Emmanuel Clase resurfaces in baseball as MLB future hangs in balance

Last week, LIDOM (the Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League) announced that suspended Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz weren’t able to pitch in the league, which all but confirmed that they won’t pitch for the Guardians again. 

But even if that may be the case, Clase has reached an agreement with the Tiburones de La Guaira in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, per El Extra Base’s Daniel Álvarez-Montes.

Per Álvarez-Montes, Clase still needs to get a permit from the Eastern Stars (his LIDOM team), LIDOM itself and a visa before he can pitch in the league. 

Emmanuel Clase set to pitch in Venezuelan Professional Baseball League

As we highlighted earlier today, Clase’s suspension has left the Guardians in a weird spot in that they’re still paying his salary but don’t have any idea if he’s ever going to be able to pitch for them again. 

The suspension saga started in July when starting pitcher Luis Ortiz was placed on non-administrative leave for an investigation into sports betting. Ortiz’s suspension was extended two weeks later before Clase was suspended a little more than two weeks later. 

It came at the worst possible time for the Guardians, who were hovering around .500 at the trade deadline and were seriously considering trading Clase. But instead of being able to capitalize on his value on the trade market, they lost him for nothing thanks to his suspension. 

Major League Baseball hasn’t provided a ton of clarity on either pitcher’s situation since. The last official update we got came at the end of August when MLB announced the suspensions would continue “until further notice.”

While both pitchers have been working out since they’ve been suspended, they haven’t been able to have any contact with the Guardians, so a chance to pitch in LIDOM would have been their first chance to play organized baseball since their suspension. 

Now, at least in Clase’s case, it looks like that will come in Venezuela. The Venezuelan Baseball League consists of eight teams that play a 56-game season. 

Tiburones de La Guaira is currently leading the Venezuelan Baseball League with a 4-1 record and also has current Guardian infielder Gabriel Arias on the roster.

The Venezuelan Baseball League also features former Guardians Sandy León and Zach Plesac, who play for Navegantes del Magallanes. They’re teammates with Tucupita Marcano, who was banned from MLB for life for betting on Pirates games while he was on the roster. 

While Clase wasn’t able to pitch in LIDOM, he seems to have new life with a league that is a bit more forgiving when it comes to gambling suspensions. 

Whenever he does take the mound, it’ll be the first time he’s pitched in a game since he picked up a save for the Guardians against the Royals in July. That will likely be the last time we’ll see him in a Guardians uniform.