Tucupita Marcano banned from MLB for life, four others suspended one year for betting on baseball

MLB

By Erich Richter

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Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano was officially banned from MLB for life on Tuesday for betting on Pirates games while he was a member of the team last season, commissioner Rob Manfred announced.

Four other players — A’s pitcher Michael Kelly, Diamondbacks pitcher Andrew Saalfrank, Padres pitcher Jay Groome and Phillies infielder Jose Rodriguez — received one-year suspensions for betting on other teams.

Marcano was found to have bet on the Pirates while he was on their injured list.

The 24-year-old, whom Spotrac projects has made $2.7 million during his baseball career, has a career .217 average and .589 OPS in 149 games.

Kelly, 31, is in his first season with the Athletics after pitching for the Guardians last year and the Phillies in 2022.

He has a 2.59 ERA in 28 appearances this season.

Saalfrank, 26, spent parts of the last two seasons with the Diamondbacks, last giving up four runs in ⅓ inning on April 29 before being demoted to Triple-A Reno on May 1.

The lefty specialist played a rather important role with the club during their surprise World Series run last fall, giving up three runs (two earned) in 5 ⅔ innings across 11 appearances, including Games 2, 3 and 4 of the World Series.

Spotrac projects that Saalfrank made $361,341 in his playing career up until this point, but signed a fully guaranteed one-year $740,000 deal this past offseason.

As for the two minor leaguers, Jay Groome and Jose Rodriguez did not make it to the big leagues at any point and their career earnings seem to be unknown according to Spotrac.

Marcano was signed as a 16-year-old out of Venezuela in 2016 by the Padres before being traded to the Pirates in 2021.

He lasted played in a big league game in July 2023, when he tore his ACL while running the bases.

It’s another massive blow to baseball, which has been embroiled in gambling scandals this season.

Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, was charged in April with stealing more than $16 million from the Dodgers superstar to pay off debts from bets made with an illegal bookie.

Ohtani’s ex-Angels teammate David Fletcher is also under investigation by MLB for allegedly placing bets through the same illegal bookmaker.

According to Rule 21.(d) in the MLB official handbook regarding misconduct: “Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform, shall be declared permanently ineligible.”

They also lay out the groundwork for betting legally versus illegally.

Fletcher, who was a member of the Los Angeles Angels last season, was residing in California, which does not have legal sports betting.

“Betting on any sport illegally is forbidden,” the MLB handbook regarding misconduct continues. “But players are allowed to bet legally on every sport except for baseball. Betting on a baseball game involving teams other than the player’s own team results in a one-year suspension, while betting on a game involving the player’s own team results in a lifetime ban.”

Pete Rose received a lifetime ban in 1989 after he was found to have placed bets on the Reds to win from 1985-87 while playing for and managing the team.

The NBA banned Raptors forward Jontay Porter for life in April for providing inside information to bettors and manipulating his playing time to impact bets.