New report indicates MLB's decision on Guardians' pitchers could linger all winter

For the better part of the past three months, the Guardians haven’t had a ton of clarity about the future of Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz’s paid leave as a part of a sports betting investigation.

While the team is operating as if neither pitcher is going to be with the team in 2026, the Guardians are still on the hook for both player’s contracts while their paid leave is active, so they still have to think about their contracts when it comes to a team-building perspective. 

We got a little more thinking into what the timeline could look for both player’s futures, as The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Zack Meisel reported on Tuesday that “Major League Baseball would prefer to impose discipline on Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz by the start of spring training.”

That timeline makes sense given that both the Guardians and MLB would like to be able to put both players in the rearview mirror, Meisel and Rosenthal wrote there’s a chance it could end up going longer due to the presence of the government (both players were indicted over the weekend) along with both players professing their innocence. 

The Guardians could have to deal with Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz’s contracts all offseason 

That aforementioned indictment accused both players of rigging pitches during different points of their Guardians tenure. Ortiz was placed on non-disciplinary paid leave on July 3 before Clase was placed on the list on July 28 right before the trade deadline. 

That leave was extended “until further notice” at the end of August. 

While neither of them pitched in the second half, they both got paid while they were on leave. Ortiz was paid $782,600 as a pre-arbitration player while Clase made $4.5 million in the third year of the five-year, $20 million contract he signed before the 2022 season. 

Ortiz would be set to make a slight raise in 2026 while Clase would be owed $6 million. The only way the Guardians wouldn’t need to pay them would be if their punishment was changed to something with unpaid leave, which can’t happen until MLB finishes its investigation. 

The Guardians routinely have one of the lowest payrolls in baseball, so being able to take Clase’s $6 million off the book would make a big difference. Ortiz’s savings would be a bit more marginal given the number of pre-arbitation players on the roster. 

But the longer they linger on the payroll for 2026, the more of a chance that it impacts their spending (or lack thereof) this winter. 

The Guardians only have five guaranteed contracts on the books for next season (and also freed up some money by making some roster movies last week), but it’s hard to imagine them splurging this offseason for as long as Clase’s contract is still in the fold.