The Seven Banned from MLB Under Rob Manfred’s Regime

San Diego Padres infielder Tucupita Marcano who was banned by Commissioner Rob Manfred this week joins six others who have been barred since his regime took over the league a decade ago.

Marcano’s permanent ban on Tuesday for violating the league’s gambling rules now places him on a small list of others barred for incidents ranging from performance-enhancing drug use to explicit messaging and stolen information.

Jenrry Mejía became the first player in MLB history to be suspended for life after a performance-enhancing drug use incident in 2016. He tested positive for boldenone, which athletes use to increase muscle mass. The drug was once popular in horse racing.

Mejía’s lifetime ban was lifted in the summer of 2018, and he went on to appear in minor league games for the New York Mets and Boston Red Sox. He remains active today pitching for the Mexican League.

Roberto Alomar, a Hall of Fame second baseman, was placed on the list in May 2021 after the league investigated into sexual misconduct allegations toward an employee in 2014.

MLB had terminated Alomar’s job as a consultant as well.

In a statement, Alomar said he was surprised and upset but that he understood the position “with the current social climate.”

The Toronto Blue Jays removed him from their “Level of Excellence.” Alomar also resigned from the Hall of Fame’s board of directors.

Beyond players, many executives have faced the lifetime ban.

Mickey Callaway, a former manager for the Mets, was also placed on the list in 2021 for lewd conduct toward women. Callaway’s actions stemmed from inappropriate text messages as well as comments to five women, all of whom work in sports media. The behavior spanned at least for five years during his employment with three different baseball organizations.

Another Mets manager, Jared Porter was also placed on the ineligible list in 2021 after sending a female foreign correspondent 62 consecutive unanswered text messages including an explicit image of his gentiles.

Former assistant general manager with the Houston Astros, Brandon Taubman was fired in 2019 after making inappropriate comments to female reporters. Taubman, while celebrating a win for the Astros, yelled about six times “Thank God we got (Roberto) Osuna! I’m so (expletive) glad we got Osuna!”

Taubman was also reinstated in 2020 but has not made a reappearance.

Chris Correa, who was the St. Louis Cardinals scouting director, improperly accessed an Astros internal database. Manfred wrote at the time at that while Correa’s conduct was not authorized by the Cardinals, he would still hold the team responsible for his conduct. Correa’s position and intel was able to influence club decisions and process, according to Manfred.

Correa was also sentenced to 46 months in prison for violating federal laws in the process.

Then-Atlanta Braves general manager John Coppolella was banned in 2017 after it was discovered that he had circumvented the league’s rules on international signing limits, cutting illicit pre-draft deals and tampering with players on other teams. The Braves were forced to also release 12 players.

Coppolella apparently tried to deny the truth, which resulted in Manfred’s ban decision. He was reinstated later by MLB in January 2023. However, Coppolella has not rejoined an organization.

Who is Tucupita Marcano?

Marcano, 24, was signed by the as an amateur free agent in 2016 from Venezuela. He made his MLB debut in 2021, appearing in 25 games for the season. He was traded to the Pirates in 2021 but went back to the Padres on waivers last November.

MLB’s investigation found Marcano gambled over $150,000 across almost 400 baseball-related bets internationally and MLB-related, including ones on his own team, the Pirates at the time.

“[Almost] all of Marcano’s Pirates bets were on which club (the Pirates or their opponent) would win the game or whether there would be more or less than a certain number of runs scored in the game,” MLB said in a press release.

Marcano did not appear in any of the games he bet on. He hasn’t played a game since last summer since he tore his ACL after awkwardly stepping onto third base during a game.

MLB estimates that he won just 4.3% of his baseball-related gambles.

The league also said there is no evidence to suggest that any outcomes in the baseball games were compromised or manipulated in any way.

Players are allowed to take part in sports gambling only if it is within legal jurisdiction and is not on diamond sports, meaning baseball or softball. The reprimanded plays violated the latter part.

MLB received data from a legal sports betting operator about the baseball gambling activity, according to the league.

“The strict enforcement of Major League Baseball’s rules and policies governing gambling conduct is a critical component of upholding our most important priority: protecting the integrity of our games for the fans,” commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. “The longstanding prohibition against betting on Major League Baseball games by those in the sport has been a bedrock principle for over a century. We have been clear that the privilege of playing in baseball comes with a responsibility to refrain from engaging in certain types of behavior that are legal for other people.”

Marcano was one of five players disciplined for gambling violations this week. The others included Oakland Athletics reliever Michael Kelly and minor-league players Jay Groome, José Rodríguez, and Andrew Saalfrank, who are all facing one-year suspensions.