On Tuesday, Major League Baseball announced that it had sanctioned five players for violating the league’s gambling policy by betting on MLB games, confirming a Wall Street Journal report from the day before.
Four of the players — Diamondbacks pitcher Andrew Saalfrank, Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly, Padres minor-league pitcher Jay Groome and Phillies minor-league infielder José Rodriguez — received one-year suspensions because their betting occurred while they were minor-league players were. But San Diego Padres utilityman Tucupita Marcano, who was on the Pittsburgh Pirates’ injured list when he placed bets on MLB games in the second half of last season, received the ultimate punishment: a lifetime ban from Major League Baseball .
Here’s what you need to know.
Who are these players?
Marcano, who reportedly made 231 MLB-related bets totaling $87,319, was once a highly regarded Padres prospect and ranked 11th in San Diego’s system entering the 2021 season. That year he was sent to Pittsburgh along with outfielder Jack Suwinski for infielder Adam Frazier. With the Pirates, Marcano played in 149 games over three MLB campaigns, showing excellent bat-to-ball skills and defensive versatility, but not nearly enough power to be an impact player. The 24-year-old Venezuelan tore his ACL last July and was denied waivers by the Padres, his original team, last offseason. Marcano’s gambling on MLB games, including 25 games involving his own team, occurred before and after his knee injury. According to Spotrac, Marcano earned approximately $2.7 million in his pro career and had a salary of at least $740,000 this season during his rehab.
Saalfrank — who according to MLB wagered $444.07 on MLB-related bets between September 2021 and March 2022 — was a sixth-round pick by the Diamondbacks in 2019 out of Indiana University. He made his first appearance in the major leagues last September and became a crucial member of Arizona’s bullpen as the underdog D-backs stormed to a National League title. Regarding the league minimum salary this season, Saalfrank struggled mightily at first and was sent to Triple-A in April.
A Padres first-round pick in 2011, Kelly spent a decade bouncing around organizations — with a stint in independent ball — before making his MLB debut with the Phillies in 2022 as a 29-year-old. He threw 16 2/ Three solid innings in the bigs for Cleveland in 2023, which led to him being claimed off waivers by Oakland this past offseason. His suspension is perhaps the most unfortunate, as (1) he was cementing himself as a legitimate big league player this season, with a 2.59 ERA in 31 1/3 relief innings, and (2) he only made $ 99.22 had wagered on MLB games in October. 2021 during his time as a minor leaguer in Houston’s system.
Groome is the only penalized player who hasn’t played in the major leagues, but he had by far the best prospects. Prior to the 2016 draft, the New Jersey-born lefty was a candidate to be drafted first overall, but ultimately fell 12th overall to Boston. He struggled almost immediately, as injuries and off-field issues hampered his rise. During the 2020 and 2021 seasons, he placed 32 MLB-related bets. Groome was sent to San Diego in 2022 as part of a bizarre package for Eric Hosmer. Now 25, Groome was thought to be in line for a Padres rotation spot this spring given the club’s thin starting pitching, but in light of this suspension it is uncertain whether he will reach the Majors at all.
The 23-year-old Rodriguez was signed by the White Sox in 2017 as an amateur from the Dominican Republic. The light-hitting infielder played in just one game with Chicago: a pinch-running appearance last June. He was dealt to the Phillies in April for money considerations and had spent the entire season as a depth player in Double-A Reading.
Why did these players break the rules?
The Marcano situation seems remarkably different from the rest, so let’s tackle that first. In its statement, MLB alleged that the player committed a total of approximately $150,000 on 387 different baseball-related bets. That kind of behavior resembles addiction, similar to the pattern of uncontrolled gambling that recently consumed the life and career of Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, who pleaded guilty Tuesday and faces up to 33 years in prison.
The behavior of the other four players is perhaps more baffling, given the relatively small amounts being wagered. It seems like Saalfrank, Groome, Kelly and Rodriguez didn’t really care or understand the MLB’s gambling policy. This last excuse is flawed, as the league has a huge poster in every Major and Minor League clubhouse explicitly telling players not to gamble on baseball.
However, gambling on sports other than baseball is a ubiquitous part of professional baseball culture. Clubhouses are often full of chatter about betting on football or basketball games. A large number of players have betting apps on their phones to make such bets, and betting on MLB games is just a few clicks away. While the rules for betting on MLB games are incredibly clear, the distance between what is allowed and what is prohibited is functionally very small.
But why would these players risk so much for so little? There may be a simple answer: in any large group there will be individuals who make irrational, self-destructive decisions. Short-sighted people often make bad choices. That, unfortunately, is human nature. Ballplayers, even when faced with such dire consequences, are apparently no different.
What does this mean for the further development of the competition?
To understand where this is going, it’s important to understand how we got to this point. In 2018, the Supreme Court struck down a federal law that restricted sports betting outside Nevada. States were then able to legalize betting, and 38 of the 50 states subsequently did so, resulting in the avalanche of betting that has consumed the sports world in recent years. All of this came after years of lobbying and positioning by sportsbooks to overturn the law. The leagues knew change was coming, and they planned accordingly.
Fast forward to the present moment, gambling culture has, for better or worse, become a ubiquitous and unavoidable part of sports culture as a whole. Sportsbook ads are everywhere. Betting is intertwined with the activity of watching sports. And because it makes leagues, media companies and sportsbooks a ton of money, gambling isn’t going anywhere, even as scandals like this week’s have become increasingly common.
And this is almost certainly not the last story of this kind. All violations reported by MLB, aside from Marcano’s 2023 bets, were at least two years old. You would think that other players would be discovered and punished as MLB continues to monitor gambling activity using major sportsbooks. It is in the league’s best interest to keep church and state separate, to ensure that the influx of gambling does not threaten the integrity of the game on the field.
With these penalties, the league makes it clear that it will not accept any form of gambling crimes from its players. Active players betting on MLB games are without a doubt a no-fly zone. League officials will certainly hope that the serious nature of Marcano’s suspension will act as a deterrent to those who may think they will commit an offense in the future.
Beyond that, given the scale and scope of the league’s embrace of gambling, the league cannot reasonably do much more than educate, warn and, if necessary, punish players. MLB could try to distance itself from sportsbooks, but that’s an unrealistic path forward.
The league has some responsibility to ensure that players don’t feel threatened, tempted or influenced by the ubiquity of gambling in the game, but at the same time that now seems almost impossible. The cat is out of the bag. The parlay monster has emerged from under the bed and won’t be hiding again anytime soon. All the MLB can do is cross its fingers and gamble on a relatively smooth future.
