Suspensions Looming for Those Linked to Biogenesis

tellitlikeitis · Jun 4, 2013

Splash??

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Outside the Lines has learned that MLB is preparing to suspend Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun and others connected to Biogenesis clinic in Miam</p>— John Buccigross (@Buccigross) <a href="https://twitter.com/Buccigross/status/342062494002577408">June 4, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

FlyerFanatic · Jun 4, 2013

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Sources tell @<a href="https://twitter.com/otlonespn">otlonespn</a> that Biogenesis clinic founder Tony Bosch will testify against players; MLB preparing to suspend A-Rod, Braun, etc.</p>— Kaitee Daley (@daleysports) <a href="https://twitter.com/daleysports/status/342064783467622400">June 4, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>BREAKING: MLB will seek to suspend A-Rod, Ryan Braun and about 20 players connected to Miami clinic. Founder Tony Bosch agreed to cooperate.</p>— T.J. Quinn (@TJQuinnESPN) <a href="https://twitter.com/TJQuinnESPN/status/342065451016257537">June 4, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

20 players??? wow..

EDIT:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Sources tell @<a href="https://twitter.com/otlonespn">otlonespn</a> Bosch will swear an affidavit that he provided drugs to players. MLB may seek 100-game suspensions for Braun, A-Rod.</p>— T.J. Quinn (@TJQuinnESPN) <a href="https://twitter.com/TJQuinnESPN/status/342065984053587968">June 4, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>MLB's argument would be that A-Rod and Braun committed two offenses: connection to Bosch, and lying about PED use.</p>— T.J. Quinn (@TJQuinnESPN) <a href="https://twitter.com/TJQuinnESPN/status/342066329517428736">June 4, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

tellitlikeitis · Jun 4, 2013

Here's the story:

MLB seeks to suspend A-Rod, Braun

Updated: June 4, 2013, 7:49 PM ET
By T.J. Quinn, Pedro Gomez and Mike Fish | ESPN.com

Major League Baseball will seek to suspend about 20 players connected to the Miami-area clinic at the heart of an ongoing performance-enhancing drug scandal, including Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun, possibly within the next few weeks, "Outside the Lines" has learned. If the suspensions are upheld, the performance-enhancing drug scandal would be the largest in American sports history.

Tony Bosch, founder of the now-shuttered Biogenesis of America, reached an agreement this week to cooperate with MLB's investigation, two sources told "Outside the Lines," giving MLB the ammunition officials believe they need to suspend the players.

One source familiar with the case said the commissioner's office might seek 100-game suspensions for Rodriguez, Braun and other players, the penalty for a second doping offense. The argument, the source said, is that the players' connection to Bosch constitutes one offense, and previous statements to MLB officials denying any such connection or the use of PEDs constitute another. Bosch and his attorneys did not return several calls. MLB officials refused to comment when reached Tuesday.

Bosch is expected to begin meeting with officials -- and naming names -- within a week. The announcement of suspensions could follow within two weeks.

Investigators have had records naming about 20 players for more than a month. But without a sworn statement from Bosch that the records are accurate and reflect illicit interactions between the players and the self-described biochemist, the documents were little more than a road map.

Sources did not say what other materials, such as receipts and phone records, Bosch might provide, but said he has pledged to provide anything in his possession that could help MLB build cases against the players. Sources said MLB officials were not sure how many players may end up being pulled into the scandal: the 20 or so they know of have been identified through paperwork, but Bosch is expected to provide more. (Because some players are listed by their names and some by code names, officials are not yet certain whether some are redundant.)

The development is a major break for MLB, which has pursued the case vigorously since Bosch's name was brought to MLB's attention last summer. In exchange for Bosch's full cooperation, sources said, Major League Baseball will drop the lawsuit it filed against Bosch in March; indemnify him for any liability arising from his cooperation; provide personal security for him and even put in a good word with any law enforcement agency that may bring charges against him. Sources said negotiations over the agreement, which lasted several weeks, stalled over the last point, as Bosch wanted the strongest assurances he could get that MLB would help mitigate any prosecution.

At the same time, MLB is trying to secure the cooperation of at least two other former Bosch associates who have spoken to MLB investigators, as well as a man named Juan Carlos Nunez, a registered agent who worked for longtime agents Seth and Sam Levinson, who is believed to have been a conduit between Bosch and numerous players.

MLB has already established precedent to suspend a player for two offenses in one shot: minor league player Cesar Carrillo was hit with a 100-game suspension in March when he was confronted with Biogenesis documents containing his name and then denied having any connection to Bosch or the clinic.

Because Carrillo was on a minor league contract, however, and thus not a member of the MLB Players' Association, he was not entitled to an appeal through arbitration. Major League players accused by MLB are expected to fight any suspension, and efforts to charge the players with multiple offenses would bring that fight to another level. In the appeals process, players are allowed to confront witnesses and evidence in a courtroom-like procedure before an arbitration panel.

Corroborating evidence against some players could prove difficult to come by, however. Several sources told ESPN Bosch dealt only in cash, and usually used friends as couriers, sometimes never seeing some of the athletes he served.

In a recent interview with ESPN, his only one since the scandal broke, Bosch said he knew nothing about performance-enhancing drugs, and that media accounts of his PED distribution amounted to "character assassination."

"I have been accused, tried and convicted in the media. And so I think have been falsely accused throughout the media," he told ESPN's Pedro Gomez. "I've done nothing wrong."

But sources said Bosch has been feeling pressure from both the MLB lawsuit, which claims tortious interference, and a potential criminal investigation, and that he sees full cooperation with MLB as one of his only refuges. Several attorneys have said they don't think the lawsuit could survive a legal challenge, but Bosch likely would have to put up a costly fight in order to have the case dismissed. Several sources have told ESPN that Bosch is nearly broke, living alternately with family members and friends, and has tried unsuccessfully so far to revive his "wellness" business.

The Florida State Department of Health recently said it had sent Bosch a cease-and-desist letter and referred the case to law enforcement. MLB has tried to enlist the DEA, but no sources close to the clinic said they have been interviewed by any law enforcement agents and don't know of anyone who has been.

MLB officials, though, traveled to Miami last month to take the deposition of anti-aging specialist Dr. Daniel Carpman, a former acquaintance of Bosch's. Biogenesis documents from 2011 included prescription forms purportedly signed by Carpman, who previously told "Outside the Lines'' that he didn't sign the forms.

Bosch first came to MLB's attention in 2009 after Manny Ramirez, then with the Los Angeles Dodgers, tested positive for testosterone. While Ramirez appealed that finding, MLB officials discovered a prescription in Ramirez' medical file for human chorionic gonadotropin, another banned substance. The HCG prescription, which was sufficient evidence to suspend Ramirez, was written by Dr. Pedro Bosch, Tony's father, but sources said at the time that Tony Bosch had actually been facilitating Ramirez' drug use. MLB tried to get the DEA involved, but the agency took a pass. Ramirez was suspended for 50 games, and was suspended a second time for 100 games in 2011 after he failed another test.

Tony Bosch resurfaced last summer after several players, all with connections to the Miami area, tested positive for testosterone: Melky Cabrera, Bartolo Colon and YasmaniGrandal. All received 50-game suspensions. When an ESPN reporter asked MLB officials about information that all three might have been connected to Tony Bosch, MLB launched an investigation, sending several members of its Department of Investigations to South Florida, where they have repeatedly visited former Biogenesis employees and Bosch associates, even paying at least one $5,000 for information.

Braun's name appears on at least two documents, one which lists him as owing $20,000 to $30,000, another which says he owed $1,500 for what sources said were PEDs. Braun issued a statement saying the larger figure was to pay Bosch for consulting on his successful appeal, and denied ever receiving or using PEDs. During his interview with ESPN, Bosch said he only consulted with Braun, but sources said he is expected to tell MLB he did provide the Milwaukee star with drugs.

MLBPA officials have negotiated with their MLB counterparts to offer limited cooperation from the players but have been concerned that the players could expose themselves to further liability.

Bosch's claims that he never distributed PEDs are sharply at odds with accounts from numerous sources who say he helped provide banned substances to possibly dozens of athletes. They also contradict paperwork that several sources said was hand-written by Bosch. Shown a list of athletes who allegedly received PEDs through Biogenesis, Bosch told ESPN's Pedro Gomez, "No comment. I have never seen that in my life." The list was one of dozens of documents obtained by "Outside the Lines," and is similar to the documents in MLB's possession.

Some paperwork, taken from company computers rather than Bosch's hand-written notes, list players by code names. Most, like Rodriguez, Colon, Cabrera and others, have been identified in press reports, but MLB will want Bosch to say who the code names represented.

Also sure to be on MLB's list of questions is whether the Yankees' Robinson Cano, who could sign a lucrative free agent contract after this season, had any connection to Bosch or the clinic. The spokeswoman for Cano's foundation, Sonia Cruz, was listed in Biogenesis documents, as ESPN reported, and MLB officials have investigated whether she might have been a conduit for Cano.

The players who might ultimately face discipline from MLB include: Rodriguez, Braun, Cabrera, Colon, Grandal, Nelson Cruz, Francisco Cervelli, Jesus Montero, Jhonny Peralta, CesarPuello, Fernando Martinez, Everth Cabrera, Fautini de los Santos, Jordan Norberto, and a number of players who are either identified by code names or whose names appear in other documents not obtained by "Outside the Lines." All are currently on major-league rosters but for Puello, a top outfield prospect for the New York Mets who is playing in Class AA Binghamton.

One player listed who will be scrutinized but possibly exonerated is the Nationals' Gio Gonzalez. Gonzalez was listed among Biogenesis clients, but two sources told ESPN that the only substances he received from the clinic were legal.
Click to expand...

J.R. · Jun 4, 2013

Some of these guys on(or were) the same team. Hmm...

Rodriguez - Yankees
Francisco Cervelli - Yankees
Jesus Montero - Mariners(Yankees)
Colon - A's
Jordan Norberto - A's
Grandal - Padres
Everth Cabrera - Padres
Fautino de los Santos - Padres(Brewers/A's)
Braun - Brewers
Jhonny Peralta - Tigers
Cesar Puello - Mets
Fernando Martinez - Astros(Mets)
Gio Gonzalez - Nationals(A's)
Cabrera - Blue Jays(Giants)
Nelson Cruz - Rangers

codell · Jun 4, 2013

The MLBPA is going to have a field day with this one. I don't see how it stands up on appeal. MLB has to be careful w/ Braun since there are obviously sour grapes involved from his successful appeal a while back.

juicystream · Jun 4, 2013

Don't think they should suspend Melky again, since it could be the same reason behind his original suspension.

REEKO_HTOWN · Jun 4, 2013

Will this finally break the stronghold of the MLBPA?

juicystream · Jun 4, 2013

codell said: ↑

The MLBPA is going to have a field day with this one. I don't see how it stands up on appeal. MLB has to be careful w/ Braun since there are obviously sour grapes involved from his successful appeal a while back.
Click to expand...

One person with something to gain and some handwritten notes does seem to be lacking. Similar to Clemens vs. McNamee. These guys are guilty, but eliminating doubt is hard to do. Though I don't know what the standard the CBA would require as opposed to a court.

astros123 · Jun 4, 2013

gotta give mlb for atleast trying to clean it up

FlyerFanatic · Jun 5, 2013

yeah...not sure how this will play out. MLBPA will fight like hell for the players...i feel like MLB doesn't try this though without being sure they can get some suspensions if not all. would look terrible for them if all this ends up landing no suspensions.

granted it could all just be a PR ploy for MLB trying to just show they're trying to crack down.

either way i think most just don't care at this point, people are all tired of the roid talk.

Uprising · Jun 5, 2013

Would make me happy to not have to hear the cruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuz chants any more.

baller4life315 · Jun 5, 2013

What sort of technicality is Braun's team going to try to use this time?

REEKO_HTOWN · Jun 5, 2013

baller4life315 said: ↑

What sort of technicality is Braun's team going to try to use this time?
Click to expand...

It was Braun who wanted to shed light on the steroids and went undercover to help MLB

MadMax · Jun 5, 2013

Uprising said: ↑

Would make me happy to not have to hear the cruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuz chants any more.
Click to expand...

The Nelson Cruz/Ranger component is the part of this story I'm most interested in.

Fingers crossed that Beltre and Profar find their names on the list as well.

JayZ750 · Jun 5, 2013

While obviously there will be a lot of finger pointing and he said/he said, where's the evidence, etc. to be played out, I think most of the fans know that these guys are cheating.

And this is part of the reasons why I no longer watch baseball. It's not so much the cheating - obviously it is happening in all sports - but the played out drama that in no way otherwise mirrors the rest of the world.

If a student is caught cheating at college, they don't get second chances. why do these players get chance after chance after chance. One strike = one year suspension. 2 strikes = out of the league forever... even that seems fair to me.

MadMax · Jun 5, 2013

JayZ750 said: ↑

While obviously there will be a lot of finger pointing and he said/he said, where's the evidence, etc. to be played out, I think most of the fans know that these guys are cheating.

And this is part of the reasons why I no longer watch baseball. It's not so much the cheating - obviously it is happening in all sports - but the played out drama that in no way otherwise mirrors the rest of the world.

If a student is caught cheating at college, they don't get second chances. why do these players get chance after chance after chance. One strike = one year suspension. 2 strikes = out of the league forever... even that seems fair to me.
Click to expand...

What's different about baseball in this analysis? What pro sports in America suspend players for life because of PED's??

tellitlikeitis · Jul 9, 2013

MLB preparing to suspend Ryan Braun, A-Rod, and others

Major League Baseball is expected to suspend Ryan Braun, Alex Rodriguez, and as many as 20 players connected to the Biogenesis clinic sometime after next week's All-Star break, several sources told T.J. Quinn and Mike Fish of ESPN.com.

juicystream · Jul 9, 2013

I hope they get Braun.

el gnomo · Jul 9, 2013

What's everyone's opinion of Chris Davis? I generally side with players of all sports against unsubstantiated PED accusations, but his performance jump is insane and he has the 'look'.

tellitlikeitis · Jul 9, 2013

F**k Ryan Braun.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>"I have nothing to hide." Ryan Braun has said that again and again. Hypocrite he is, all he does is hide. Column: <a href="http://t.co/4iKSPMFkhF">http://t.co/4iKSPMFkhF</a></p>— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/statuses/354808779591790592">July 10, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Forums

Suspensions Looming for Those Linked to Biogenesis

tellitlikeitis Canceled
Supporting Member

FlyerFanatic YOU BOYS LIKE MEXICO!?! YEEEHAAWW
Supporting Member

tellitlikeitis Canceled
Supporting Member

J.R. Member

codell Contributing Member

juicystream Contributing Member

REEKO_HTOWN I'm Rich Biiiiaaatch!

juicystream Contributing Member

astros123 Member

FlyerFanatic YOU BOYS LIKE MEXICO!?! YEEEHAAWW
Supporting Member

Uprising Contributing Member

baller4life315 Contributing Member

REEKO_HTOWN I'm Rich Biiiiaaatch!

MadMax Contributing Member

JayZ750 Contributing Member

MadMax Contributing Member

tellitlikeitis Canceled
Supporting Member

juicystream Contributing Member

el gnomo Member

tellitlikeitis Canceled
Supporting Member

Share This Page

About ClutchFans

Rockets Content

Support ClutchFans!

Suspensions Looming for Those Linked to Biogenesis

tellitlikeitis Canceled Supporting Member

FlyerFanatic YOU BOYS LIKE MEXICO!?! YEEEHAAWW Supporting Member

tellitlikeitis Canceled Supporting Member

J.R. Member

codell Contributing Member

juicystream Contributing Member

REEKO_HTOWN I'm Rich Biiiiaaatch!

juicystream Contributing Member

astros123 Member

FlyerFanatic YOU BOYS LIKE MEXICO!?! YEEEHAAWW Supporting Member

Uprising Contributing Member

baller4life315 Contributing Member

REEKO_HTOWN I'm Rich Biiiiaaatch!

MadMax Contributing Member

JayZ750 Contributing Member

MadMax Contributing Member

tellitlikeitis Canceled Supporting Member

juicystream Contributing Member

el gnomo Member

tellitlikeitis Canceled Supporting Member

Share This Page

tellitlikeitis Canceled
Supporting Member

FlyerFanatic YOU BOYS LIKE MEXICO!?! YEEEHAAWW
Supporting Member

tellitlikeitis Canceled
Supporting Member

FlyerFanatic YOU BOYS LIKE MEXICO!?! YEEEHAAWW
Supporting Member

tellitlikeitis Canceled
Supporting Member

tellitlikeitis Canceled
Supporting Member