San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano is the latest professional athlete to get caught up in a sports betting scandal and, if the allegations against him are proven true, he could be facing a lifetime ban from the sport. According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Marcano is accused of committing professional sports’ ultimate sin, betting on his team.
The allegations against Marcano stretch back into the 2023 season when he was riding out an extended period on the injured list while playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates. During the period, he allegedly began betting on Pirate games, though it’s not yet clear how many games he bet on or where he was betting on them.
If the allegations that Major League Baseball (MLB) are investigating turn out to be true, the details of Marcano’s bets won’t matter much. The MLB is extremely serious about enforcing its sports betting policies and Marcano need look no further than the lifetime ban that would-be hall-of-famer Peter Rose caught in 1989 for doing exactly what Marcano is accused of doing. (While gambling policies don’t ban players from sports betting entirely, it’s very clear about them not betting on baseball.)
MLB officials commented on Marcano’s situation in a statement reported on by CBS Sports saying, “We are aware of an active investigation by Major League Baseball regarding a matter that occurred when the player in question was a member of another organization and not affiliated with the San Diego Padres. We will not have any further comment until the investigative process has been completed.”
Marcano is hardly the first professional athlete to get caught up in a sports betting scandal in recent times. Besides high profile cases like former Toronto Raptors forward, Jontay Porter (who was banned for life from the sport for betting on his own play), a whole range of athletes are feeling the impact of misguided sports betting.