As part of Major League Baseball’s largest gambling scandal in decades, Tucupita Marcano, a San Diego Padres infielder, received a lifelong ban from baseball on Tuesday for betting on the sport, and four others received yearlong bans.
According to the MLB, Marcano placed 387 baseball bets totaling more than $150,000 in October 2022 and from July to November with a regulated bookmaker. With 149 games of major league experience under his belt, the 24-year-old Venezuelan became the first active player in a century to face a permanent suspension for gambling.
For betting on major league games, three minor leaguers, including pitchers Jay Groome of San Diego and Andrew Saalfrank of Arizona, and infielder Josรฉ Rodriguez of Philadelphia, received one-year suspensions. Each of the four players wagered less than $1,000. Both Saalfrank and Rodrรญguez have previous major league experience.
“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,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “We have prohibited Major League Baseball players from betting on games for more than a century. We have made it clear that the privilege of playing baseball entails a responsibility to refrain from engaging in certain forms of behavior that are legal for others.
Marcano is the second North American athlete banned for gambling in recent months. In April, the NBA issued a lifetime suspension to Toronto’s Jontay Porter after deciding that he divulged sensitive information to bettors and wagered on games, including the Raptors’ loss.
Since New York Giants outfielder Jimmy O’Connell in 1924, Marcano is the first current big leaguer to face a lifelong ban under the sport’s gambling regulations. Pete Rose, baseball’s career hits leader, accepted a lifetime ban in 1989 after an inquiry revealed that he bet on Cincinnati Reds games while managing the organization.
Marcano has spent parts of the last three major league seasons with Pittsburgh and San Diego, which signed him as a teenager in 2016. In 2021, Marcano made his major league debut for the Padres, and later that year, the Pirates traded him.
Marcano hasn’t played since injuring his right ACL on July 24. Last November, the Padres claimed him off waivers from Pittsburgh, but he has yet to suit up for San Diego while recovering from a knee ailment.
New San Diego manager Mike Shildt and the majority of the current Padres have never shared a dugout with Marcano, only meeting him during spring training.
“I got to know him as a person, and I think the person is a really good one,” Shildt said Tuesday, before the Padres met the Los Angeles Angels.
“Clearly, it’s something that baseball takes very seriously, as they should,” Shildt said. “There are always consequences for your actions. Nevertheless, based on my limited understanding and personal contact with him, he is a good young guy. We all make mistakes in life, and I don’t think he’s fleeing from them. He will undoubtedly face consequences for his actions. I just hope it doesn’t interfere with his life, because, as I mentioned in our conversation, he’s a decent guy, and we all make mistakes. For a single error, he doesn’t need to face any consequences.
Every clubhouse posts Major League Rule 21, which stipulates a one-year suspension for wagering on any baseball game in which a player, umpire, league official, or team employee is not required to perform. Betting on a game in which the person is required to perform leads to a lifetime ban.
The MLB stated that a regulated sports betting company informed it of the betting activity in March. According to a source familiar with the inquiry, who spoke on condition of anonymity Tuesday, MLB and the sportsbook implemented new monitoring techniques that resulted in the identification of these wagers for attention.
None of the disciplined players participated in any games on which they wagered, and all of them denied to the MLB that they had inside information about their bets or the games on which they gambledโtestimony that the MLB said was consistent with data obtained from the sportsbook.
In its release, MLB itemized the purported bets for each player.
Marcano wagered $87,319 on 387 baseball bets, including international games and 231 MLB-related wagers, between October 16 and 23, 2022, and July 12 and November 1, 2018. Twenty-five of those bets were placed on Pirates games while he was a member of the major league squad. Despite his injuries, he received medical attention at PNC Park last year.
Marcano bet almost exclusively on game outcomes and lost all of his Pirates parlay bets, winning only 4.3% of his total MLB wagers.
Marcano is a career. He is a 217 hitter who excels in both infield and outfield, boasting five home runs, 34 RBIs, and seven stolen bases.
“While the thorough investigation revealed no evidence of any games being compromised, influenced, or manipulated in any way in this case, protecting the integrity of our game is paramount,” said the Pirates in a statement.
The other four players did not bet on games featuring their assigned teams.
Kelly placed ten bets on nine major league games between October 5 and 17, 2021, while playing for Houston’s Triple-A Sugar Land farm team. The bets included outcome wagers, run-over/unders, and an individual pitcher’s strikeout total. Three of the nine games included the major league Astros. His wagers totaled $99.22 and yielded $28.30 in profits.
Kelly, 31, was 3-2 with a 2.59 ERA in 28 games for the A’s this season, and he last pitched on Saturday at Atlanta. Over the last three seasons, the former first-round selection pick has played 46 games.
In a brief meeting, Oakland manager Mark Kotsay said he “wished Michael the best.”.
“There’s an opportunity, with the year that he had, for Michael to have that chance and pitch in the big leagues again,” said Kotsay. “We’ll have to wait and see when we make that decision and he has the opportunity to come off suspension.” I believe in giving individuals a second opportunity.
Saalfrank, 26, appeared in 21 games for Arizona last year during the regular season and the postseason, including three World Series games, and two this year before being optioned to Triple-A Reno on May 1.
He placed 29 baseball bets between September 9 and October 29, 2021, and March 9, 2022, including 28 on MLB and one parlay on collegiate baseball. He bet four times on the big league Diamondbacks while on the injured list of their low-a development team. His baseball bets totaled $445.87, including $444.07 on MLB, and he lost $272.64 on MLB and $1.80 on the college wager. He won only five of 28 MLB wagers, including outcomes, runs, and pitcher strikeouts.
Arizona manager Torey Lovullo stated that Saalfrank “made a bad decision,” and the ban is “all anyone is talking about” in the Diamondbacks’ clubhouse.
“What I do know about is the human being,” Lovullo explained. “I know Andrew is sorry. He realizes he made a mistake. I haven’t had a conversation with him, but others have relayed his words to me. He feels regret, but he will face the appropriate consequences.
Rodrรญguez, 23, has played in Double-A Reading this season. He gambled on baseball 31 times on September 30, 2021, and again from June 5 to July 30, 2022, including 28 on MLB and three on collegiate baseball. He wagered on seven Chicago White Sox games during his assignment to their Double-A affiliate in Birmingham, Alabama. Two of the White Sox bets concerned outcomes, while the rest focused on runs scored. He wagered $749.09 on baseball and $724.09 on MLB-related bets, including parlays.
Philadelphia acquired Rodrรญguez in April, but manager Rob Thomson had no prior knowledge of the 23-year-old Dominican player.
“I really can’t comment on it, other than I know that everyone in the major leagues and minor leagues is required to understand Rule 21, and that’s through Major League Baseball, the rules on gambling,” Thomson stated.
Groome, a 25-year-old who had been on a minor league injured list since mid-April, placed 32 MLB-related wagers between July 22, 2020, and July 24, 2021, including 24 on the Boston Red Sox major league squad while assigned to Boston’s High-A team in Greenville, SC. The sport revealed how he gambled $453.74 on 30 MLB games and lost $433.54, with payments on only two wagers. His bets included parlays.