How Guardians must pivot after Emmanuel Clase, Luis Ortiz indictments

The other shoe finally dropped. 

After more than four months of waiting, we finally found out more about the status of  Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase’s status after they were placed on paid leave due to an investigation into sports betting. 

And it wasn’t a great update. Both pitchers were indicted by prosecutors in Brooklyn on an abundance of charges in relation to rigging pitches so bettors could make money. Ortiz was arrested in Boston and will appear in court on Monday, while The Athletic’s Zack Mesiel reported that Clase is out of the country. 

Both players could face up to 65 years in prison if convicted. 

Although the indictments don’t impact MLB’s investigation, they all but confirm that Ortiz and Clase’s careers are over while also raising the stakes around both player’s situations; prior to Sunday, their MLB future was the main thing at stake. Now they’re going to have to prove their innocence in the court of law.

But as both players grapple with those real life consequences, there’s also a variety of baseball consequences the Guardians are going to have to sift through. 

Here’s how the Guardians can pick up the pieces of the Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase indictments

The biggest thing they’ll need to do is add another high-leverage reliever into the mix. 

Cade Smith stepped in as the Guardians’ closer after Clase got suspended, and Sunday’s news provided even more reinforcement that will be the case in 2026. 

But that doesn’t mean they should stop there. We’ve already highlighted Robert Suárez as a potential Clase replacement who will be available this winter, but there are plenty of other budget relievers available who have experience working in leverage like Pete Fairbanks, Luke Weaver and Ryan Helsley. 

The Guardians are still technically on the hook for both player’s salaries, but that should change once MLB finishes its investigation. 

The Guardians are one of baseball’s best teams at developing bullpen help, and the unit is in good hands with Smith, Erik Sabrowski and Hunter Gaddis, but Clase was one of baseball’s best relievers (despite being on the take in a good portion of his outings). The Guardians need to make some kind of move to replace his production.  

One of the options they could do that is via trade, and they shouldn’t let Ortiz’s suspension hamper their aggressiveness on the trade market. 

While both player’s suspensions sting, Ortiz’s is in a bit of a different category given the circumstances around how he ended up in Cleveland. The Guardians acquired him at the Winter Meeting last year in exchange for Spencer Horwitz, who they netted in a previous trade in exchange for Andrés Giménez. 

Even if Giménez’s offense had fallen off a cliff and his contract was an anchor on the payroll, he was a beloved Guardian who was a big part of the franchise’s recent turn of success. Instead, they got him in exchange for a pitcher who is under arrest for rigging pitches.

Chris Antonetti has gone on record saying the Guardians were moving forward as if neither player would be on the team’s roster next season, and we got even more confirmation of that on Sunday.

Even though the losses of both players hurt, the Guardians went on a run last in the season and ended up winning the American League Central after trailing the Tigers by 15 1/2 games. 

That second half surge served a preview of what life would look like without Clase and Ortiz. It’s going to be the reality going forward.