Less than three weeks after no players were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame primarily because of certain players’ connection with the Steroid Era, another PED scandal is set to rock the baseball world.
According to a report in the Miami New Times, a batch of records obtained from an anti-aging clinic in South Florida includes the names of a number of prominent MLB players, including Alex Rodriguez, Melky Cabrera, Nelson Cruz, Gio Gonzalez, Bartolo Colon and Yasmani Grandal.
The records were reportedly obtained from an employee who worked at the clinic — called Biogenesis — before it closed last month and its owner abruptly disappeared. According to the report, the records are clear in describing that the firm sold performance-enhancing drugs, including human growth hormone (HGH), testosterone and anabolic steroids.
The Miami New Times reportedly obtained patient files, payment records and handwritten notebooks kept by the clinic’s chief, identified as 49-year-old Anthony Bosch. Bosch has been linked to banned substances in the past. He and his father — a physician named Pedro Publio Bosch — were probed by the Drug Enforcement Administration for allegedly providing Manny Ramirez with HCG, a compound often used at the tail end of steroid cycles. Ramirez, of course, was suspended in 2009 for violating MLB’s drug policy.
The father and son were never charged with a crime when it came to the Ramirez suspension, but their history makes this new situation even more suspicious. Considering the prominence of the names listed in the records and the details outlined in the records, it’s quite possible that this report could evolve into a BALCO-sized scandal.
“We are always extremely disappointed to learn of potential links between players and the use of performance-enhancing substances and have been active in the issues that have emerged in South Florida…. [B]anned substances … have no place in our game,” MLB reportedly said in a statement responding to questions about the Boschs.
Tuesday’s reports stem from a three-month investigation conducted by the Miami New Times, and, according to Yahoo! Sports, some of the players listed could be subject to a 50-game suspension for a violation of the league’s PED policy.
Rodriguez, who is hands-down the most notable name listed, admitted in 2009 that he used steroids, but he said his use only occurred during a three-year window from 2001 to 2003. Yet Rodriguez’s name reportedly appeared 16 times in the records obtained by the Miami New Times. The mentions reportedly date back to 2009 and extend all the way through last season.
The records reportedly indicate that Rodriguez paid $3,500, under which Bosch allegedly wrote, “1.5/1.5 HGH (sports perf.) creams test., glut., MIC, supplement, sports perf. Diet.” The Yankees slugger also appears in other areas of the records, with Bosch even reportedly writing, “He is paid through April 30th. He will owe May 1 $4,000…. I need to see him between April 13-19, deliver troches, pink cream, and … May meds. Has three weeks of Sub-Q (as of April)” under the heading “A-Rod/Cacique.”
Cabrera, who was suspended this past season for violating MLB’s PED policy and who then inked a two-year, $16 million deal with the Blue Jays this offseason, was reportedly named 14 times throughout the records, including an area in which the writer criticizes him and adds that Cabrera should “man up.”
Cruz, whom Bosch reportedly nicknamed “Mohamad,” was allegedly given $4,000 of product, and Bosch reportedly wrote of the outfielder in his 2012 book, “Need to call him, go Thur to Texas, take meds from April 5-May 5, will owe him troches and … will infuse them in May.”
Gonzalez, who is coming off a fantastic season with the Nationals, reportedly has his name listed five times in the records, with a note in one area reportedly saying, “Order 1.c.1 with Zinc/MIC/… and Aminorip. For Gio and charge $1,000.”
Tennis player Wayne Odesnik and Cuban boxer Yuriorkis Gamboa are reportedly among the other names listed in the report.
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