Thirteen MLB Stars Suspended for Performance Enhancing Drugs
Thirteen Major League Baseball (MLB) players were suspended today for their alleged use of performance enhancing drugs. Twelve, including All-Stars Nelson Cruz, Jhonny Peralta, and Everth Cabrera, were suspended for 50 games, while three-time MVP and highest-paid player Alex Rodriguez was suspended for 211 games.
The players were suspended following a yearlong investigation by the MLB into their ties to the now-closed South Florida anti-aging clinic Biogenesis of America, which is accused of distributing banned performance-enhancing drugs. Players were tied to the clinic through “non-analytic” findings, meaning MLB used evidence other than failed drug tests to link players to the banned substances. They will not be paid while serving their suspensions.
Rodriguez, the highest-profile alleged client of the clinic, was suspended through the end of the 2014 season, the longest non-lifetime suspension in MLB history. He is able to play during his appeal, but stands to lose $34,240,437 if his suspension is upheld. Rodriguez’s discipline, MLB said in its written announcement, is “based on his use and possession of numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including testosterone and human growth hormone, over the course of multiple years.” The extended length of Rodriguez’s suspension is for “attempting to cover up his violations of the program by engaging in a course of conduct intended to obstruct and frustrate the investigation,” according to MLB.
