Major League Baseball has, for months now, been seeking additional information regarding the Miami Biogenesis clinic linked to performance enhancing drugs, and the players that the clinic has allegedly serviced. You may recall that this all started with a report out of Miami back in January that a variety of players had received PEDs from the clinic, and escalated with additional players linked to the clinic over the ensuing weeks. From there, MLB sought documents about the clinic, even going so far as to begin a lawsuit to try and get access to them. Why? Because MLB wanted to use the documentation as the basis for suspensions.
It didn’t seem likely to succeed for a variety of reasons, and no one really believed that suspensions would be handed down on the basis of anything short of a positive test.
Until now.
ESPN’s Outside the Lines is reporting that MLB does indeed plan to suspend approximately 20 players for taking performance enhancing drugs, with the players’ connection to the Biogenesis clinic as the predicate. Among the names reportedly involved are Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun, Melky Cabrera, Bartolo Colon, Nelson Cruz, and Yasmani Grandal. Sources say MLB might try to suspend Rodriguez and Braun for 100 games for multiple offenses.
There are no Cubs currently identified in connection with these looming suspensions, but not all of the names are known yet.
And there could be more than 20 players suspended when everything shakes out. That’s because the reason MLB is ready to move forward is that they’ve now got Tony Bosch – the man behind Biogenesis – cooperating. He could name more names. OTL says that Bosch will meet with MLB officials within a week, and suspensions could come down a couple weeks thereafter. You’re going to want to read that OTL report to get a foundational sense of what’s going on.
Stay tuned, because this is big time.