Main League Baseball introduced Tuesday morning that Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano has been declared completely ineligible for violating the league’s sports activities betting guidelines and insurance policies — particularly Rule 21(d)(2).
In March 2024, MLB realized from a authorized sports activities betting operator that it had recognized previous baseball betting exercise from accounts linked to a number of Main and Minor League gamers. MLB obtained information from that operator and different sportsbooks, together with authentication information for bets. None of those gamers performed in any recreation on which they positioned a guess. Additional, all the gamers denied that that they had any inside data related to the bets or that any of the baseball video games they guess on have been compromised or manipulated, and the betting information doesn’t counsel that any outcomes within the baseball video games on which they positioned bets have been compromised, influenced, or manipulated in any method. Not one of the gamers are interesting their self-discipline.
Beneath Main League Rule 21, “Any participant, umpire, or Membership or League official or worker, who shall guess any sum in any respect upon any baseball recreation in reference to which the bettor has no obligation to carry out, shall be declared ineligible for one yr.” Whereas, “Any participant, umpire, or Membership or League official or worker, who shall guess any sum in any respect upon any baseball recreation in reference to which the bettor has an obligation to carry out, shall be declared completely ineligible.”
MLB’s investigation discovered that from Oct. 16-23, 2022 and from July 12 to November 1, 2023, Marcano positioned 387 bets on baseball, together with 231 on main league video games and 25 bets on Pirates video games the place he was a member of Pittsburgh’s roster. All 25 of these Pirates bets got here whereas Marcano was rehabbing from a season-ending ACL tear, so he didn’t seem in any of the video games in query. The bets nonetheless violate the league coverage and have thus triggered the lifetime ban.
The league’s investigation discovered that Marcano positioned greater than $150K price of bets on baseball. A lot of the bets in query have been parlays, some together with his personal (on the time) Pirates membership. Marcano’s bets usually concerned the Pirates or their opponent profitable the sport or have been over/underneath bets on the variety of runs scored inside the recreation.
Main League Baseball additionally introduced that Athletics right-hander Michael Kelly, Diamondbacks lefty Andrew Saalfrank, Padres minor league pitcher Jay Groome and Phillies minor league infielder Jose Rodriguez have been given one-year bans for violating Rule 21(d)(1). All 4 gamers have been discovered to have made bets on Main League Baseball video games however weren’t on the key league roster or injured record of any groups concerned within the bets they positioned.
Kelly, 31, is an lively member of the Athletics’ bullpen and has pithed to a 2.59 ERA in 31 1/3 innings this season. His bets have been all positioned in Oct. 2021, when the right-hander was with the Astros’ Triple-A affiliate. He made solely 10 bets for a complete of $99.92, with three of these bets approaching video games involving the Astros’ large league membership through the postseason. Regardless of the meager complete of Kelly’s bets, his playing exercise was a violation of the rule in place and can set off that one-year ban.
Equally, every of Saalfrank ($445), Groome ($453) and Rodriguez ($749) guess underneath $1,000 on Main League video games again in 2020-21. All have been minor league gamers on the time — Saalfrank with Arizona’s Low-A group, Groome with the Purple Sox’ Excessive-A affiliate and Rodriguez with the White Sox’ Double-A membership.
Commissioner Rob Manfred issued the next assertion on at this time’s suspensions:
“The strict enforcement of Main League Baseball’s guidelines and insurance policies governing playing conduct is a essential part of upholding our most vital precedence: defending the integrity of our video games for the followers. The longstanding prohibition towards betting on Main League Baseball video games by these within the sport has been a bedrock precept for over a century. We’ve been clear that the privilege of taking part in in baseball comes with a duty to chorus from participating in sure kinds of conduct which can be authorized for different individuals. Because the Supreme Courtroom choice opened the door to legalized sports activities betting, we’ve got labored with licensed sports activities betting operators and different third events to place ourselves in a greater place from an integrity perspective via the transparency {that a} regulated sports activities betting system can present. MLB will proceed to speculate closely in integrity monitoring, academic programming and consciousness initiatives with the aim of making certain strict adherence to this basic rule of our recreation.”
