By now most people have heard the latest news to rock the sports betting world and athletes. San Diego Padres infielder Tucpita Marcano was banned for life after making 387 baseball wagers totaling about $150,000 from October 2022 through last July. Oakland Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly wagered less than $100 on baseball while being in the minor leagues while Jay Groome, Andrew Saalfrank, and Jose Rodriguez all bet on games. Each of these players were suspended for a year despite wagering less than $1,000 each.
Michael Kelly’s choice to wager $100 was particularly costly. He was set to make $740,000 as a big leaguer but will forfeit that due to his suspension. Marcano did even worse for himself. The minimum salary in Major League Baseball is $740,000. This is up from $720,000 in 2023, and it’s expected to keep rising steadily in the years to come. Even by just making the league minimum every year, Marcano likely will end up costing himself millions of dollars in career earnings.
It shouldn’t be any surprise to fans, players, or team personnel that these sports take gambling concerns and betting extremely seriously. At the end of the day, the integrity of the games, and the notion that any team can win on any single day is paramount to the entire concept of sports. If the integrity of the games are ever in question, sports themselves would plummet in value and entertainment.
Former Raptors forward Jontay Porter was banned for life recently and Porter allegedly was fixing his own Prop totals! He allegedly racked up debt from his gambling, and was “encouraged” to repay his debt by intentionally missing shots or otherwise not trying to hit his Player Prop totals.
These leagues have everything to lose and nothing to gain when these concerns about betting and integrity come out. Marcano and the rest of the players suspended this week won’t be the last, but hopefully players everywhere take note of just how serious this. Hopefully they find ways to gamble or throw money around in other ways.