Major League Baseball announced major penalties Tuesday for four players who committed gambling violations. MLB has permanently banned Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano and levied a one-year suspension for Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly, Padres pitcher Jay Groome, Diamondbacks pitcher Andrew Saalfrank, and Phillies infielder José Rodríguez.
According to a report from MLB, the league was alerted by sportsbooks to betting activity from accounts connected to these players in March.
"None of these players played in any game on which they placed a bet," the statement read. "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. None of the players are appealing their discipline."
MLB said that Marcano placed $87,319 on 231 MLB-related bets, including 25 bets on Pirates games between Oct. 16, 2022, and Oct. 23, 2022, and from July 12, 2023, to Nov. 1, 2023. Marcano hasn't played in an MLB game since last July after he suffered an ACL injury, which is when most of the bets were placed. All of Marcano's bets on the Pirates were for Pittsburgh to win or on the over/under.
Marcano is now the second player in a major American sport to be banned for life for gambling violations. The NBA banned Jontay Porter for life for disclosing confidential information to sports bettors and limiting his performance in games as a member of the Toronto Raptors to impact the outcome of player props.
While Marcano bet the largest sum of all the baseball players who were disciplined, the four other players who were penalized bet much smaller amounts by comparison.
On Sept. 30, 2021, and from June 5, 2022, through July 30, 2022, Rodríguez placed 31 baseball wagers totaling $749.09, three bets on college baseball and 28 MLB-related bets while assigned to the White Sox Double-A affiliate in Alabama. Rodríguez made seven MLB-related bets involving the White Sox.
From Sept. 9, 2021, through Oct. 29, 2021, and on March 9, 2022, Saalfrank wagered $445.87 on 29 baseball bets, including 28 MLB-related bets while on the Injured List of the Diamondbacks’ Low-A affiliate. Four of those bets involved the Diamondbacks.
Groome wagered $453.74 on 32 MLB game-related bets from July 22, 2020, through July 24, 2021, while he was assigned to the Red Sox’ High-A affiliate in South Carolina. Of those bets, 24 involved the Red Sox and were on the outcome of those games.
Kelly bet $99.22 on MLB games over 12 days in October 2021 as a member of the Houston Astros’ Triple-A affiliate in Texas, and three of the nine bets placed were on the Astros.
These latest violations add to a growing list of betting-related stories in baseball this year. Ippei Mizuhara, Shoehei Ohtani's former interpreter, created a firestorm of controversy when it was revealed that he was under federal investigation for allegedly wiring millions of dollars from Ohtani's bank account to pay gambling debts made with an illegal bookmaking operation. Ohtani's former teammate David Fletcher also bet with the same bookie as Mizuhara, but reportedly did not bet on baseball.
While sports betting is much more accessible to athletes in certain states, the league signaled Tuesday that it would come down hard on anyone who violates MLB's gambling policies.
“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," MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in the statement. "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."
