NEW YORK (AP) — San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano He was banned for life from baseball for gambling on baseball, and the other four were given one-year suspensions. Major League Baseball On Tuesday, the sport’s biggest betting scandal in decades broke.
According to MLB, Marcano made 387 baseball bets totaling more than $150,000 at legal sportsbooks between October 2022 and July-November of last year, making him the first active player this century to be permanently banned for gambling.
Oakland Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly was suspended for one year for betting on baseball while in the minor leagues, and three minor leaguers were also suspended for one year for betting on major league games: San Diego pitchers Jay Groom, Arizona pitcher Andrew Sahlfrank and Philadelphia infielder Jose Rodriguez. All four players bet less than $1,000 each. Sahlfrank and Rodriguez both played in the major leagues.
Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Tucupita Marcano (30) takes the mound in the first inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Saturday, July 8, 2023, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scutelli)
“Strict enforcement of Major League Baseball’s rules and policies regulating gambling activity is a critical component of carrying out our overriding mission of protecting the integrity of the game for our fans,” baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “The long-standing prohibition on sports officials betting on Major League Baseball games has been a fundamental principle for more than a century. We have always been clear that the privilege of playing baseball comes with a responsibility to refrain from certain types of conduct that are legal for others.”
Marcano is the first active major leaguer to be banned for life under sports betting rules since New York Giants outfielder Jimmy O’Connell in 1924. Baseball’s all-time hits leader Pete Rose agreed to a lifetime ban in 1989 after an investigation concluded he had bet on Cincinnati Reds games while he was the team’s manager.
Rule 21 of the Major League Baseball Rules, posted in each clubhouse, states that any player, umpire, league official or team employee who bets on a baseball game on which he is not required to perform his official duties will be suspended for one year, and will be suspended for life if he bets on a game on which he is required to perform his official duties.
Marcano is the second North American player to be suspended for gambling offences in recent months. The NBA banned Toronto’s Jontay Porter for life in April. They concluded that he had leaked confidential information to bettors and had bet on games, including that the Raptors would lose.
Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Tucupita Marcano throws the ball to second base during the top of the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 7, 2023, in Phoenix. (Associated Press/Ross D. Franklin)
MLB said it was tipped off about the gambling activity in March by a legal sports betting operator. None of the players who were disciplined played in the games they bet on, and all players have denied to MLB that they had inside information about the games they bet on or the bets they placed. MLB said the statements are consistent with data it received from sportsbooks.
In its announcement, MLB detailed the amount each player has wagered.
Between Oct. 16, 2022 and Nov. 1, 2020, Marcano made 387 baseball bets totaling $87,319 on 231 international and MLB-related games, including 25 bets on games played by the Pirates when he was a member of the major league baseball team. Marcano, now 24, has not played since tearing his right anterior cruciate ligament on July 24, 2020, and spent last year at PNC Park undergoing treatment.
Marcano bet almost exclusively on game outcomes, losing all of his parlays involving the Pirates and winning just 4.3% of his MLB-related bets.
Marcano made his major league debut on April 1, 2021 and is batting .217 with five home runs, 34 RBI and seven stolen bases in 149 games, playing both the infield and outfield.
“After a thorough investigation, we have found no evidence that any games were compromised, influenced or manipulated in this matter, but protecting the integrity of our games is paramount,” the Pirates said in a statement.
The other four players did not bet on any matches involving their assigned teams.
Kelly, a minor league player for Houston’s Triple-A Sugar Land Farm team, placed 10 bets on nine major league games from Oct. 5-17, 2021. The bets included bets on the outcome, over/under runs scored and individual pitcher strikeouts. Three of the nine games involved the Astros. His bets totaled $99.22 and resulted in $28.30 in winnings.
Kelly, 31, is 3-2 with a 2.59 ERA in 28 games this season, last pitching on Saturday against Atlanta. The former first-round draft pick has appeared in 46 games over the past three seasons.
Groom, 25, who has been on the minor league disabled list since mid-April, made 32 MLB-related bets between July 22, 2020 and July 24, 2021. He made 24 bets on the major league Boston Red Sox team while playing for Boston’s High-A team in Greenville, South Carolina. According to Sports, he bet $453.74 on 30 MLB games, with a net loss of $433.54 and only two bets that paid out. His bets also included parlays.
Rodriguez, 23, is playing for Double-A Reading this season. Between Sept. 30, 2021 and June 5-July 30, 2022, he made 31 bets on baseball, 28 of which were on MLB and three on college baseball. That total included seven bets on the Chicago White Sox, who were then assigned to the Double-A team in Birmingham, Alabama. Two of the White Sox bets were on the outcome and the rest were on runs. He bet $749.09 on baseball, $724.09 of which were MLB-related bets, including parlays.
Saalfrank, 26, pitched in 21 games for Arizona last year during the regular season and postseason, including three World Series games, and two games this year before being optioned to Triple-A Reno on May 1. He made 29 baseball bets, 28 on MLB and one on college baseball, between September 9 and October 29, 2021, and March 9, 2022. He bet on the Diamondbacks of major league baseball four times while he was on the disabled list for his low-A farm team. His baseball bets totaled $445.87 on baseball, including $444.07 on MLB, and he lost $272.64 on MLB and $1.80 on college. Of his 28 MLB bets, including results, runs, and pitcher strikeouts, he won only five times.
