MLB bans former Pirates player Tucupita Marcano for life for betting on baseball

MLB permanently banned former Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Tucupita Marcano on Tuesday for betting on baseball and also suspended four other players for one year after finding the players placed unrelated bets with a legal sportsbook.

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Marcano, now with the San Diego Padres, was under investigation by MLB.

The 24-year-old Marcano received a lifetime ban for violating MLB’s sports betting rules and policies.

“Sad. Anybody that spent time around Tuca, he was a good kid, so, sad when I heard the news,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “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, and Rule 21 is read to every player. It’s posted in our clubhouse.

“There’s a standard to being a major-league player. 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 that have had the severity that they’ve had.”

Added Pirates designated hitter Andrew McCutchen, a teammate of Marcano’s in 2023: “Nobody’s perfect. It’s unfortunate. What you do in the dark will come to light, I guess. He’s got to deal with the consequences of making those poor choices.”

Oakland Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly, Padres minor-league pitcher Jay Groome, Philadelphia Phillies minor-league infielder Jose Rodriguez and Arizona Diamondbacks minor-league pitcher Andrew Saalfrank were handed one-year suspensions.

The league said it was tipped off about the betting activity by a legal sports betting operator. None of the aforementioned players bet on games in which they appeared, and all players denied to MLB they had inside information relevant to their bets or the games they bet on — testimonies that MLB says align with the data received from the sportsbook.

MLB’s investigation revealed Marcano wagered more than $150,000 on 387 baseball bets — $87,319 of which were on MLB-related bets — over two periods of activity: Oct. 16-23, 2022, and July 12-Nov. 1, 2023.

Both periods came when Marcano was with the Pirates.

“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 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. … 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.”

The Pirates also issued a statement Tuesday: “We are extremely disappointed of Tucupita’s actions and are fully supportive of Major League Baseball’s ruling. 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.”

Marcano suffered a season-ending ACL injury July 24, 2023. The Pirates designated Marcano for assignment in November, and he was picked up by the Padres, who originally signed him out of Venezuela in 2016 as an international free agent.

Marcano has not appeared in any games in 2024 as he continues to recover from his ACL injury.

Per the league’s news release, 25 of the 231 MLB-related bets Marcano placed came when he was on the Pirates’ major-league roster, with the vast majority being placed post-injury last year.

Marcano won only 4.3% of his baseball bets, most of which were parlays. None of his parlays that involved the Pirates was successful.

In 149 career MLB games, 124 of which were with the Pirates in 2022 and 2023, Marcano batted .217 with five home runs and 34 RBIs.

Marcano appears to be the first active major-leaguer banned under the sport’s gambling provision since New York Giants outfielder Jimmy O’Connell in 1924. Pete Rose, baseball’s active career hits leader, famously agreed to a lifetime ban in 1989 after an investigation concluded he bet on Cincinnati Reds games while managing the team.

Major League Rule 21, posted in every clubhouse, states betting on any baseball game in which a player, umpire, league official or team employee has no duty to perform results in a one-year suspension. Betting on a game in which the person has a duty to perform results in a lifetime ban.

The Associated Press contributed.