdoing by Clase or Ortiz. MLB has been closely monitoring the matter since alerting federal law enforcement at the outset of its investigation and will have no further comment until its investigation has been completed."
Clase was set to have a base salary of $6 million in 2026 . Ortiz is pre-arbitration and therefore would have been slated for a salary around the league minimum for his service time.
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This agreement between MLB and the MLBPA likely saves the Guardians roughly $7 million in 2026 salary.
Ryan Lewis covers the Cleveland Guardians and Cavaliers for the Akron Beacon Journal. He can be reached at rlewis1@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Guardians pitchers Clase, Ortiz shift to unpaid nondisciplinary leave
