Sports gambling indictments, having just rocked the basketball world, have moved to baseball.

The U.S. Department of Justice indicted Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz on Sunday, alleging the pair engaged in wire fraud conspiracy. More specifically, the government claims the two players played significant roles in a “scheme to rig bets on pitches during Major League Baseball games.”

The indictment, filed in the Eastern District of New York, details an extensive plan by Clase and Ortiz to rig specific pitches with corrupt bettors to directly influence proposition bets, taking bribes in return for those actions. Bettors then used that rigged information to win what the Department of Justice described as at least $450,000 in fraudulent wagers. 

The bribes in some cases were as small as $5,000 for a rigged pitch, despite the fact that Clase has been in the midst of a five-year, $20 million contract, and Ortiz earned $782,600 from the Guardians this year.

Ortiz was arrested Sunday in Boston, and will make an initial appearance in federal court there on Monday. Clase is currently not in U.S. custody. If convicted, each defendant faces a total 65 years in jail spanning four different counts in the indictment. The scheme is alleged to have gone on for more than two years, stretching with Clase in particular from May 2023 to June 2025. The indictment alleges Ortiz joined the scheme much later, beginning to rig specific pitches this past June.

“Through this scheme, the defendants defrauded betting platforms, deprived Major League Baseball and the Cleveland Guardians of their honest services, illegally enriched themselves and their co-conspirators, misled the public, and betrayed America’s pastime,” the indictment reads in part. 

Clase’s agent declined to comment. Chris Georgalis, the attorney for Ortiz, denied the charges, saying his client “has never, and would never, improperly influence a game—not for anyone and not for anything. … There is no credible evidence Luis knowingly did anything other than try to win games, with every pitch and in every inning.”

The indictment also details the level to which bettors placed pressure on Clase and Ortiz as the scheme unfolded. Clase at one point tried to throw a ball, in accordance with the scheme, but the batter swung, resulting in a strike. A co-conspirator bettor is said to have texted Clase an image of a man hanging himself with toilet paper. Clase replied with an image of a “sad puppy dog face.”

Clase and Ortiz have been on paid non-disciplinary leave since July as MLB has conducted its own internal investigation. With the indictment in place, this raises the stakes for the two players considerably, and potentially sets them up for a lifetime ban from the league. 

“MLB contacted federal law enforcement at the outset of its investigation and has fully cooperated throughout the process,” the league said in a statement. “We are aware of the indictment and today’s arrest, and our investigation is ongoing.” The Guardians similarly said they are aware of the charges and are cooperating with the league and law enforcement.

The baseball situation, of course, also closely follows, both in time and theme, last month’s federal indictments involving a current NBA player, a head coach, and a former player. The two cases, however, are separate matters legally.

Institutional Concerns

Speaking before Game 1 of the World Series last month, MLB Players Association executive director Tony Clark sounded the alarm about the rising threats of gambling to his union’s membership. In particular, he expressed a desire to outlaw prop bets—the specific issue at the center of the latest indictments.

“We’re in support of removing any types of bets, prop or otherwise, that could create issues for our guys on the field,” Clark said. “We’ve heard a lot about prop bets of late, and it was one of the things we were concerned about from Day 1 as well.”

As the YouTube TV-Disney carriage dispute continues with no resolution in sight, even more signs of stress are beginning to appear. 

With the blackout of Disney channels on the No. 4 U.S. pay-TV distributor now well into its second week, both sides are beginning to make further moves in response. YouTube TV and ESPN parent company Disney continued to negotiate over the weekend, but a new deal remains far away, according to industry sources and multiple reports. 

Among the interim actions taken in recent days:

• YouTube TV has started issuing $20 credits. When the channel blackout began Oct. 31, the carrier promised $20 bill credits to subscribers if the channels were unavailable “for an extended period.” On Sunday, an extended period became now, as YouTube TV started notifying subscribers of the available credits that can be applied to their next bill. The credits will be issued by Wednesday. 
• The NFL is again making Monday Night Football available over the air. Officially, the league has not taken a position in the dispute, but it is making MNF as accessible as possible while the YouTube TV-Disney battle continues. Last week’s Cardinals-Cowboys game on ESPN was simulcast on the broadcast ABC channel, and the next two MNF matchups—a high-profile tilt on Nov. 10 between the Eagles and Packers, and a Nov. 17 game between the Cowboys and Raiders—will be, too.
• Disney continues to hammer YouTube TV’s tactics in internal communications. In the second company memo about the dispute in as many weeks, Disney executives cast a rather downbeat outlook on the talks. “YouTube TV continues to insist on receiving preferential terms that are below market and has made few concessions,” read the Friday memo from ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro and Disney Entertainment co-chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman. “Rather than compete on a level playing field, Google’s YouTube TV has approached these negotiations as if it were the only player in the game.”
• YouTube TV levied its own fresh criticism at Disney. Soon after the memo became public, the distributor again attacked Disney. “Once again, Disney is resorting to their old tactics like leaking documents to the press, negotiating in public through their paid talent, and misrepresenting the facts, including the deals they’ve offered and taking credit for our product proposals,” the company said. 

Viewership issues will continue to be closely watched as the channel blackout continues. During the initial weekend of the dispute, there were some noticeable effects on college football, though historic audiences for the end of the World Series certainly were a factor. The Cardinals-Cowboys game on MNF, meanwhile, showed a 21% audience decline compared to the comparable Week 9 game last year. 

The next potential Japanese superstar in Major League Baseball is now available to the 30 clubs.

Nippon Professional Baseball’s Yakult Swallows have posted Munetaka Murakami, with the power-hitting corner infielder available as a free agent between now and Dec. 22. Murakami is one of the most notable names in this offseason’s player market in MLB, but also one of the bigger question marks. 

While Murakami was limited to just 56 games in 2025 due to an oblique injury, he has developed an impressive resume before he hits his 26th birthday in February. He is a two-time Central League Most Valuable Player in Japan, and won the Triple Crown in 2022. That same year, he also hit 56 home runs to break Sadaharu Oh’s single-season league record by a Japanese-born player.

He also was a key figure in Japan’s march to the 2023 World Baseball Classic title. Murakami’s deliberations will be closely watched as the Dodgers’ repeat championship in 2025 was fueled heavily by Japanese stars Shohei Ohtani, Roki Sasaki, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the World Series Most Valuable Player. 

The Dodgers landed Sasaki last offseason, and after an up-and-down regular season, Sasaki was an impact player during the team’s postseason run. Because Sasaki was just 23 when he was posted last year by his NPB club, he was classified as an international amateur free agent, and was subject to bonus pool limits imposed on MLB teams. Sasaki received a $6.5 million signing bonus and a major league-minimum salary of $760,000 in 2025—figures far below his talent and on-field contributions.

The Murakami situation will be far different. Since he has already turned 25, he will be exempt from those international bonus pool restrictions. As a result, he is expected to command a nine-figure deal from a MLB club. The team that signs Murakami will also pay the Swallows a posting fee equal to 20% for the first $25 million of the contract, 17.5% for the next $25 million, and an additional 15% on every dollar above $50 million.

Murakami, however, will also need to adjust to the harder-throwing nature of MLB pitchers compared to NPB play. Despite his success in Japan and a slugger with exit velocities among the very best of anybody in the world, he hit just .095 last season on pitches 93 miles per hour or faster. That is a level now just below the average MLB fastball. 

Former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue died Sunday from heart failure, leaving an extensive and complex legacy as one of the most influential figures in league history. He was 84. 

Tagliabue held the NFL’s top position from 1989 to 2006, overseeing a period in which the league built and and then immutably solidified its position as by far the top entity in all of North American pro sports. Among the notable happenings during that tenure:

• The creation of expansion franchises in Carolina, Jacksonville, and Houston, and the reinstatement of the Cleveland franchise after the original Browns moved to Baltimore.
• The development of the current, four-division format in each conference.
• A nationwide stadium boom that ultimately saw more than two-thirds of the 32 teams playing in or building stadiums that didn’t exist when he started as commissioner.
• A tenfold increase in the value of many of the NFL’s franchises. 
• The formation of a dramatic new realm in the league’s labor relationship with the NFL Players Association, implementing a salary cap in football but also bringing about free agency for players. No work stoppages occurred during his 17 years in the post, something that afflicted Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, and National Hockey League during that time, and for some of these leagues on multiple occasions.
• The establishment of the “Rooney Rule,” which required teams to interview minority candidates for coaching vacancies. The rule has since been expanded to include front-office positions.
• The signing of several sets of lucrative television contracts, setting the stage for an annual rights haul that now exceeds $10 billion per year.
• Management of crises stemming from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. 

Tagliabue was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2020, and was further honored before several NFL games Sunday with a moment of silence.

“All of us in the NFL are deeply saddened by the passing of Paul Tagliabue, whose principled leadership and vision put the NFL on the path to unparalleled success,” said Tagliabue’s successor, current NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. “Throughout his decades-long leadership on behalf of the NFL, first as outside counsel and then during a powerful 17-year tenure as commissioner, Paul served with integrity, passion, and unwavering conviction to do what was best for the league.”

Tagliabue’s tenure, however, was also marked by a fast-rising concussion issue among NFL players, one that he would later apologize for, saying he initially did not have sufficient information about what was happening. 

In recent years, however, the NFL has achieved sizable progress on that front, both through modified kickoff rules that have reduced injury rates dramatically and with quickly improving helmet technology.