Major League Baseball (MLB) has announced that several players who were suspended due to breaches of betting policy have now been reinstated to the league.
The news comes almost a year after MLB decided to remove Athletics relief pitcher Michael Kelly, Arizona reliever Andrew Saalfrank, Philadelphia infielder José Rodríguez, and San Diego starter Jay Groome.
MLB reinstates suspended players
On June 4th, 2024, the MLB released a statement about the decision to take these key individuals out of active roles in the league due to the gambling and regulatory breaches each was involved in.
The MLB’s Department of Investigations led the case and quoted Major League Rule 21, which states:
“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 must perform, shall be declared permanently ineligible.” The rule also states that betting on any baseball game “in connection with which the bettor has no duty to perform, shall be declared ineligible for one year.”
Groome, Kelly, Rodríguez, and Saalfrank denied these allegations, but the MLB had evidence that stated the individuals did not wager on games they were actively involved in. Any MLB player caught betting on games they take part in or are part of an active roster is an immediate lifetime ban from the sport.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said, “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.
According to multiple reports, Kelly has been reinstated to the Athletics’ roster along with a long-term injury doubt, T.J. McFarland. Groome has not been awarded any new contract with the Padres, making him a free agent.
In a similar line, the Phillies have remained tight-lipped on Rodríguez, despite the ban being up, and Saalfrank was offered to the lower-tier Arizona Complex League.
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