Emmanuel Clase’s agent has said he isn’t concerned, whilst the Cleveland Guardians pitcher is in the middle of a gambling investigation. It comes after an investigation reportedly found “irrefutable” evidence of gambling, which led MLB insider Héctor Gómez to say that Clase’s career was essentially over.
Clase was placed on non-disciplinary paid leave back in July while the Major League Baseball (MLB) said it was continuing a sports betting investigation. The starter Luis Ortiz was also placed on paid leave at the same time. This was initially to be until the end of August, but has since been extended
The publisher Cleveland.com reports that Kelvin Nova, the athlete’s agent, said: “He told me he doesn’t bet.
“He’s just waiting right now for MLB to make a decision. He’s practicing in the Dominican Republic right now.”
Is Emmanuel Clase still on leave from the MLB?
On September 1, the MLB chiefs made the decision for Clase to stay on leave “until further notice.” The league also said they wouldn’t comment further until the investigation has been completed. With this ongoing, the Guardians team has been without one of its young talents for several months now.
It’s not yet known at what stage the investigation is up to or how long the process will last. When on leave, players are permitted contact with the organization but they are not allowed to access the team’s facilities.
At the time, the Guardians released a statement which explained the situation: “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.
“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.”
This comes after the league suspended five players for gambling over a year ago now. All of them have since been reinstated to the MLB, including Athletics reliever Michael Kelly, Arizona’s Andrew Saalfrank, Philadelphia infielder José Rodríguez, and San Diego starter Jay Groome.
The league isn’t the only to be running a gambling-related investigation, with two stars from the NBA having been arrested for separate alleged cases.
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