News and Notes for Tuesday, July 29th, 2025
So, confession that I don’t drink alcohol. However, I think I can imagine now what a hangover might feel like.
I, like all of us, was absolutely shell-shocked by the news that Emmanuel Clase was implicated in the sports betting scandal previously uncovered with Luis Ortiz. But, then, against my better judgment, I found myself drinking deeply from the joy of a potential baseball game victory. My team found a way to claw back from a 3-0 deficit to take a 5-3 lead against a terrible baseball team. Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith are great pitchers. I could enjoy baseball still.
And, this, this must be kinda like what a hangover feels like. Raging headache. Regret that I did that. wishing I would have been more moderated in my consumption, and some percentage of resentment of the liquor itself for being so tempting and yet so harmful in the end. Ah, well, it’s just baseball. It’s not important. I can quit it anytime I want to.
The Guardians lost Emmanuel Clase yesterday. Who knows how long? Maybe forever. The fact that the team somehow KNEW he would be implicated seems like a big deal, as Zack Meisel reported last night. How did they know? Did Clase tell them? Did the league tip them off? Or did they put pieces together knowing that Ortiz and Clase’s lockers were next to each other? There are a lot of unanswered questions.
Ken Rosenthal writes that the team is fielding a lot of offers on Steven Kwan. How close are we to some kind of ground-shaking full rebuild? How close are we to front office or coaches getting fired? I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve ever felt like the franchise was this directionless. At least in the early-oughts, I just assumed the goal was to be bad for a little bit and get higher draft picks so they could be good. I have no idea what they do right now given the state of the team and the state of a gambling scandal erupting in front of their eyes.
Hector Gomez helpfully tweeted that more Guardians pitchers may be implicated. Meisel noted that the league went out of their way to tell the team that no one else is expected to be involved. So, I guess we will see. We will see if the team makes any trades.
Oh, and there is another baseball game tonight. Logan Allen is pitching. That’ll cure what ails you.