San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano was permanently banned from Major League Baseball for placing nearly 400 wagers on the sport, including more than two dozen bets on the team in which he was employed at the time, the league announced Tuesday.
Marcano is the most prominent MLB player to receive the lifetime ban since Pete Rose was found wagering on games as a manager by the league in 1989.
“The strict enforcement of Major League Baseball’s rules and policies governing gambling conduct is a critical component of upholding our most important priority: protecting the integrity of our games for the fans,” said MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, who also announced one-year suspensions for four other players.
“The longstanding prohibition against betting on Major League Baseball games by those in the sport has been a bedrock principle for over a century. We have been clear that the privilege of playing in baseball comes with a responsibility to refrain from engaging in certain types of behavior that are legal for other people.”
Inside the investigation
With cooperation from U.S. sportsbook partners, MLB’s Department of Investigations found that Marcano placed 387 baseball bets, including MLB and international games, in October 2022 and July-November 2023 through a legal sportsbook that totaled more than $150,000 while he was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Marcano’s wagering on MLB games, a direct violation of the league’s gambling policy, totaled $87,319, roughly $387 per wager. Of his more than 200 MLB wagers, 25 bets were while Marcano was assigned to Pittsburgh’s big league organization.
Marcano did not play in any of the games in which he wagered as he was on the injured list with a knee injury, so no game manipulation was found in the investigation, MLB said.
In wagers involving the Pirates, Marcano bet the moneyline or run line on Pittsburgh or the opponent, and he lost all of the parlay bets involving the Pirates while hitting on 4.3% of all MLB wagers, according to the league’s investigation.
Other suspensions
Oakland Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly and three minor leaguers – Jay Groome (Padres), José Rodríguez (Philadelphia Phillies), and Andrew Saalfrank (Arizona Diamondbacks) – have also been suspended one year for sports betting violations following a “thorough review of available information in each matter, and significant cooperation from MLB’s legal sportsbook partners,” according to MLB.
None of those players wagered on games involving their assigned team or any that they could directly influence, investigators found.
Kelly bet less than $100 total on five games. Rodríguez wagered nearly $750 total on parlays. Groome made $453 parlay wagers on legs that included MLB teams. Saalfrank’s 28 wagers on parlays and prop bets totaled $445.
Don’t bet on it
MLB’s “Rule 21” states “Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has no duty to perform, shall be declared ineligible for one year.” Whereas, “any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform, shall be declared permanently ineligible.”
MLB said it was tipped off to the violations by a sports betting operator in March.
“Since the Supreme Court decision opened the door to legalized sports betting, we have worked with licensed sports betting operators and other third parties to put ourselves in a better position from an integrity perspective through the transparency that a regulated sports betting system can provide,” Manfred said. “MLB will continue to invest heavily in integrity monitoring, educational programming, and awareness initiatives with the goal of ensuring strict adherence to this fundamental rule of our game.”
Other scandals
The five suspensions represent the latest sports betting controversy to hit MLB. Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, officially pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal charges for allegedly stealing millions from Ohtani to pay off sports betting debts.
Following the plea, MLB announced that the league ended its investigation into Ohtani, who was found to have not been involved in Mizuhara’s betting through illegal bookmaker Michael Bowyer.
MLB is still reportedly investigating Atlanta Braves infielder David Fletcher, who’s currently with AAA Gwinnett, and former minor leaguer Colby Shultz for associations with Bowyer.
The handful of baseball player violations come on the heels of the NBA permanently banning former Toronto Raptors center Jontay Porter in April for betting on league games, associating with known bettors, and manipulating games for betting purposes.
