Former Chicago White Sox INF suspended for betting

Former Chicago White Sox minor league infielder José Rodríguez was one of five players disciplined Tuesday for unrelated violations of Major League Baseball’s sports betting rules and policies.

The MLB has declared infielder/outfielder Tucupita Marcano of the San Diego Padres permanently ineligible.

Rodríguez, now a minor league player in the Philadelphia Phillies system, Oakland Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly, Padres minor league pitcher Jay Groome and Arizona Diamondbacks minor league pitcher Andrew Saalfrank were declared ineligible for one year.

According to a statement from the league, Rodríguez violated MLB’s sports betting rules and policies, including Rule 21(d)(1).

According to Major League Rule 21, “Any player, umpire, official or employee of the club or league who wagers any amount on a baseball game in which he has no obligation to play shall be suspended for one year.”

Whereby “any player, umpire, official or employee of a club or league who wagers any amount on a baseball game in which the bettor has an obligation to perform shall be permanently disqualified.”

According to MLB, betting data showed that on September 30, 2021, and from June 5 to July 30, 2022, Rodríguez “placed 31 baseball bets, including three bets on college baseball games and 28 MLB-related bets, while on a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox.”

According to MLB, the bets included “seven bets involving the White Sox major league team while he was assigned to the White Sox’s Double-A affiliate team in Birmingham, Alabama. Two club-related bets revolved around the results and his other club-related bets revolved around whether more or fewer than a certain number of runs would be scored in the game.”

According to MLB, Rodríguez wagered $749.09 on baseball, “including $724.09 on MLB-related bets (an average of about $25.86 per bet). His MLB bets included parlay bets that sometimes included multiple MLB-related bets and sometimes included MLB-related and non-MLB-related bets.”

According to MLB, Rodríguez did not appear in any of the games he had bet on and did not place any bets involving his assigned team.

“There is no evidence – and Rodríguez denies it – that the results of the baseball games on which he wagered were manipulated, influenced or tampered with in any way,” the MLB statement said.

Rodríguez played five seasons in the Sox’s minor league system (2018-19, 2021-23) and appeared in one major league game in 2023, where he scored one run. The Sox designated for assignment Rodríguez on April 4 and traded him to the Phillies the next day for cash consideration.

According to MLB, none of the disciplined players participated in any game they had bet on. And “all players denied that they had any inside information relevant to the bets or that any of the baseball games they had bet on had been manipulated or rigged, and the betting data does not indicate that the results of the baseball games they had bet on had been manipulated, influenced or tampered with in any way.”

None of the players appeal against their discipline.