MLB bans Padres player for betting on his team’s games
In yet another spots-betting scandal, San Diego Padres player Tucupita Marcano has been permanently banned for gambling on hundreds of games — including his own team’s.
Major League Baseball (MLB) cited Rule 21, stating that players can’t bet on games where they have “a duty to perform,” but that Marcano didn’t actually play in any of the games.
Four other players also received one-year suspensions for gambling, MLB announced Tuesday.
The League said it was tipped off by a sportsbook in March, and a subsequent investigation found Marcano had placed 387 baseball bets totaling more than $150,000. Twenty-five wagers involved the Pittsburgh Pirates when he was a team member.
Marcano — who suffered a season-ending knee injury last July and didn’t play in any of the games — isn’t appealing the decision, according to MLB.
“The longstanding prohibition against betting on Major League Baseball games by those in the sport has been a bedrock principle for over a century,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement.
“MLB will continue to invest heavily in integrity monitoring, educational programming, and awareness initiatives,” he continued.
The lifetime ban appears to be the first since baseball great Pete Rose agreed to a permanent ban from the sport in 1989 for gambling while he was a manager for the Cincinnati Reds. The conduct has barred him from entering the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Marcano’s ban is the latest in a list of high-profile sports-betting scandals.
In April, Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter was permanently banned from the NBA for leaking health information to a sports bettor, among other violations.
Separately, the former interpreter for Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani was charged in April with stealing $16 million from the pitcher to pay off his gambling debts.
In the UK, Premiere League star Lucas Paqueta is facing a lifetime ban from soccer over allegations that he purposefully punished himself during games to help friends win their bets.
