MLB Bans San Diego Padres Utility Player For Gambling on Baseball

Major League Baseball declared San Diego Padres utility player Tucupita Marcano permanently ineligible on Monday, and disciplined four other minor league players, for gambling on baseball.

Marcano received the heaviest penalty permissible by MLB for violating Rule 21, which prohibits gambling on baseball. The other four players — Philadelphia Phillies infielder Jose Rodriguez, Padres pitcher Jay Groome, Oakland Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly, and Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Andrew Saalfrank — were each suspended one year under the terms of the Minor League sports betting policy applicable to them at the time of their bets.

In a statement, baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said “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. 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.”

The list of violations against Marcano was limited to games he wagered on through a legal operator while he was on the Pittsburgh Pirates major league roster:

• From Oct. 16-23 2022, and from July 12 to Nov. 1, 2023, Marcano placed 387 baseball bets, including 231 MLB-related bets among other bets on international baseball games. Marcano’s MLB bets were generally parlays, which would sometimes include multiple MLB-related legs, and they would sometimes include MLB-related legs and non-MLB legs.
• In total, Marcano bet more than $150,000 on baseball, with $87,319 of that on MLB-related bets (an average of approximately $378 per bet). Of more than 200 MLB bets Marcano placed over this period, 25 included Pirates games while he was on their roster. Marcano did not appear in any of the games on which he placed bets, however, because all of Marcano’s Pirates-related bets, and the vast majority of his bets overall, occurred during the period after he suffered a season-ending knee injury on July 24, 2023.

• Consistent with Marcano’s overall baseball betting activity, almost all of Marcano’s Pirates bets were on which Club (the Pirates or their opponent) would win the game or whether there would be more or less than a certain number of runs scored in the game. Ultimately, Marcano lost all of his parlays involving the Pirates and only won 4.3% of all of his MLB-related bets overall.
• There is no evidence to suggest, and Marcano denied, that any outcomes in the baseball games on which he placed bets were compromised, influenced, or manipulated in any way.

The Pirates released a statement of their own Tuesday, saying “We are extremely disappointed of Tucupita’s actions and are fully supportive of Major League Baseball’s ruling. The Pirates, along with MLB, (the MLB) Players Association, and every Club, work to ensure all involved within our game are aware of the rules and policies around gambling. 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.”

Marcano, 24, joins a short list of players declared permanently ineligible by the commissioner for betting on baseball, most famously including MLB’s all-time hits leader, Pete Rose.

This season, Marcano had not appeared in a game while recovering from knee surgery. In parts of three major league seasons with the Padres and Pirates from 2021-23, Marcano has played 149 games and hit .217 with five home runs and 34 RBIs. He has seen time at five different positions and stolen seven bases in his career.

By banning Marcano permanently, MLB can only hope he serves as a warning shot to a generation of players for whom legalized sports betting has been more accessible than their forebears. MLB (and some teams individually) have official business relationships with DraftKings and MGM, among other gaming operators.