Another MLB Betting Problem: Cleveland Guardians' Emmanuel Clase Placed On Leave Amid Betting Investigation

Even as a decades-long gambler who wants sports betting legal in all 50 states, I'll admit all the investigations involving players are troubling. The Cleveland Guardians announced Monday that MLB is placing three-time All-Star and two-time Mariano Rivera AL Reliever of the Year, Emmanuel Clase, on paid leave while the league investigates him for violating its sports betting policy. 

I got suspicious about Clase Saturday when I bet the Guardians to beat the Kansas City Royals, and he gave up a three-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning in a loss. Okay, I'm kind of kidding. I definitely yelled "rigged" at the TV, but I didn't actually think Clase intentionally gave up a walk-off. 

But, now? I don't know. Maybe Clase bet Kansas City. Who's to say? I mean, paying off a closer to throw a game is a terrible idea because he won't pitch unless his team is winning, so it doesn't make much sense. Nevertheless, this is the problem with all these sports betting investigations in American sports: Are these results legitimate? 

Clase is in his fourth season of a five-year, $20 million deal with the Guardians. While $4 million per year to play baseball is a dream job for most, I could see how it's possible to talk Clase into rigging a game. The coordinators of this scheme would either have to extort Clase and his family, or pay him at least $500,000, you'd think. 

I hate that I'm even writing and thinking about this. Because, again, as someone who bets on sports daily, I want to believe there isn't match-fixing, point-shaving, or games being thrown in professional sports. Yet, there have been more and more sports betting investigations popping up, and these thoughts are creeping into my head. 

Regardless, I'm sticking by my stance that this wouldn't be a problem if sports betting were still illegal in America. There was a reply with that take on ESPN's Jeff Passan's post on X announcing this news. Unfortunately, that's wrong, and it's not that simple. These cases keep coming up because integrity firms put in place after the legalization of sports betting are flagging suspicious activity. 

However, now I'm questioning the legitimacy of the results pre-sports betting legalization. Was it easier for organized criminals to pay off athletes? Ugh. I hate this conversation. I'm going to bury my head in the sand and bet the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago Cubs Monday. Hopefully, Brewers rookie pitcher Jacob Misiorowski doesn't "randomly" miss the plate all night. 

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