Baseball's Steroid Era: June 2009

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

2003 Steroid List Another Hoax? Rotoinfo Publishes "Unconfirmed" List

Rotoinfo, a fantasy sports information site has published a list of players who supposedly tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in Major League Baseball’s 2003 anonymous survey testing (see below). The site describes the list as "rumored" and "unconfirmed" but maintains the source of the list as “trusted.”

Deadspin (among others) was quick to discredit the list. It notes that Jason Grimsley’s name is absent even though Grimsley, in a 2006 search warrant affidavit, admitted that he was told by Gene Orza in 2004 that he had tested positive.

But there are more players who are noticeably absent from the list.

David Segui also has said he was told by Orza that he was on the list. The Mitchell Report refers to an unnamed player who was told by Orza that he had tested positive in 2003. Independently, Kirk Radomski told Mitchell that the same player had told him (Radomski) the same story shortly after the conversation between the player and Orza occurred in 2004. When Kirk Radomski published his book, Bases Loaded, he confirmed that the unnamed player in the Mitchell Report was Segui.

I knew that Senator Mitchell was quoting David Segui (about the 2003 positive test) because David had told me exactly the same thing.

Also in Bases Loaded, Roadomski says that Larry Bigbie tested positive as well.

Both Jason Gimsley and Larry Bigbie also said that they'd been told that they had failed the obviously not-so-anonymous tests in 2003.

Leaks have been such a part of the story of the Steroid Era that we’ll reprint the list here. But take this with a enormous grain of salt. If you’ll remember, on the eve of the release of the Mitchell Report, a list of players said to be in the report caused quite a stir. That list proved to be bogus.

When asked by Deadspin why the list only contained 103 names instead of the widely reported 104, the "RotoInfo Team" stated that their original list contained Jeromy Burnitz’s name twice.

Deapspin also points out that Rotoinfo’s sources have proved unreliable in the past. On May 12, 2009 the site published the following on Twitter.

According to sources close MLB Lance Berkmans name has been floating around the commissioners office as a possible 50 game suspension looms

This of course has never come to fruition, although it’s not out of the realm of possibility that it is going through an appeal process behind closed doors.

As is being pointed out on forums all across the internet, the number of "star" players on the list seems very disproportionate. There are very few mediocre players or minor leaguers on 40-man rosters, making the list even harder to believe.

1.Nomar Garciaparra
2.Manny Ramirez
3.Johnny Damon
4.Trot Nixon
5.David Ortiz
6.Shea Hillenbrand
7.Derek Lowe
8.Pedro Martinez
9.Brian Roberts
10.Jay Gibbons
11.Melvin Mora
12.Jerry Hairston
13.Jason Giambi
14.Alfonso Soriano
15.Raul Mondesi
16. Aaron Boone
17.Andy Pettitte
18.Jose Contreras
19.Roger Clemens
20.Carlos Delgado
21.Vernon Wells
22.Frank Catalanotto
23.Kenny Rogers
24.Magglio Ordonez
25.Sandy Alomar
26.Bartolo Colon
27.Brent Abernathy
28.Jose Lima
29.Milton Bradley
30.Casey Blake
31.Danys Baez
32.Craig Monroe
33.Dmitri Young
34.Alex Sanchez
35.Eric Chavez
36.Miguel Tejada
37.Eric Byrnes
38.Jose Guillen
39.Keith Foulke
40.Ricardo Rincon
41.Bret Boone
42.Mike Cameron
43.Randy Winn
44.Ryan Franklin
45.Freddy Garcia
46.Rafael Soriano
47.Scott Spiezio
48.Troy Glaus
49.Francisco Rodriguez
50.Ben Weber
51.Alex Rodriguez
52.Juan Gonzalez
53.Rafael Palmeiro
54.Carl Everett
55.Javy Lopez
56.Gary Sheffield
57.Mike Hampton
58.Ivan Rodriguez
59.Derrek Lee
60.Bobby Abreu
61.Terry Adams
62.Fernando Tatis
63.Livan Hernandez
64.Hector Almonte
65.Tony Armas
66.Dan Smith
67.Roberto Alomar
68.Cliff Floyd
69.Roger Cedeno
70.Jeromy Burnitz
71.Moises Alou
72.Sammy Sosa
73.Corey Patterson
74.Carlos Zambrano
75.Mark Prior
76.Kerry Wood
77.Matt Clement
78.Antonio Alfonseca
79.Juan Cruz
80.Aramis Ramirez
81.Craig Wilson
82.Kris Benson
83.Richie Sexson
84.Geoff Jenkins
85.Valerio de los Santos
86.Benito Santiago
87.Rich Aurilia
88.Barry Bonds
89.Andres Galarraga
90.Jason Schmidt
91.Felix Rodriguez
92.Jason Christiansen
93.Matt Herges
94.Paul Lo Duca
95.Shawn Green
96.Oliver Perez
97.Adrian Beltre
98.Eric Gagne
99.Guillermo Mota
100.Luis Gonzalez
101.Todd Helton
102.Ryan Klesko
103.Gary Matthews

Sources

Rumored 2003 Steroid list leaks out?Rotoinfo
Why The "New" Alleged Steroids List Is A CrockDeadspin
2003 Anonymous MLB Survey TestingBaseball’s Steroid Era

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Sammy Sosa Tested Positive for PED in 2003 Survey Testing

According to the New York Times, Sammy Sosa was one of the 104 players to test positive for a performance enhancing drug in Major League Baseball’s 2003 supposedly anonymous survey testing. The Times’ Michael Schmidt, cited "lawyers with knowledge of the drug-testing results" but said they did not know for which drug Sosa had tested positive.

There has been a legal battle about the 2003 test results since they were seized during the BALCO investigation in 2004. The issue became particularly controversial because investigators had a subpoena for 10 players connected to BALCO but seized the entire list.

There is some speculation that this could leave Sosa open to possible perjury charges stemming from his congressional testimony in 2005. The following is an excerpt from Sosa’s statement.

"To be clear, I have never taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs. I have never injected myself or had anyone inject me with anything… I've not broken the laws of the United States or the laws of the Dominican Republic… I have been tested as recently as 2004, and I am clean."

According to ESPN, citing a "highly placed Major League Baseball source," eight of the 104 players that tested positive in 2003 did so for a substance that was not banned by Major League Baseball at the time.

So if it turns out that Sosa tested positive for something like Androstendione, he likely wouldn’t be the target of a perjury investigation. Andro was still legal in the United States and not banned by MLB until 2004 but may have returned a positive test. The use of Andro at that time would not contradict the above statement.

That being said, if Sosa tested positive for something that was banned by MLB at the time, like a controlled anabolic steroid (illegal without a valid prescription), it appears that a strong case could be made for perjury as his statements to congress were well after his positive test.

Sosa joins Alex Rodriguez, David Segui and Jason Grimsley as players who reportedly tested positive in 2003.

Baseball's Steroid Era is now keeping a running list of the 104 players that tested positive in 2003 as they continue to leak. The link is also permanently available in the sidebar under "Steroids in Baseball Resources."

Sources

Sosa Said to Test Positive in 2003New York Times
Source: Sammy Sosa worked out Angel Presinal, trainer linked to Alex Rodriguez and steroidsNY Daily News
Source: 8 fail for unbanned substancesESPN

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Richard Thomas, Florida Based PED Dealer, May Implicate Washington Nationals Players

A major steroid bust in Florida may implicate players from the Washington Nationals. Former bodybuilder and personal trainer, Richard “Andy” Thomas, arrested for importing and distributing steroids, told police that he sold steroids to players on the Nationals and the National Hockey League’s Washington Capitals.

Thomas and his wife, Sandra, were both charged with ten counts of "possession with intent to distribute", ten counts of "importation," and one count of "maintaining a dwelling for drug sales." Thomas reportedly told investigators that he was the largest PED dealer in central Florida. Polk County Sheriff, Grady Judd, informed the media of Thomas’ statements, but stressed that there was not as of yet any corroboration.

"I sent a supervisor in with a detective, and [Thomas] confirmed, 'Yes, I've sold steroids to professional football, professional baseball and professional hockey players… When asked for specifics, he said the Washington Capitals and D.C. Nationals. At this point in the investigation, I have absolutely nothing to corroborate those statements."

Investigators seized over $200 000 worth of steroids and other performance enhancing drugs. But according to ESPN’s TJ Quinn, the drugs were not the type typically used by athletes under a testing program.

However, two sources indicated that the steroids seized at the Thomas house aren't the variety typically used by athletes who are subject to regular drug testing. The steroids itemized in the arrest affidavits generally stay in the system for a relatively long period of time.

"It is more the veterinary type steroids and not the nice commercially compounded stuff," one of the sources said.

The names of Thomas’ clients will likely be revealed eventually, whether by government investigators or Thomas himself.

Law enforcement officials made pains to say that they were not in a position to release names of any specific athletes that Thomas may or may not have identified. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said authorities would have a better idea about Thomas' clientele after they examine his home computer and review mountains of documents seized from the house.

In a “jailhouse interview,” Thomas told the New York Daily News that he first used steroids because he “wanted to be like Arnold (Schwarzenegger).” Thomas declined to elaborate on his statement that he supplied players on the Nationals and Capitals, but said he would tell his story when he got out of jail.