NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball on Tuesday suspended San Diego Padres Venezuelan infielder Tucupita Marcano for life for betting on games.
MLB also suspended four other players — all for one year — after determining that they made unrelated bets through a legal sports book.
This is the biggest betting scandal to shake the sport in decades.
MLB detailed that Marcano placed 387 bets on baseball that amounted to more than $150,000 between October 2022 and from last July to November through a legal sports betting house. The Venezuelan is the first active baseball player in a century to be banned for life due to gambling.
Michael Kelly, a pitcher for the Oakland Athletics, was the other major league player who was suspended — banned for one year for gambling while in the minors.
The other three are enrolled in minor league branches: Dominican José Rodríguez (Philadelphia), Jay Groome (San Diego) and Andrew Saalfrank (Arizona). None exceeded $1,000 in bets. Saalfrank and Rodríguez have had previous experience in the majors.
“Strictly enforcing Major League Baseball’s rules and policies on betting conduct is a crucial element of upholding our most important priority: protecting the integrity of our games for fans,” said MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, in a statement. “The long-standing ban on betting on MLB games by those participating in the sport has been a mainstay for more than a century.”
“We have been clear that the privilege of playing baseball comes with a responsibility to refrain from certain types of conduct that are legal for other people,” he added.
Marcano is the first active player in the majors to be banned for breaking betting regulations since Giants outfielder Jimmy O’Connell in 1924.
Pete Rose, the major league’s all-time hits leader, accepted a lifetime ban in 1989 after an MLB investigation determined he bet on Cincinnati Reds games when he was the team’s manager.
MLB Rule 21, which appears posted in every clubhouse, states that betting on a baseball game in which a player, umpire, league employee or team personnel has no participation will result in a one-year suspension.
Betting on a game in which a person has a stake can result in a lifetime ban.
Marcano is the second athlete in the United States professional leagues to receive a lifetime ban for betting. The NBA banned Toronto’s Jontay Porter for life in April after confirming that the player disclosed confidential information to bettors and that he bet on games, including on the Raptors’ losses.
MLB said it learned of the betting activity in March after receiving information from a legal betting operator. None of the sanctioned players participated in the games in which they placed the bets. And they all denied to MLB that they had relevant inside information about their bets or the games they bet on. Such testimonies coincide with the information he received from the betting house.
In its announcement, MLB detailed the bets made by each player.
Marcano’s 387 bets included international games and 231 in MLB, totaling $87,319 between October 16, 2022 and November 1. Twenty-five of those bets were on Pirates games, being part of the Major League roster.
Marcano, 24, has not played since suffering a torn cruciate ligament in his knee on July 24. He was taken by the Padres after being placed on the transfer list on November 2 and went on the 10-day disabled list on March 19.
Marcano made his major league debut on April 1, 2021, and posted a .217 batting average with five home runs, 34 RBIs and seven stolen bases in 149 games.
Source: AP
2024-06-05 01:13:59
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