38 Minor Leaguers suspended for 'roids per ESPN today

[Bo Jackson's Hip]

nt

[SackAttack]

I wonder how frequently this has happened in the past, but ESPN just hasn't deigned to report it because it wasn't a sexy story at the time.

[SackAttack]

Dola,

I'm a little flabbergasted that David Castillo of Oakland's A ball team has somehow managed to get himself caught three times as a violator of the minor league drug policy. Did the first two times somehow not get through to him?

[sovereignstar]

I didn't dooooo it!

.

[JeeberD]

No Astros :)

Look at all the Rangers, though...

[Deattribution]

Dola,

I'm a little flabbergasted that David Castillo of Oakland's A ball team has somehow managed to get himself caught three times as a violator of the minor league drug policy. Did the first two times somehow not get through to him?


In related news... http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2029635 Shawn Kemp caught for the 1,943,305th time.

[Comey]

In related news... http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2029635 Shawn Kemp caught for the 1,943,305th time.
That's really harsh, don't you think? 1.9 million times? C'mon, let's be realistic.








1.88 million is a more accurate number.

[Maple Leafs]

Apparently they do more drugs the further west you go.

[miami_fan]

How long has the minor league policy been in effect?

[Swaggs]

Is Francisco Cordova of the Los Angeles Dodgers that Francisco Cordova? The one who threw a combined no-hitter for the Pirates a few years ago? If so, I'd love to see what he looks like on 'roids. He was a very small guy during his pretty short, but pretty good, big league run.

[Solecismic]

You know what's odd - 29 of the 38 were from teams with major league franchises in western divisions, 9 from central divisions and 0 from eastern divisions.

[McSweeny]

You know what's odd - 29 of the 38 were from teams with major league franchises in western divisions, 9 from central divisions and 0 from eastern divisions.

i'm pretty sure that's because the testing pool was made up only of players from teams who had spring training in Arizona. The eastern teams do spring training in Florida

[Pumpy Tudors]

Is Francisco Cordova of the Los Angeles Dodgers that Francisco Cordova? The one who threw a combined no-hitter for the Pirates a few years ago? If so, I'd love to see what he looks like on 'roids. He was a very small guy during his pretty short, but pretty good, big league run.
You mean Francisco Cordova of the Los Angeles Angels. :D

[sterlingice]

Considering the opinion of the Royals farm system, if any of them are doing roids, someone needs to inform them of how to do them properly.

SI

[MrIllini]

You know what's odd - 29 of the 38 were from teams with major league franchises in western divisions, 9 from central divisions and 0 from eastern divisions.

That's because the cover-up pills are factored into the payrolls. Who would notice a difference?

[Ksyrup]

Paul Swing Frisella



I guess he's all swing and no ding(er). I hope that's a nickname, btw.

[Ksyrup]

i'm pretty sure that's because the testing pool was made up only of players from teams who had spring training in Arizona. The eastern teams do spring training in FloridaAny confirmation of this? It wasn't addressed in the article.

Also, anyone know the exact breakdown of pitchers/hitters in this group? A couple I recognize, the others I have no clue and don't feel like looking each one up.

[Ragone]

Considering the opinion of the Royals farm system, if any of them are doing roids, someone needs to inform them of how to do them properly.

SI

Hell Si, you think the royals could afford roids.. best they could do is give players wal mart giftcards and tell them to check out aisle 6

[Ragone]

In related news... http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2029635 Shawn Kemp caught for the 1,943,305th time.

1.88 million is the right # for drug possession.. that 1,943,305 # is in reference to the number of illegimate children he's fathered.. this year

[sooner333]

I think people are still on the misconception that steroids have to make you huge. You can get huge with it, but I'm sure there are a lot of pitchers on them at all kinds of levels (from high school, to JUCO, to college, to pros), and they don't just get huge. That guy who can't take a walk who just got caught certainly isn't huge. Those track runners aren't huge except in the legs, which at first glance, wouldn't be that apparent if it weren't a running event (base stealers would have an easier time getting away with it because we can't see thier legs in a normal course of events, while we can see the slugger's arms).

[dawgfan]

Also, anyone know the exact breakdown of pitchers/hitters in this group? A couple I recognize, the others I have no clue and don't feel like looking each one up.

I can give you the breakdown on the M's minor leaguers: 4 of the 8 caught were pitchers.

I checked the remainder of the players against the Baseball Cube database, and of the 28 players I found, 11 of them were pitchers. So of the 36 I can find, 15 were pitchers - 42%.

It should be noted that many of these players are Latin American, and this testing included more than just steroids - steroid precursors, ephedra, human growth hormone, diuretics and other masking agents are all on the testing list. It is quite likely that many of these guys weren't taking steroids, but were taking legal supplements that contained other banned substances like forms of HGH or ephedra. That's not meant to exonerate these players - they have a responsibility to check the banned substance list and cross-check the supplements they take to see if they're OK - but considering the language barrier for some of these guys and the questionable labeling on some of these supplements, especially those purchased south of the border, I'm inclined to think that the 10-day suspension is more reasonable than I did at first.

[Schmidty]

I had a good time this morning ragging on all of the obnoxious Mariner fans around here about their shady organization. Feels good. Go Tigers!!! :)

[st.cronin]

There is no test for HGH.

[dawgfan]

I had a good time this morning ragging on all of the obnoxious Mariner fans around here about their shady organization. Feels good. Go Tigers!!! :)

We'll see how clean the rest of the teams are once the testing results from Florida come back.

[Ksyrup]

We'll see how clean the rest of the teams are once the testing results from Florida come back.
I still haven't seen confirmation that this was Arizona-only test results. Nine teams had players suspended, including one, St. Louis, which trains in Florida.

[Schmidty]

Alex Sanchez was tested while in Florida.

[Ksyrup]

Alex Sanchez was tested while in Florida.
Do the majors/minors test together now? I don't know.

[dawgfan]

I still haven't seen confirmation that this was Arizona-only test results. Nine teams had players suspended, including one, St. Louis, which trains in Florida.

From the Seattle P-I article on the suspensions:

"That was a partial testing of the teams in Arizona," Seattle general manager Bill Bavasi said.

Considering that 37 of the 38 players and 8 of the 9 teams had Spring Training in Arizona, I think it's a pretty safe bet that Bavasi is telling the truth. There will be more positive results once the rest of the tests are returned.

[sterlingice]

From the Seattle P-I article on the suspensions:

Considering that 37 of the 38 players and 8 of the 9 teams had Spring Training in Arizona, I think it's a pretty safe bet that Bavasi is telling the truth. There will be more positive results once the rest of the tests are returned.
What was Bavasi's quote. I must have missed this.

Yet again, no one is mistaking the Royals for juicers :)

SI

[dawgfan]

What was Bavasi's quote. I must have missed this.

The quote was: "That was a partial testing of the teams in Arizona," Seattle general manager Bill Bavasi said.

[Coder]

You guys want to talk suspensions?

Cedric Taylor, a noname basketball player to you guys, but star of the lowly Swedish Basketball League, was suspended 2 YEARS today after testing positive for cannabis.

Taylor was considered a superstar in the league and has played here for 2 years.

I'm not at all into basketball, and even less Swedish basketball, but that's what I call a suspension...

[VPI97]

Cedric Taylor, a noname basketball player to you guys, but star of the lowly Swedish Basketball League, was suspended 2 YEARS today after testing positive for cannibalism.:eek:

[dawgfan]

2 years for marijuana? The NBA would be out of business...

[Ragone]

2 years for marijuana? The NBA would be out of business...
Nba might be okay.. but the trailblazers would forfeit alot of games

[Ksyrup]

Here we go...along with a definitive statement re: the Florida ST teams test results not being released yet:


<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=629 border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD width=629 colSpan=3>Wednesday, April 6

Florida spring test results expected soon
<HR width="100%" noShade SIZE=1>Associated Press

</TD></TR><TR vAlign=top><TD width=501>PITTSBURGH -- Three Pittsburgh Pirates (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/clubhouse?team=pit) minor leaguers were suspended Wednesday for failing drug tests last year, with Triple-A pitcher Brian Mallette (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=6907) drawing a 30-game penalty as a two-time offender.



Outfielder Jon Nunnally, also with Pittsburgh's Indianapolis farm team, was given a 15-game suspension as a first offender, as was infielder Tom Evans, who plays for Double-A Altoona.



Mallette and Nunnally were with other organizations when the tests were conducted before signing minor league contracts with Pittsburgh. Both attended the Pirates' spring training camp as non-roster players but did not make the Opening-Day roster.



Evans is the only Pirates farmhand to date to fail a drug test, though results of tests conducted this year among Florida-based spring training teams have not been released. Thirty-eight other minor leaguers were suspended Monday for violating baseball's minor league steroids policy.



"If there's a positive in this, it's that Tom Evans is the only one who has been part of our organization," Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield said. "We have a zero-tolerance philosophy in terms of drugs."



Despite that policy, Littlefield said the Pirates did not plan to release any of the players after their suspensions end.



Mallette, 30, has pitched in only five major league games -- all with Milwaukee in 2002 -- during a nine-season professional career. He was 1-0 with a 2.27 ERA in 40 games with the Reds' Triple-A Louisville farm club last season.



Nunnally, 33, has appeared in 364 games with the Royals, Reds, Red Six and Yankees but has not played in the majors since 2000. He hit .216 in 79 games last season with Indianapolis, when that team was affiliated with the Brewers. The Indians are now a Pirates farm club.



Evans, 30, began his pro career in 1992 and played briefly for the Blue Jays in 1997 and the Rangers in 2000, batting .255 in 42 games.



The program for players with minor league contracts is wider in scope than major league testing and includes tests not only for steroids, but for amphetamines and recreational drugs such as cocaine and marijuana.



"We've been informing our players for years we don't believe in or condone" such usage, Littlefield said.

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

[Schmidty]

2 years for marijuana? The NBA would be out of business...

So true. I've never smoked anything, but I still don't understand how pot is an illegal drug, but alcohol, cigarettes and so many otc medicines aren't.

[SackAttack]

"If there's a positive in this, it's that Tom Evans is the only one who has been part of our organization," Pirates general manager Dave Littlefield said. "We have a zero-tolerance philosophy in terms of drugs."

Despite that policy, Littlefield said the Pirates did not plan to release any of the players after their suspensions end.

Yup.

Sounds like "no tolerance" to me.

[sterlingice]

Joe Nunnaly, yet another one of those who makes you think "wow, if he's that bad with steroids, imagine him without".

SI

[Ragone]

God Si, i remember Jon Nunnally Being the savior of the royals outfield :)

[sterlingice]

Must have been before I got here.

SI

[Ksyrup]

Speaking of Bo Jackson and his hip...


Wednesday, April 6, 2005
Report alleges steroid use ended Jackson's career

<HR width="100%" noShade SIZE=1>Associated Press

CHICAGO -- Bo Jackson filed a defamation lawsuit Wednesday against a California newspaper that quoted a dietary expert who said the former two-sport star used steroids.

The lawsuit was filed in Cook County against the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, MediaNews Group Inc., MediaNews Group Interactive, Inc., sports editor Jim Mohr and three other employees of the newspaper.

"I've got nothing to hide," Jackson said at a news conference before the White Sox's game against the Cleveland Indians. "If anyone wants to check into my medical past, go get blood tests, go check up on those blood tests and see if there was any anabolic steroids in it. You're more than welcome."

Jackson is suing for unspecified general and punitive damages. His lawyer, Dan Biederman, also said they want the newspaper to print a retraction.

Steve Lambert, the editor of the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and The Sun of San Bernardino, said it was too early for the newspaper to comment on the lawsuit.

"We're still investigating the situation," he said.

In a story published March 24 under Mohr's byline, dietary expert Ellen Coleman was quoted as saying she knew personally that "Bo Jackson lost his hip because of anabolic abuse."

Jackson, the only player to be named to the NFL's Pro Bowl and appear in baseball's All-Star game, injured his hip playing for the Oakland Raiders in 1991 in a playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals. He did play baseball that season for the Chicago White Sox and had a hip replacement the next year. He returned to baseball in 1993, playing for the California Angels, and retired in 1994. He won the Heisman Trophy as a running back for Auburn in 1985.

Jackson said he found the story from the newspaper online, and at least one person called him about it. Biederman said he then contacted Coleman, who denied making any statements about Jackson. She provided the lawyer with a videotape of her speech at a Riverside, Calif., sports forum to back up her claim.

"At no time during my speech or while speaking individually to Jim Mohr did I use or mention the name Bo Jackson," Coleman said in a signed affidavit.

Jackson, now a businessman who lives in suburban Chicago, talks to children about health and nutrition issues. He denied ever using or even seeing steroids in any form.

"I'm not going to sit here and say, 'Maybe I did or maybe I didn't,"' Jackson said. "I didn't. Never did. Never had to do."

[Ragone]

Must have been before I got here.

SI


He was a rule 5 draft pickup from like pittsburgh. he played fantastic when we had to keep him up to keep him. .but as soon as that ended he went in the tank