MLB Commissioner Pledges Full Cooperation with Senate Inquiry into Baseball Gambling Scandal

In a decisive response to the growing gambling scandal rocking Major League Baseball, Commissioner Rob Manfred announced on Wednesday that the league would “respond fully and cooperatively” to a U.S. Senate committee’s request for documents detailing gambling investigations. Speaking during a news conference at an owners meeting, Manfred’s commitment comes at a critical time for baseball, as the sport faces one of its most serious integrity challenges in recent memory. The scandal centers around Cleveland Guardians players Emanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, who stand accused of accepting bribes to manipulate pitches to benefit gamblers—a scheme that strikes at the very heart of fair competition in America’s pastime. The gravity of these allegations has prompted Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell of the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee to demand comprehensive information from MLB by December 5, including details about how the league became aware of the suspicious activities, its policies regarding gambling, and any investigations conducted since 2020.

The indictment against Clase and Ortiz paints a troubling picture of corruption that allegedly spanned from May 2023 to June 2025. According to federal prosecutors, Clase—a three-time All-Star—agreed with co-conspirators to “throw specific pitches in certain MLB games” to help gamblers profit from inside information. The scheme was reportedly quite lucrative, with bettors winning approximately $400,000 from betting platforms on Clase’s pitches over this period. In one particularly brazen instance, Clase allegedly used his phone during a game to coordinate with a bettor about a pitch he would throw. Ortiz, who allegedly joined the operation in June 2025, is accused of accepting bribes of around $5,000 and $7,000 to throw balls instead of strikes during specific games against the Seattle Mariners and St. Louis Cardinals. Federal authorities claim that in June 2025 alone, bettors won at least $60,000 on pitches thrown by Ortiz. Both players have pleaded not guilty to the charges after appearing in federal court in New York.

The MLB has already taken initial steps to address vulnerabilities in the betting system that may have enabled such misconduct. Two days after the indictments were unsealed on November 9, the league announced that its authorized gaming operators would cap bets on individual pitches at $200 and exclude them from parlays—combinations of multiple bets that can yield higher payouts. “We think the steps we’ve taken in terms of limiting the size of these prop bets and prohibiting parlays off them is a really, really significant change that should reduce the incentive for anyone to be involved in an inappropriate way,” Manfred explained. These measures reflect the league’s recognition that certain types of bets may be more susceptible to manipulation, particularly those focused on discrete events like individual pitches rather than game outcomes, which would require corrupting multiple players to influence successfully.

The Senate committee’s inquiry demands extensive information from MLB, including details on how the league was alerted to suspicious betting activity, documentation of all gambling-related policies, and a comprehensive list of any investigations into betting violations by MLB personnel since January 2020. Senators are also seeking information about communications between the league and sports betting platforms regarding suspicious wagers, as well as MLB’s plans to revise its rules and enforcement structure in light of these events. The committee appears particularly concerned about three specific areas: the league’s approach to regulating cellphone use during games—highlighted by Clase’s alleged mid-game communications with bettors; the adequacy of MLB’s current gambling policies; and how the league plans to ensure players and other personnel don’t develop ties to organized crime.

Manfred indicated that MLB’s internal investigation into the Cleveland pitchers would continue without a specific timetable, noting that the league would “take advantage of the offseason to make sure that we conduct the most thorough and complete investigation possible.” Both players have been on paid leave since summer—Ortiz since July 3 and Clase since July 28—as the league works to understand the full scope of the alleged misconduct. The careful approach suggests that MLB recognizes the potential for this scandal to extend beyond just two players, requiring a meticulous investigation to ensure the integrity of the sport. The league’s response to this crisis will likely shape its relationship with the growing sports betting industry for years to come, as it attempts to balance the financial opportunities of legalized gambling with the paramount need to protect the game’s fairness and reputation.

This baseball scandal emerges against a backdrop of growing concerns about gambling across professional sports, coming just weeks after an FBI operation resulted in the arrests of more than two dozen individuals connected to illegal gambling in the NBA, including prominent figures Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier, and Damon Jones. The proximity of these scandals raises questions about whether American sports are experiencing a broader gambling crisis as betting becomes increasingly accessible and normalized. For baseball—a sport that has historically taken a hard line against gambling since the 1919 “Black Sox” scandal—these charges represent not just a legal issue but an existential threat to fan trust. As MLB cooperates with the Senate investigation while conducting its own internal inquiry, the sport finds itself at a crossroads, needing to demonstrate that it can effectively police gambling-related corruption in an era when betting has become an integral part of the sports landscape.