Major League Baseball announced Tuesday morning that Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano has been declared permanently ineligible for violating the league’s sports betting rules and policies — specifically Rule 21(d)(2).

In March 2024, MLB learned from a legal sports betting operator that it had identified past baseball betting activity from accounts connected to multiple Major and Minor League players. MLB obtained data from that operator and other sportsbooks, including authentication data for bets. None of these players played in any game on which they placed a bet. Further, all of the players denied that they had any inside information relevant to the bets or that any of the baseball games they bet on were compromised or manipulated, and the betting data does not suggest that any outcomes in the baseball games on which they placed bets were compromised, influenced, or manipulated in any way. None of the players are appealing their discipline.

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.”

MLB’s investigation found that from Oct. 16-23, 2022 and from July 12 to November 1, 2023, Marcano placed 387 bets on baseball, including 231 on major league games and 25 bets on Pirates games where he was a member of Pittsburgh’s roster. All 25 of those Pirates bets came while Marcano was rehabbing from a season-ending ACL tear, so he did not appear in any of the games in question. The bets nonetheless violate the league policy and have thus triggered the lifetime ban.

The league’s investigation found that Marcano placed more than $150K worth of bets on baseball. Most of the bets in question were parlays, some including his own (at the time) Pirates club. Marcano’s bets typically involved the Pirates or their opponent winning the game or were over/under bets on the number of runs scored within the game.

Major League Baseball also announced that Athletics right-hander Michael Kelly, Diamondbacks lefty Andrew Saalfrank, Padres minor league pitcher Jay Groome and Phillies minor league infielder Jose Rodriguez have been given one-year bans for violating Rule 21(d)(1). All four players were found to have made bets on Major League Baseball games but were not on the major league roster or injured list of any teams involved in the bets they placed.

Kelly, 31, is an active member of the Athletics’ bullpen and has pitched to a 2.59 ERA in 31 1/3 innings this season. His bets were all placed in Oct. 2021, when the right-hander was with the Astros’ Triple-A affiliate. He made only 10 bets for a total of $99.92, with three of those bets coming on games involving the Astros’ big league club during the postseason. Despite the meager total of Kelly’s bets, his gambling activity was a violation of the rule in place and will trigger that one-year ban.

Similarly, each of Saalfrank ($445), Groome ($453) and Rodriguez ($749) bet under $1,000 on Major League games back in 2020-21. All were minor league players at the time — Saalfrank with Arizona’s Low-A team, Groome with the Red Sox’ High-A affiliate and Rodriguez with the White Sox’ Double-A club.

Commissioner Rob Manfred issued the following statement on today’s suspensions:

“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. 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.”