Former Chicago White Sox minor-league infielder José Rodríguez was among five players disciplined Tuesday for unrelated violations of Major League Baseball’s sports betting rules and policies.
MLB declared San Diego Padres infielder/outfielder Tucupita Marcano permanently ineligible.
Rodríguez, who is now a minor leaguer 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 league statement, Rodríguez violated MLB’s sports betting rules and policies, including Rule 21(d)(1).
Under Major League Rule 21, “Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has no duty to perform, shall be declared ineligible for one year.” Whereas, “Any player, umpire, or Club or League official or employee, who shall bet any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform, shall be declared permanently ineligible.”
MLB said betting data showed that on Sept. 30, 2021, and from June 5-July 30, 2022, Rodríguez “placed 31 baseball bets, comprised of three bets on college baseball games and 28 MLB-related bets while he was on a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox.”
MLB said the bets “included seven bets involving the White Sox’ Major League team while he was assigned to the White Sox’ Double-A affiliate in Birmingham, Alabama. Two Club-related bets involved the outcomes and his other Club-related bets were on whether there would be more or less than a certain number of runs scored in the game.”
MLB said Rodríguez bet $749.09 on baseball, “with $724.09 of that on MLB-related bets (an average of approximately $25.86 per bet). His MLB bets included parlays, which sometimes included multiple MLB-related legs and would sometimes include MLB-related legs and non-MLB legs.”
MLB said Rodríguez did not appear in any of the games on which he bet, and he did not make any bets involving his assigned team.
“There is no evidence to suggest — and Rodríguez denies — that any outcomes in the baseball games on which he placed bets were compromised, influenced, or manipulated in any way,” MLB’s statement said.
Rodríguez played five seasons in the Sox minor-league system (2018-19, 2021-23) and appeared in one big-league game in 2023, scoring one run. The Sox designated Rodríguez for assignment on April 4 and traded him to the Phillies in exchange for cash considerations the next day.
MLB said none of the disciplined players played in any game on which they placed a bet. And “all of the players denied that they had any inside information relevant to the bets or that any of the baseball games they bet on were compromised or manipulated, and the betting data does not suggest that any outcomes in the baseball games on which they placed bets were compromised, influenced, or manipulated in any way.”
None of the players are appealing their discipline.
