Padres Utility Player Receives Lifetime Ban From MLB For Gambling

J.P. Hoornstra | Jun 4, 2024

Jul 17, 2023; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Tucupita Marcano (30) at the batting cage before the game against the Cleveland Guardians at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

San Diego Padres utility player Tucupita Marcano has been banned permanently by Major League Baseball for gambling on baseball, the league announced Tuesday. MLB also announced Padres minor league pitcher Jay Groome is ineligible for one year for violating its sports betting rules and policies.

According to MLB, the league learned from a legal sports betting operator that it had identified past baseball betting activity from accounts connected to multiple Major and Minor League players. MLB obtained data from that operator and other sportsbooks, including authentication data for bets. Neither Marcano nor Groome, nor three other players disciplined Tuesday (Oakland A's pitcher Michael Kelly, Philadelphia Phillies infielder José Rodríguez, and Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Andrew Saalfrank) played in any game on which they placed a bet.

None of the players are appealing their discipline.

Commissioner of Baseball Robert D. Manfred, Jr. said in a statement: “The strict enforcement of Major League Baseball’s rules and policies governing gambling conduct is a critical component of upholding our most important priority: protecting the integrity of our games for the fans. The longstanding prohibition against betting on Major League Baseball games by those in the sport has been a bedrock principle for over a century. 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. 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 rule banning players who wager on baseball, Rule 21, states: "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 no duty to perform, shall be declared ineligible for one year. ... 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.”

Because Groome (as well as Kelly, Rodriguez and Saalfrank) were on minor league rosters at the time, they were slapped with the one-year bans rather than the lifetime ban Marcano received.