Padres infielder could face lifetime ban for betting on baseball

Marcano allegedly bet on Pittsburgh Pirates games while a member of that organization last year, according to the Wall Street Journal, which alleged the betting occurred while he was sidelined with a torn ACL. There are no concerns that Marcano influenced Pirates games to help make good on his bets, according to a person familiar with the investigation.

“We are aware of the matter that’s under investigation and are fully cooperating,” the Pirates said in a statement Monday. “We will refrain from further comment at this time.”

“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,” the Padres said in a statement. “We will not have any further comment until the investigative process has been completed.”

MLB declined to comment, and Marcano’s agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Marcano began his MLB career with San Diego in 2021. After two seasons with Pittsburgh, he rejoined the Padres this offseason but has yet to appear in a game while on the injured list. In his MLB career, he has played in 149 games with a .217 batting average and five home runs.

The Marcano investigation is just baseball’s latest concern amid the widespread legalization of sports gambling in the United States. The issue exploded into public view in March when news broke that Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara, had siphoned millions away from the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar to pay off gambling debts. Mizuhara has since agreed to plead guilty to one count of bank fraud and one count of subscribing to a false tax return.

An investigation of the alleged bookie, Mathew Bowyer, who purportedly took Mizuhara’s bets led to MLB opening an investigation of former Los Angeles Angels infielder David Fletcher, currently a minor leaguer in the Atlanta Braves organization. MLB allows players to bet on other sports, but betting with an illegal bookie is punishable by a suspension.

Rose, MLB’s all-time hits leader, was blacklisted in 1989 when he was managing the Cincinnati Reds. He remains the most high-profile example of a person within the game handed that fate in recent decades, and he has been kept out of the Hall of Fame because of it.

Though MLB plasters clubhouse doors with warnings against betting on baseball and ensures teams spend spring training mornings drilling that rule into the players’ heads, it has never been easier to bet on a game. And MLB has never put betting on its games more front and center than it is now, when odds, prop bets and ads for sportsbooks saturate every broadcast.