Why the Cleveland Guardians blocked Emmanuel Clase from pitching in Venezuelan league

Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase has been under investigation for nearly four months. Clase and Luis Ortiz were placed on non-disciplinary leave while MLB conducts the investigation into alleged gambling activity on individual pitches they made during games.

Although MLB and the Guardians appear no clearer to announcing results of this investigation, the whole saga took another bizarre turn on Wednesday evening.

Evan Drellich of The Athletic reported that the Guardians would be blocking Clase from participating in the Venezuelan Winter League.

The Cleveland Guardians will not grant Emmanuel Clase, who is under MLB investigation, permission to play winter ball in Venezuela, sources say. https://t.co/nyhxiFK0jC
— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) October 22, 2025

This comes after Clase was previously barred from winter ball earlier this month in his native Dominican Republic as part of the LIDOM. A decision that neither the MLB or the Guardians had any input on, as Clase, a Dominican citizen is permitted to participate in winter ball in his home country. This decision also comes amidst Clase filing a lawsuit against the LIDOM for their decision to not allow him and Ortiz to participate in the winter ball season.

The interesting twist in the Venezuelan league decision is that, because it is outside of Clase's home country, he would need approval of both MLB and the Guardians. While not explicitly reported by Drellich, it appears the MLB did not have an issue with Clase's participation, and that the Guardians stepped in and blocked it.

If that is the situation, it leaves fans asking the question why?

A possible answer is that the Guardians may have indications that a decision is coming soon and that Clase may be suspended. If he is moved from a non-disciplinary list to a more formal suspension, he would likely need written permission from MLB to participate and the club may just be attempting to let the formal process play out.

However, it could be that something more sinister is at foot, in that the club is embarrassed and doesn't want the inevitable backlash that would come from fans should Clase dominate in a foreign league but be unavailable for the Major League team. Pitching at any level is always an injury risk, especially at the velocity that Clase pitches at, so the policy of the front office may just be if we aren't getting the return why take the risk.

Regardless of the results of the investigation, these allegations will follow Clase wherever and whenever he pitches next, and keeping him sidelined for now prevents any negative press for the team. See the online discourse regarding George Springer and the 2017 Astros nearly a decade later if you don't believe this.

Adding another layer of complexity to this whole picture, is MLB's investigation into Shohei Ohtani's gambling allegations which saw Ohtani miss no games during the three month investigation, and the Dodgers 2024 World Series championship.

Due to the discrepancies in market, star power, and allegations fans are left confused and frustrated on why Ohtani's case was so clear cut, and the Guardians are still waiting to have a conclusion.

One thing is clear and it is that the relationship between sports gambling and professional leagues, while murky at best is not going anywhere. Leagues continue to partner with major sportsbooks as a main revenue source while simultaneously all three major sports have had scandals in recent years. Could sports gambling be this generations steroids scandal? It just may be.