Former Pirates infielder and current San Diego Padres player Tucupita Marcano has received a permanent ban from Major League Baseball for violating the league's sports betting rules and policies. MLB announced the disciplinary action Tuesday following investigations by its Department of Investigations.
According to a statement from the league, betting data shows that Marcano placed 387 bets, including 231 MLB-related bets among other bets on international baseball games through a legal sportsbook, from Oct. 16, 2022 through Oct. 23, 2022, and from July 12, 2023 through Nov. 1, 2023. 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.
In total, Marcano bet more than $150,000 on baseball, with $87,319 of that on MLB-related bets -- an average of approximately $378 per bet. Of the over 200 MLB bets Marcano placed, 25 of those bets included Pirates games while he was a member of the major-league roster. Marcano did not appear in any of the games in which he placed bets; however, all of Marcano’s Pirates-related bets, and the vast majority of his bets overall, occurred after he suffered a season-ending knee injury on July 24, 2023 and was receiving medical treatment at PNC Park.
Consistent with Marcano’s overall baseball betting activity, almost all of his Pirates bets were on which club would win the game, or whether there would be more or less than a certain number of runs scored in a game. Marcano lost all of his parlays involving the Pirates and only won 4.3% of all of his MLB-related bets overall. MLB's release additionally states 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.
“We are extremely disappointed of Tucupita’s actions and are fully supportive of Major League Baseball’s ruling," the Pirates said in a statement. "The Pirates, along with MLB, Players Association, and every Club, work to ensure all involved within our game are aware of the rules and policies around gambling. While the thorough investigation revealed no evidence of any games being compromised, influenced, or manipulated in any way in this case, protecting the integrity of our game is paramount."
MLB's sports gambling policy permits players to bet on sports, excluding baseball. 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.”
“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," MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. "The longstanding prohibition against betting on Major League Baseball games by those in the sport has been a bedrock principle for over a century. 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 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.”
Marcano, who was a part of the trade that sent Adam Frazier to San Diego in 2021, played in 124 games over two seasons with the Pirates. He appeared in 75 games last season before suffering a season-ending knee injury in July. At the time of the investigation, Marcano was on the injured list with the Padres, who claimed him off waivers in November.
"Anybody whose spent time around Tuca knows he's a good kid, and it was so sad when I heard the news," Pirates manager Derek Shelton said before Tuesday's game. "This is the one non-negotiable we have in our sport. It's the one rule that we stand up at the beginning of spring training -- Rule 21 -- and we read it to every player. It's posted in our clubhouse. There's a standard to being a major-league player and this is one of the gold standards, if not the gold standard, and I think that's why we've seen the punishments that have happened over the course of time have the severity that they have.
"I don't know if it's anywhere closer to home than here because a lot of these guys were his teammates. It's the only thing that's been on TV for the last eight hours or 10 hours or whenever it came on, it's the only thing they're talking about on the radio. I think the awareness level that provides in and of itself, and I think we're talking about a 24-year-old kid whose been banned for life, I think that will resonate extremely, extremely hard in our clubhouse."
Additionally, four other players received disciplinary action for unrelated violations of MLB’s sports betting rules and policies. Oakland Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly is the lone current major-league player among the four. Kelly, who was a minor-league player in the Astros' organization at the time in which he placed his bets, and three minor-league players in Padres pitcher Jay Groome, Phillies infielder José Rodríguez and Diamondbacks pitcher Andrew Saalfrank were ruled ineligible for one year.
None of the players are appealing their discipline, according to the league.
