FILE – Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Tucupita Marcano (30) in the first inning during a baseball game … [+]
Tucupita Marcano is banned from MLB for life for betting on baseball. What he will lose in career earnings is exponentially greater than the amount he wagered.
While playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates, he made 387 baseball bets through a legal sportsbook, including 231 MLB-related bets—some of which involved his own team. Altogether, he wagered more than $150,000 on baseball and only won 4.3% of his MLB-related bets, most of which were parlays.
As Maury Brown details, Marcano won’t be the last player to fall into trouble for gambling on baseball, especially now that MLB and other professional sports leagues have partnerships with sportsbooks.
As a result of his ban, he will lose not only his current salary, but all potential future earnings as well, including wages, benefits, and pension. Based on his production as a player and his service time, we can project how much he could have earned if he had stayed active in MLB through 2028.
Salary
The 24-year-old Marcano wasn’t a star, and he was never a top prospect. In parts of three seasons, he batted .217/.269/.320 over 447 plate appearances while playing mostly shortstop, second base, and left field. He was a versatile bench player, but he tore his right ACL last July. The Pirates waived him in November and he was claimed by the San Diego Padres, who placed him on the injured list to start the season.
Had he not been banned from MLB, there’s no guarantee he would’ve remained on the active roster once he got healthy. If he had, he would’ve earned $746,000 as a pre-arbitration player. Presumably, he was earning a pro-rated amount of that until his suspension, but we don’t know when that officially began.
At the beginning of this season, he had one year and 141 days of service time, which is written as 1.141 years. With a full year of service in 2024—including time accumulated on the IL—he would have 2.141 going into the offseason. That would’ve made him eligible for Super Two status, granting him an early swing at arbitration. The cutoff for Super Two eligibility changes every year, but it was 2.118 last year and 2.128 in 2022, so 2.141 would easily clear the threshold.
Super Two players on the backend of the roster, such as utilitymen and middle relievers, typically earn around $1 million. The closest comparison for Super Two this year was Nick Gordon, who lost his arbitration hearing and is earning $900,000 after filing for $1.25 million. Most players reach agreements with their teams somewhere between the two filing amounts.
In 2026, he would’ve gone through his second year of arbitration, which gives him an advantage over players who don’t become Super Two eligible. Two former Super Two infielders in their second year of arbitration this offseason were Santiago Espinal and Nick Madrigal, who received $2.725 million and $1.81 million respectively. Let’s estimate Marcano would’ve gotten $2.25 million.
2027 would’ve been his third trip through arbitration, which becomes increasingly lucrative. Cavan Biggio and Nicky Lopez are comparable former Super Twos at that stage of their careers, and they have salaries of $4.21 million and $4.3 million. A reasonable guess for Marcano would be $4.25 million.
His fourth and final trip through arbitration would’ve come in 2028. Only former Super Twos get a fourth crack at it, and the only utility infielder in his fourth year of arbitration this year was Kyle Farmer, who got $6.3 million.
After the 2028 season, he would’ve reached free agency. That’s much more unpredictable, especially nearly five years into the future. The Basic Agreement between MLB and the MLB Players Association only runs through 2026, so the next deal they negotiate would determine the environment for his free agency.
If he would’ve made it that far, he’d have collected four arbitration-based salaries in addition to his 2024 pre-arb salary. His total estimated earnings from now through 2028 add up to $14.546 million.
Pension And Benefits
In addition for the potential to earn an eight-figure total income over the next five years, Marcano also sacrificed his family medical benefits and future pension. The players union details these benefits on their website.
All players on the 40-man roster receive comprehensive health coverage with no premium—and keep in mind that Marcano is recovering from knee surgery. As per the union, “During the championship season, Players are covered starting on their first day on 40-man roster. Coverage remains in place until Opening Day of next season. No premiums are required from active members and their dependents.”
It’s unknown how far along Marcano is in his recovery from his torn ACL. All remaining physical therapy, treatment, or medical follow-ups are in jeopardy—as is the coverage of his dependents, if he has any. He’s originally from Venezuela, a country whose healthcare system collapsed five years ago, leading to a humanitarian crisis. If he’s in America on a work visa, his legal status in this country could be at risk.
For MLB players, pension is determined by service time, regardless of career earnings, and it tops out at 10 years. Most players don’t get that far, and it diminishes by 10% for each year of service time below 10. For example, a player with five years of service time would get 50% of the maximum pension amount.
Players can start collecting their pension at age 45, but the longer they wait, the more it will be worth, and it maxes out at 62. The maximum pension in 2024 is $275,000 per year.
How much he would’ve eventually received depends on too many variables that are now hypothetical. We don’t know how many years he would’ve played, let alone at what age he would start collecting his pension or how long he’ll live after that. It could be millions of dollars in retirement security that he cost himself.
Marcano bet $87,319 on MLB, but he gambled away millions in salary, pension, and benefits. Even if he had won every single wager, he would never have recuperated all that he has lost.
