Padres players investigated for betting on baseball

The MLB – and all professional US sports leagues – prohibit players from betting on their own sports. MLB players who bet on their own teams face a lifetime ban. The penalty for betting on other teams is up to one year.

San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano was named by the WSJ, which also reported that four minor league players are under investigation. It is not clear whether the players were betting legally or illegally. Marcano is under investigation for betting on baseball and the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was on the injured list last season.

U.S. professional sports have been under the microscope recently regarding gambling. Former NBA player Jontay Porter was banned from the league for life on April 17 after violating the league’s gambling rules. Porter bet on himself and his Toronto Raptors. In 2023, ten NFL players were suspended for varying periods of time for violating the league’s betting rules. And the NHL banned Ottawa Senator Shane Pinto for betting last October.

MLB affected by several betting scandals

News of the MLB investigation came to light on the eve of former Shohei Ohtani interpreter Ippei Mizuhara’s plan to plead guilty to fraud and another count, stealing $17 million from Ohtani to pay off illegal gambling debts. Mizuhara is alleged to have bet on baseball and other sports with illegal bookmaker Mathew Bowyer, who is linked to the Wayne Nix gambling ring.

Nix is ​​a former minor league baseball player who ran an illegal betting parlor in Orange County for 20 years. Bowyer is currently under federal investigation but has not yet been charged. Nix is ​​scheduled to be sentenced in federal court in September.

Two other professional baseball players are under federal investigation in connection with the Nix ring. On May 17, ESPN linked former Angels infielder David Fletcher and former minor league player Cody Shultz to the illegal betting ring. MLB has reportedly opened a betting investigation into Fletcher, who now plays in the Atlanta Braves farm system.

Marcano is on the injured list as he recovers from ACL surgery. He entered the league in 2016 when the Padres signed him as an international free agent. He made his major league debut on April 1, 2021, but was traded to the Pirates on July 26, 2021. He spent last season splitting time between the Pirates’ major league team and their Triple A Indianapolis Indians. He was placed on the injured list on July 25, 2023.

Sports betting is legal in Pennsylvania and Indiana. If Marcano had signed up with a legal operator using his personal information, his account would have been blocked.

Legal operators have access to exclusion lists and professional rosters and pay special attention to accounts created by professional athletes. MLB players are subject to the league’s betting rules when betting on other sports.

The WSJ did not name the minor league players under investigation. The newspaper also reported that MLB and MLBPA declined to comment.

“We are aware of an ongoing investigation by Major League Baseball regarding a matter that occurred while the player in question was a member of another organization and not affiliated with the San Diego Padres,” the Padres said in a statement. “We will have no further comment until the investigation process is complete.”