MLB bans Padres’ Tucupita Marcano for life for betting on baseball

The MLB on Tuesday banned San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano for life and suspended four other players for one year for violating the league’s policy on gambling.

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The announcement came two months after the MLB launched an investigation into bets made by major and minor league players. Under MLB rules, players, umpires and club or league officials are barred from placing bets on baseball games.

“The longstanding prohibition against betting on Major League Baseball games by those in the sport has been a bedrock principle for over a century,” Baseball Commissioner Robert Manfred said Tuesday. “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.”

The MLB handed Oakland Athletics reliever Michael Kelly a one-year suspension for placing $99.22 worth of bets on major league games while he was playing in the minor league in October 2021. Minor-league players Jay Groome of the Padres, José Rodríguez of the Philadelphia Phillies and Andrew Saalfrank of the Arizona Diamondbacks were also ruled ineligible for one year each after officials found they placed bets on MLB games.

Including Marcano, the MLB said, “None of these players played in any game on which they placed a bet.

“Further, all of the players denied that they had any inside information relevant to the bets or that any of the baseball games they bet on were compromised or manipulated, and the betting data does not suggest that any outcomes in the baseball games on which they placed bets were compromised, influenced, or manipulated in any way.”

During a one-week span in October 2022 and over about four months in 2023, officials said Marcano placed 387 bets totaling more than $150,000 on MLB and international baseball games. The wagers included 25 on Pittsburgh Pirates games while Marcano was a member of the team but off the field due to a knee injury. Nearly all of the bets were on which team would win or whether there would be more or less than a certain number of runs scored in the game, league officials said.

Ultimately, Marcano won only 4.3% of his MLB-related bets and none of his parlays involving the Pirates.

Marcano appears to be the first active major league player banned under the MLB’s sports gambling provision since 1924, when New York Giants outfielder Jimmy O’Connell was suspended, according to The Associated Press.

The Pittsburgh Pirates released a statement on the league's decision, saying they're "extremely disappointed" in Tucupita's actions. Their full statement reads:

“We are extremely disappointed of Tucupita’s actions and are fully supportive of Major League Baseball’s ruling. The Pirates, along with 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.”

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