MLB Player Marcano Banned For Life, Four Suspended For Betting Violations

By Barry Janoff

June 4, 2024: MLB today said it has permanently banned San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano for betting on baseball and suspended four other players “for unrelated violations of MLB’s sports betting rules and policies.”

MLB said Marcano bet more than $150,000 on baseball, with $87,319 of that on MLB-related bets from Oct. 16-23, 2022, and from July 12-Nov. 1, 2023.

"There is no evidence to suggest — and Marcano denies — that any outcomes in the baseball games on which he placed bets were compromised, influenced, or manipulated in any way," according to MLB.

The four suspended players are Michael Kelly (Oakland Athletics pitcher); and MiLB players Jay Groome (Padres pitcher), José Rodríguez (Philadelphia Phillies infielder) and Andrew Saalfrank (Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher).

They have each been declared ineligible for one year for violating MLB’s sports betting rules and policies, including Rule 21(d)(1).

The moves come on the same day that the former interpreter for Shohei Ohtani pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $17 million from Ohtani to pay off his own sports betting debts.

“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 via the league regarding the decision on Marcano and the other players.

“The longstanding prohibition against betting on Major League Baseball games by those in the sport has been a bedrock principle for over a century.”

According to Manfred, “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 said its investigations included "interviews, thorough review of the available information in each matter, and significant cooperation from MLB’s legal sportsbook partners."

MLB said it learned this past March from a legal sports betting operator that it had identified past baseball betting activity from accounts connected to multiple Major and Minor League players.

The league obtained data from that operator and other sportsbooks, including authentication data for bets. None of these players played in any game on which they placed a bet.

According to MLB, 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.

Ippei Mizuhara, who worked as an interpreter for Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, today plead guilty to bank and tax fraud and admitted to stealing almost $17 million from Ohtani to pay off sports betting debts, according to the U.S Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.

He faces a maximum sentence of 33 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of $1,250,000.

Mizuhara will also be required to pay full restitution to his victims, which includes $16,975,010 to Ohtani, and $1,149,400 to the IRS.

“Based on the thoroughness of the federal investigation that was made public, the information MLB collected, and the criminal proceeding being resolved without being contested, MLB considers Shohei Ohtani a victim of fraud and this matter has been closed,” the league said in a statement.

Regarding Marcano, MLB said he “has been declared permanently ineligible for violating MLB’s sports betting rules and policies, including Rule 21(d)(2)."

“The longstanding prohibition against betting on Major League Baseball games by those in the sport has been a bedrock principle for over a century.”

MLB said betting data shows he placed 387 baseball bets, including 231 MLB-related bets among other bets on international baseball games through a legal sportsbook. Marcano’s MLB bets were generally parlays, which would sometimes include multiple MLB-related legs, and they would sometimes include MLB-related legs and non-MLB legs.

The league said 25 of those bets were on Pittsburgh Pirates games while he was on the Pirates major league roster. He did not appear in any of those games due to a season-ending knee injury.

Marcano also did not appear in any of the other games on which he placed bets.

Under Major League Rule 21, “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.” Whereas, “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 requires its personnel to participate annually in sports betting education programs that reiterate the policies applicable to respective groups. Each Spring Training, all Major League and Minor League players must attend in-person sessions that specify the requirements of Major League Rule 21 and MLB’s Sports Betting Policy as well as other best practices.

MLB’s efforts also include in-person sessions for Minor League players and other baseball employees on avoiding gambling-related harms in their professional and personal lives.

Said Manfred, “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.”

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