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Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said Wednesday the league will cooperate with the U.S. Senate committee’s request for documents detailing gambling investigations.
“We will respond fully, cooperatively and on time to the Senate investigation,” Manfred said in a news conference at an owners meeting.
The sport has been rocked by a scandal involving Cleveland Guardians players Emanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, who were accused of helping players by taking bribes to fix pitches.
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MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred speaks during the first round of the MLB Baseball Draft on Sunday, July 13, 2025, in Atlanta, Georgia. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee sent a letter to Manfred on Monday requesting information by December 5.
The committee is asking for answers to six questions by December 5.
- “How and when was MLB informed of suspicious betting and game manipulation activities by Emmanuel Clase or Luis Ortiz? Provide sufficient documentation to support your response?”
- “Provide documentation sufficient to show MLB’s policies and procedures relating to sports betting, gambling, or games fixed by MLB or an affiliated team’s players, coaches, employees, or owners.”
- “List any investigation of players, coaches, employees or owners of an MLB or affiliated team for violations of MLB rules relating to sports betting, gambling or game-fixing or any related criminal conduct between January 1, 2020 and the present.”
- “Provide all documents relating to any investigation listed in response to Request 3, including: procedures and policies used to conduct any relevant investigation; documents received by third parties or otherwise collected by MLB during the course of any relevant investigation; and the findings, conclusions and actions taken following any relevant investigation. »
- Procedures and policies used to conduct any relevant investigation;
- Documents received by third parties or otherwise collected by MLB in the course of any relevant investigation; And
- Findings, conclusions and actions taken following any relevant investigation. »
- “Providing communications between MLB and any sports betting platform or sports gaming integrity monitor regarding suspicious or reported sports bets: placed by players, coaches, employees or owners of MLB or an affiliated team; or placed on MLB games or submissions related to MLB games, players or teams. »
- Placed by players, coaches, employees or owners of MLB or an affiliated team; Or
- Placed on MLB games or proposals related to MLB games, players or teams.
- “Explain the extent to which MLB has addressed and plans to further address cases of alleged sports betting, gambling, and game-fixing that have occurred, including: How, if at all, MLB plans to revise its rules, policies, procedures, or enforcement structure; How, if at all, MLB plans to revise or enforce its rules regarding cell phone use during games; and How MLB plans to ensure that players, employees, coaches, and owners do not no links to organized crime.
- How, if at all, MLB plans to revise its rules, policies, procedures or enforcement structure;
- How, if at all, MLB plans to revise or enforce its rules regarding cell phone use during games; And
- How MLB plans to ensure players, employees, coaches and owners don’t have ties to organized crime. »
Two days after the indictments were revealed on November 9, MLB said its licensed gaming operators would cap bets on individual fields at $200 and exclude them from wagering.
“We think the steps we’ve taken to limit the size of these side bets and prohibit betting on them is a really, really important change that should reduce the incentive for anyone to get involved inappropriately,” Manfred said.
MLB cracks down with new betting limit after Cleveland pitchers accused of gambling scheme
Senators Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee sent a letter to Manfred on Monday requesting information by December 5. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
Manfred said MLB’s internal investigation into Cleveland’s pitchers has no timetable. Ortiz was placed on paid leave on July 3 and Clase on July 28.
“We think we should take advantage of the offseason to make sure that we conduct the most thorough and complete investigation possible,” he said.
Ortiz and Clase have pleaded not guilty.
Clase and Ortiz were arrested and appeared in federal court in New York last week. Clase, a three-time All-Star, has pleaded not guilty to charges that he took bribes to help players make money on his courts. Ortiz also pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Officials said in the indictment that from May 2023 to June 2025, Clase agreed with a co-conspirator to “throw specific pitches in certain MLB games” so that bettors they allegedly associated with would “profit from illegal bets made based on this inside information.” Ortiz would have joined the program in June 2025.
The indictment says Clase talked with a punter about throwing a ball on the first pitch of an at-bat when he was brought to games in relief. The indictment alleged instances that occurred in specific matches, including on May 19, 2023, against the New York Mets; June 2, 2023, against the Minnesota Twins; and June 7, 2023 against the Boston Red Sox.
Clase allegedly began demanding and receiving bribes and kickbacks for agreeing to pitch specific plots of land in April, according to the indictment. In one case, according to the indictment, Clase used his phone in the middle of a game to coordinate with a punter on a pitch he would throw.
Punters have reportedly won $400,000 on betting platforms on throws launched by Clase between 2023 and 2025.
When Ortiz allegedly joined the system, according to the indictment, he agreed to throw balls on strikes on certain pitches in exchange for bribes or kickbacks. He would have agreed to throw a ball on June 15 against the Seattle Mariners for about $5,000 on his first throw in the second inning.
The indictment says Ortiz agreed to throw a ball on his first pitch of the third inning on June 27 against the St. Louis Cardinals for $7,000. As of June 2025, bettors have won at least $60,000 on pitches thrown by Ortiz.
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The leave of Cleveland Guardians pitchers Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase was extended indefinitely on August 31, 2025. (IMAGNE/AP)
The announcement of the indictment came a few weeks after three NBA the numbers were swept into a FBI operation involving illegal gambling. Chauncey Billups, Terry Rozier and Damon Jones were among the more than two dozen arrested in the scheme.
