Lynnae is a journalist covering the intersection of technology, culture, and gambling. She has more than five years of experience as a writer and editor, with bylines at SlashGear and MakeUseOf. On the iGaming side,...
Read Full BioA sports bettor identified in a new court filing has sworn that Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Emmanuel Clase never provided him inside information about pitches and says messages prosecutors view as suspicious were not coded baseball-gambling communications.
In a sworn declaration filed as an exhibit to the defense’s 29-page January 9 motion to compel the disclosure of exculpatory materials, “Bettor 1,” which court documents describe as “the only Bettor with whom Mr. Clase had substantive contact during the dates of the alleged conspiracies,” invokes an unexpected defense: roosters.
“While I never discussed baseball gambling with Emmanuel in any way, I did discuss betting on rooster fighting with him. In the Dominican Republic, gambling on roosters is completely legal, and Emmanuel has a rooster fighting operation,” the unidentified bettor says.
While the bettor does acknowledge going to games (Clase provided the tickets) and placing wagers on Clase’s games, the bettor insists that they didn’t “receive any information or signals from Emmanuel to know what pitch he intended to throw.”
Any payments that were sent to associates of Clase in the Dominican Republic were related to rooster fighting and had nothing to do with betting on baseball, the bettor claims. Instead, the money went to people who took care of Clase’s “rooster operation, either to cover bets or expenses related to roosters.”
Defense Highlights ‘Roosters’ in Longer Discovery Fight
The defense argues the bettor’s sworn statement matters because the government “seems to contend” that certain references, including messages about roosters and horses, use coded language used to cover up baseball betting, even though witnesses have sworn they “used their words to mean exactly what those words said.”
In the January 9 discovery motion, attorneys for Clase and and his teammate, Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Luis Ortiz write that prosecutors have produced “tens of thousands of Spanish-language communications — both written and oral,” but have failed to provide them key witness information and enough context to allow them to distinguish between ordinary conversations and what prosecutors may later argue is gambling “code,” especially where the communications reference livestock.
The motion says the defense has been forced to sift through “tens of thousands of innocuous messages about rooster fighting, livestock, and home repairs,” and argues prosecutors “cannot hide Brady material as an exculpatory needle in a haystack of discovery materials.”
Much of the government’s case against Clase and Ortiz rests on texts, calls, and audio messages they allegedly exchanged with bettors and intermediaries to coordinate rigged pitches and pitch-by-pitch prop bets.
Because the indictment leans heavily on texts and calls to describe the alleged scheme, the defense’s push to reframe those communications appears aimed at undercutting the prosecution’s core narrative.
What Prosecutors Allege in MLB Microbetting Case
Federal prosecutors allege that from 2023 through 2025, Clase and Ortiz participated in a scheme that saw them give bettors advance notice of specific pitches, allowing them to place wagers on prop bets such as pitch speed or whether a pitch would be a ball or a hit-by-pitch.
According to the indictment, the conspiracy resulted in bettors netting at least $450,000 and accuses the players of accepting bribes and kickbacks in exchange for throwing certain pitches.
However, defense lawyers argue that all of the witnesses identified by the defense, including those “at the heart of the government’s allegations, have previously denied any knowledge of a crime or the existence of a conspiracy.” They have accused prosecutors of improperly delaying the release of exculpatory evidence and mischaracterizing it as “impeachment material.”
The motion warns that without full disclosure, the government risks framing lawful communications about rooster fighting and livestock as criminal conduct tied to baseball gambling.
Clase and Ortiz have pleaded not guilty and are set to stand trial in May 2026.
