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Santo Domingo. — The Cleveland Guardians did not authorize Dominican reliever Emmanuel Clase to participate in the Venezuelan winter baseball league while he remains under investigation by Major League Baseball (MLB) for alleged betting activities, sources close to the case cited by The Athletic confirmed.
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The stellar closer sought to join the Tiburones de La Guaira, after the Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League (Lidom) prevented him from pitching with the Estrellas Orientales during the current season. The veto measure motivated the pitcher to file this week a lawsuit against Lidom and its president, Vitelio Mejía Ortiz, for understanding that his rights as a player were violated.However, the winter agreement between MLB and the various Caribbean leagues prevents a player from participating in a foreign circuit without the consent of his Major League team and the league itself. In this case, the Guardians refused to grant permission, a decision that was already communicated to the Tiburones by the MLB commissioner's office.
Class and his teammate Luis Ortiz have been on paid leave since July, after the Ohio Casino Control Commission reported "suspicious betting activity" in Guardians games. Both players, linked to the investigation, were also excluded from the Dominican league. Ortiz has also resorted to legal action to challenge the decision. The Estrellas Orientales team and Lidom remain at odds regarding the situation, according to a source familiar with the internal dynamics of the Dominican winter circuit. Neither MLB, nor the Cleveland Guardians, nor the players' union (MLBPA) nor representatives of Clase himself offered comments on the case. The 27-year-old Dominican right-hander has been one of the most dominant relievers in recent Major League seasons, accumulating more than 120 saves since his debut in 2019.
