Emmanuel Clase was preparing to pitch for the Tiburones de La Guaira of Venezuela’s LVBP this winter, as first reported by Daniel Alvarez Montes of El Extrabase. However, according to a new report from The Athletic’s Evan Drellich, the Guardians will not grant Clase the approval he requires in order to play in a winter league outside of his home country.
Clase is a Dominican native, so neither the Guardians nor MLB could have stopped him from playing in LIDOM. Yet, as ESPN’s Enrique Rojas noted earlier this month, LIDOM independently decided to prohibit Clase (and his Guardians teammate Luis Ortiz) from playing in the Dominican Republic this winter.