The D-backs have designated right-handed reliever Scott McGough for assignment, the team announced. His spot on the 40-man roster goes to lefty Andrew Saalfrank, who has been reinstated from the ineligible list and optioned to the Diamondbacks’ Rookie-ball affiliate in the Arizona Complex League.
Saalfrank was one of four players suspended by Major League Baseball for one year after a league investigation revealed that the quartet had placed small-scale bets on Major League Baseball games while playing in the minor leagues back in 2020-22. Saalfrank, then pitching for the D-backs’ Low-A affiliate, wagered a total of $445 over 29 bets — four of them involving Diamondbacks games.
Saalfrank is eligible for reinstatement today, as are A’s righty Michael Kelly, Padres lefty Jay Groome and Phillies infielder José RodrÃguez. None of the four bet more than $749 in total, and none were on the 40-man roster at the time their bets were placed.
That’s the key distinction for that quartet receiving one-year bans as opposed to former Padres/Pirates utilityman Tucupita Marcano, who received a lifetime ban (announced in conjunction with these four suspensions). Marcano wagered more than $150K on 387 bets involving MLB games while he was on a big league roster — including 25 bets on Pirates games while he was on Pittsburgh’s major league injured list (rehabbing a season-ending ACL tear).
Major League Baseball’s rules regarding gambling stipulate that “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.” Players, umpires, club officials and league officials who place bets of “any sum whatsoever upon any baseball game in connection with which the bettor has a duty to perform” are subject to permanent bans. Further details on the investigation and its findings were provided in a league-issued press release last year at the time of these suspensions.
The 35-year-old McGough will lose his spot on the roster as a result of Saalfrank’s reinstatement, though he was clearly already on thin ice. Arizona originally signed McGough to a two-year contract in the 2022-23 offseason when he was coming off a strong four-year run in Japan. He logged a pedestrian 4.73 ERA in 2023 but did have some better underlying numbers, including a hearty 28.6% strikeout rate. McGough’s second year in Phoenix was a rough one (7.44 ERA in 32 2/3 innings), prompting the Snakes to decline a club option for 2025.
McGough and the D-backs eventually agreed to a minor league deal later in the offseason. He pitched well enough in an extremely hitter-friendly Triple-A setting — 13 2/3 innings, 3.95 ERA, 30 K%, 6.7 BB% — to get another big league look in mid-May, but he faltered in a quick seven-game trial run. McGough allowed five runs (6.43 ERA) and issued more walks (six) than strikeouts (five) before being optioned back to Triple-A Reno just a couple days ago. He hadn’t gotten into a game with the Aces before today’s DFA.
The D-backs will have five days to place McGough on waivers or trade him. The former seems likelier, given his struggles. Assuming he passes through waivers unclaimed, the D-backs can hold onto him as a depth piece by assigning him outright to Reno. McGough does have one prior outright in his career, so he’d be able to reject that assignment in favor of free agency if he’d prefer to again explore opportunities with other teams.
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It’s sad the irony of this whole situation is completely lost on MLB…
Dbacks can certainly use a LHP like Saalfrank in their bullpen if he can return to the success he showed in 2023.