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

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.

Marcano was found to have bet on 25 Pirates games while he was on their injured list, but did not appear in any of them — nor did he win any of them.

In total, he placed 387 bets from 2022-23, 231 of them MLB-related. He wagered $150,000 in total, with over $87,000 on MLB-related bets, most of them parlays.

“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,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said. “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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

Ippei Mizuhara, the former interpreter to superstar Shohei Ohtani, pleaded guilty to bank and tax fraud and admitted to stealing over $17 million from the Dodgers slugger to pay off sports gambling debts.

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

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

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.”

MLB also laid out the groundwork for betting legally versus illegally.

“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.