MLB: Padres' Marcano Receives Lifetime Ban for Betting

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Facts

• San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano on Tuesday received a lifetime ban from Major League Baseball (MLB) for violating the league's gambling policy by betting more than $150K on baseball games.¹
• MLB said its investigation found Marcano placed 231 bets on baseball — 25 on Pirates games while he was then a member of the club (although he didn't appear in those games due to injury). MLB Rule 21 imposes a lifetime ban for betting on a game in which the person has a duty to perform.²
• MLB obtained data that detected gambling activity from Marcano Oakland's Michael Kelly, San Diego's Jay Groome, Philadelphia's José Rodríguez, and Arizona's Andrew Saalfrank. The others received one-year suspensions for betting on baseball or softball but not games involving their teams.³
• Each of those players bet under $1K and were minor leaguers at the time, which also led to their lenient punishment. In addition to betting on the outcomes of Pirates games, Marcano also bet the 'over/under' on the total runs scored in a game.⁴
• Marcano becomes the first active player to be permanently banned for gambling since 1924 — when New York Giants outfield Jimmy O'Connell was barred from the sport.⁵
• In 2018, the US Supreme Court struck down federal prohibitions on sports gambling, leading professional leagues to partner with sportsbooks. Since then, Jontay Porter received a lifetime ban from the NBA this year, and Shohei Ohtani's interpreter was embroiled in a $16M gambling scheme.⁶

Sources: ¹ABC News, ²ESPN.com (a), ³CBS, ⁴MLB Trade Rumors, ⁵NBC and ⁶ESPN.com (b).

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by USA Today. Marcano almost certainly won't be the last player to face a gambling ban. Pro sports leagues have opened up a can of worms by teaming with sportsbooks and promoting gambling, and it was only a matter of time before athletes started wagering. Players are responsible for their own actions, but MLB and other leagues share culpability in the gambling crisis that's unfolding across the world of sports.
• Narrative B, as provided by FanGraphs Baseball. MLB is operating in a whole new world since the Supreme Court legalized sports gambling and it became lucrative for professional leagues and teams to partner with betting entities. But MLB's system of policing worked — Marcano and the others clearly violated the rules, they were caught, and they were punished. This is how the world of sports is going to operate moving forward.

Predictions