It’s an ongoing theme: Dope in professional sports.
And now, Major League Baseball (MLB) is preparing to suspend 20 players connected to the Miami-area clinic involved in a performance-enhancing drug scandal.
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.
Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun and others might be suspended for 100 games, which means that they probably won’t see the field this summer. This will be A-Rod’s second doping offense. And if the suspension holds up, it will be the largest in American sports history.
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 are 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 might 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.)
Bosch is expected to meet with MLB officials on Friday. So, only time will tell if this could be the end of A-Rod’s season.
We’ll keep you updated.
SOURCE: ESPN
