MLB bans Padres' Marcano, and four others, for betting

Major League Baseball announced a lifetime ban for infielder Tucupita Marcano of the San Diego Padres on Tuesday for betting on baseball games.

Four others, including Oakland Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly and three minor leaguers, each received one-year bans for violating the league's sports betting rules and policies.

An MLB investigation determined that the five players violated Rule 21, which says players who wager on games in which the bettor "has a duty to perform" will be declared permanently ineligible. Those who bet on games in which they have "no duty to perform" will be declared ineligible for one year.

The minor league players named in Tuesday's report are pitcher Jay Groome of the Padres, infielder Jose Rodriguez of the Philadelphia Phillies and pitcher Andrew Saalfrank of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Marcano, 24, has yet to play this season as he rehabs a torn ACL.According to MLB, he placed 387 bets on baseball (including 231 MLB-related wagers) totaling more than $150,000 in 2022 and 2023.Twenty-five of those bets were on Pittsburgh games while he was assigned to the Pirates' major league club, although he did not appear in any of those games.

"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," read the MLB press release.

Agencies via Xinhua