Christian Carmichael, a 19-year-old catcher in the Mariners’ Minor League system, has been suspended for 50 games after he tested positive for a performance enhancing drug, according to the Office of the Commissioner.

Carmichael is presently listed on the roster of the Class-A Clinton Lumberkings in the Midwest League.

The catcher hit .182 last year, in 11 at-bats for the Mariners of the Arizona Rookie League.

Tags: methylhexaneamine, Midwest League, Minor League, performance-enhancing drug

Posted in Steroid Cycles, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Sports

Two Toronto Blue Jays pitchers in the Dominican Summer League, Aderly De La Cruz and Luillyn Guillen, have been suspended for 50 games.

The two minor league pitchers were suspended for positive tests under the minor league drug program.

While Cruz tested positive for metabolites of Nandrolone, Guillen tested positive for metabolites of Stanozolol.

Tags: Aderly De La Cruz, Dominican Summer League, Luillyn Guillen, Manny Ramirez, Minor League, nandrolone, stanozolol, Toronto Blue Jays

Posted in Steroid Cycles, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Baseball, Steroids in Sports

According to a story first reported by Sports Illustrated and confirmed by the New York Times, baseball players in both the major and minor leagues have been warned to stop ingesting deer-antler spray.

The spray consists of “potentially contaminated nutritional supplements” and has been added to MLB‘s list of cautionary substances.

Manufacturers of the spray claim that it boosts “anabolic or growth stimulation,” “athletic performance” and “muscular strength and endurance.”

Tags: baseball, human growth hormone, IGF-1, methyltestosterone, Minor League, nutritional supplements, testosterone

Posted in Steroid Cycles, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Baseball, Steroids in Sports

Right-hander Aderly De La Cruz and left-hander Luillyn Guillen, minor-league pitchers within the Toronto Blue Jays organization, were suspended after failing to clear doping tests.

Cruz and Guillen were playing in the Dominican Summer League and their suspensions are effective immediately.

Cruz tested positive for metabolites of Nandrolone while Guillen tested positive for metabolites of Stanozolol.

Tags: Aderly De La Cruz, Dominican Summer League, Luillyn Guillen, Manny Ramirez, Minor League, nandrolone, stanozolol, Toronto Blue Jays

Posted in Steroid Cycles, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Baseball, Steroids in Sports

Reds Minor League catcher Jose Raga was recently placed under suspension after he tested positive for a banned steroid.

A catcher with Cincinnati’s Venezuelan Summer League affiliate tested positive for Stanozolol, a performance-enhancing substance, in violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

Raga has received a 50-game suspension, according to the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball.

Tags: anabolic steroid, Barry Bonds, bone density, Jose Raga, Minor League, muscle growth, Rafael Palmeiro, Roger Clemens, stanozolol, steroid, testosterone

Posted in Steroid Cycles, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Baseball, Steroids in Sports

According to an announcement by the Major League Baseball, five minor league players were handed 50-game suspensions for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

The players included free-agent pitcher Junior Astacio and free-agent outfielder Pedro Nunez.

The suspension news has once again highlighted the relationship between professional sports and anabolic steroids.

Tags: anabolic steroids, Major League Baseball, Minor League, steroids

Posted in Steroid Cycles, steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Baseball, Steroids in Sports

We all know that steroid use is a problem in baseball. We heard it during the BALCO Affair and read it in the book Game of Shadows. But it looks like steroid statistics in baseball continue to rise. And those who say the 1990s were the ‘steroid era’ in baseball, they better think again.

This year, in just the past month to be more precise, 41 players from the minor leagues have tested positive for banned compounds, 33 of them from the Dominican summer league.

Then another batch of dopers was netted on Friday August 29. Miami Herald pitches this news:

A pair of New York Yankees minor league pitchers and a Chicago Cubs minor league hurler were each suspended 50 games Friday for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance in violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

All three suspensions will begin at the start of next season.

Next season?! Why not now? Sean Connolly at Baseball 180! endorses the same question.

The suspension will be for 50 games beginning next season, which seems to make no sense at all. The drugs they took were meant to help them this season, so how can you allow them to continue to play? That makes an unfair playing field as players who are clean will be up against cheaters.

I don’t see why Major League Baseball has to wait until next season. Just suspend them for the rest of this season and carry over whatever’s left into next season. I don’t get why MLB keeps messing this drug problem up and continue to make it worse.

We say Connelly got valid points.

Tags: anabolic steroids, baseball, Major League, Minor League, nandrolone, stanozolol, steroids, suspensions due to steroid use

Posted in steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Baseball, Steroids in Sports

Here’s just one of the news items that illustrates baseball’s alliance with steroids. From Miami Herald:

Major League Baseball suspended Cincinnati Reds minor league pitcher Renny Amador and Arizona Diamondbacks minor league shortstop Bernardino Jimenez for 50 games after each tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance.

Amador tested positive for metabolites of Stanozolol and Jimenez tested positive for Boldenone.

Both players are members of their organization’s Dominican summer league teams.
The suspensions are effective immediately.

Use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs in baseball grabbed national attention starting in the 1990s, when the record-breaking era of Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire took place.

During the 1998 season, Sosa hit 66 home runs while McGwire McGwire earned the single season record by hitting 70 home runs as Major League fans watched in open-mouthed disbelief.  It was alleged that these two players had been getting some help from performance boosters – androstenedione for McGwire and creatine for Sosa. Then Barry Bonds came, easily breaking the home run record established by McGwire. Bonds’ sensational performance had caused many to speculate on his possible use of steroids.

In 2003, the Balco Affair exploded implicating Bonds of use of steroid and PEDs along with other elite athletes in diverse sports. Subsequently, the Major League and its affiliates (including the Minor League) have adopted stricter anti-doping policy.

The organization has implemented harsher penalties for steroid users, commencing at its 2005 season.

A first positive test results in a suspension of 10 games. A second and third positive test result in a suspension of 30 and 60 games, respectively. A fourth offense results in a one-year suspension. A fifth offense results in a penalty at the commissioner’s discretion, which could mean saying ta-ta to the game permanently.

Prior to this implementation, a first-time offense would only call for the treatment of the player and the player would not even be named.

Tags: androstenedione, baseball, boldenone, creatine, Major League, Minor League, PEDs, penalty, stanozolol, steroids, suspension

Posted in steroid nation, Steroids and Anabolic Steroids, Steroids in Baseball, Steroids in Sports