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Barnegat native Jay Groome was among five players punished under MLB's sports betting rules and policies, the league said in a news release on Tuesday, June 4. Groome made three starts in the 2024 season for the El Paso Chihuahuas, the Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres.
Groome was accused of placing 32 MLB-related bets while he was a member of the Boston Red Sox organization in 2020 and 2021. He bet 24 times on the final outcome of Red Sox games while he was assigned to the Greenville Drive in the High-A South Atlantic League.
The 25-year-old didn't appear in any games that he bet on and didn't make any bets involving his assigned team. He wagered $453.74 on 30 MLB game-related bets and had a net loss of $433.54.
According to his biography on SoxProspects.com, Groome pitched at Barnegat High School until transferring to the IMG Academy in Florida for his junior season in 2015. He returned to the Barnegat Bengals in 2016 but was suspended for part of his senior season due to ineligibility issues regarding his transfer back home.
The Red Sox drafted Groome with the 12th overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft but injuries plagued his time in Boston's organization. He was eventually traded to the Padres in 2022 and pitched for El Paso in three seasons.
In an unrelated case, Padres infielder and outfielder Tucupita Marcano was permanently banned for placing 387 baseball bets worth more than $150,000 in 2022 and 2023. The wagers included 25 Pittsburgh Pirates games while he was a member of the team but wasn't playing because of a season-ending ACL injury on Monday, July 24, 2023.
Philadelphia Phillies minor league infielder José Rodríguez was given a one-year suspension for 31 baseball bets in 2021 and 2022 when he was in the Chicago White Sox organization. Oakland Athletics pitcher Michael Kelly and Arizona Diamondbacks minor league pitcher Andrew Saalfrank were also suspended for a year.
Major League Rule 21 says any player, umpire, or employee for a club or league will be suspended for a year for betting on a game "with which the bettor has no duty to perform."
"In March 2024, a legal sports betting operator made MLB aware that it had identified past baseball betting activity from accounts connected to multiple major and minor league players," the league said in a statement. "MLB obtained data from that operator and other sportsbooks, including authentication data for bets."
MLB said the bets placed by the five punished players didn't bet on games they played in and their wagers didn't affect the outcomes of games.
"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," said MLB commissioner Rob Manfred 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."
Groome and the other four players were not appearing their punishments, according to MLB.
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