Padres player handed lifetime ban amid MLB gambling investigation

San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano has been handed a lifetime ban by Major League Baseball (MLB) after violating the organization’s gambling policy.

The investigation is centered around Marcano, Oakland Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly and three minor league players betting on games during the 2023 season, at which time Marcano was playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Venezuelan joined the Padres in 2016, making 25 appearances before being traded to the Pirates in 2021 as part of a deal that saw Adam Frazier head in the other direction. 

Marcano suffered a torn knee ligament that ruled him out of action for more than nine months, during which time he was alleged to have started betting on Pirates’ fixtures while recovering from surgery.

The conclusion of the 2023 campaign saw the Pirates release Marcano, who subsequently rejoined the Padres as a waiver wire pickup in November, but he is yet to appear during his second stint due to his injury issues.

MLB has confirmed that the organization was tipped off by a legal sports betting operator in March 2024 that baseball betting activity had been linked back to accounts possessed by multiple Major and Minor League players.

MLB’s gambling policy states that players are permitted to bet on non-diamond sports, but any wagers on baseball or softball at any level are prohibited. 

If a player is found to have bet on other teams, they will be met with a one-year suspension. Those that are guilty of betting on their own outfit will become eligible for a lifetime ban immediately. 

Marcano, much like the four other players embroiled in similar controversy, did not play in any game that they had placed a bet on, nor are any appealing the decision.

However, as per the MLB’s findings, data from October 2022 , as well as data from July 2023 to November 2023, showed Marcano placed 387 baseball bets, including 231 MLB-related bets among other bets on international baseball games through a legal sportsbook.

Of those 231 MLB-related bets, 25 included Pirates games while he was assigned to the Pirates’ Major League Club. Most of those focused on who would win the game outright, as well as whether there would be more or less than a certain number of runs scored in the game.

Overall, the 24-year-old spent more than $150,000 on baseball wagers, including $87,319 on MLB-related bets. MLB has found no evidence to suggest his bets influenced the outcome of any of the games in question.

In turn, Marcano has been deemed permanently ineligible for violating the league’s sports betting rules.

Kelly, a Major League pitcher with the Oakland Athletics, has been banned for one-year after placing 10 bets involving nine MLB games in October 2021 while he was a Minor League player assigned  to the Houston Astros’ Triple-A affiliate in Sugar Land, Texas.

Minor League players Jay Groome, José Rodríguez, and Andrew Saalfrank have all also been banned for 12 months for betting infringements.

Prior to confirmation of his lifetime ban, the Pirates issued an update on the situation, adding: “We are aware of the matter that’s under investigation and are fully cooperating. We will refrain from further comment at this time.”

MLB’s investigation into Marcano came after Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani was embroiled in a gambling scandal that saw his former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara accused of stealing as much as $17m from him to pay off his sports betting debts.

Late last month, ex-Los Angeles Angels infielder David Fletcher was also alleged to have bet on sports other than baseball using the same illegal bookmaker that took wagers from Mizuhara.

His close friend and former Kansas City Royals’ talent, Colby Schultz, was accused of placing bets on baseball, including fixtures that Fletcher starred in for the Angels.