MLB officially suspended Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun for the remainder of the 2013 season. You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who’s surprised by this announcement.
Braun failed a drug test after his NL MVP 2011 season, but avoided the mandatory 50-game suspension due to the mishandling of his urine sample. This did not sit well with the MLB. Since then, one could say that MLB has been on a witch hunt in an attempt to find evidence to suspend him.
The Miami-area Biogenesis clinic was the smoking gun the MLB needed to suspend Braun and potentially up to 20 other players.
Which MLB players are allegedly on the Biogenesis client list? We list the players below.
- Ryan Braun – Milwaukee Brewers
- Alex Rodriguez – New York Yankees
- Francisco Cervelli – New York Yankees
- Fernando Martinez – New York Yankees
- Melky Cabrera – Toronto Blue Jays
- Everth Cabrera – San Diego Padres
- Bartolo Colon – Oakland A’s
- Nelson Cruz – Texas Rangers
- Yasmani Grandal – San Diego Padres
- Jesus Montero – Seattle Mariners
- Jhonny Peralta – Detroit Tigers
- Cesar Puello – New York Mets
- Jordan Noberto – Free Agent
- Fautino de los Santos – Free Agent
- Gio Gonzalez – Washing Nationals (legal substances)
These are the only players whose names have been leaked to the investigation. The list is only 15 players, but according to many major outlets, as many as 20 could be suspended.
I don’t foresee any player, other than A-Rod, to get the kind of suspension Braun was handed down on Monday. According to ESPN, a source close to the Biogenesis investigation, they have far more information about A-Rod than they have on Braun.
Melky Cabrera, Bartolo Colon and Yasmani Grandal served 50-game suspensions last season, so it is unknown if they’ll get by with “time served” or if the information gathered from the investigation will garner a second offense mandatory suspension of 100 games.
I expect more suspensions to be handed down in the coming days. Braun will not be the only player serving a suspension this season.