Major League Baseball has a performance enhancing drug problem and I think they are going to start holding the suppliers accountable.
The Star Ledger is reporting that MLB is suing the South Florida clinic that has been accused of providing several high-profile players PED’s.
The lawsuit in Miami-Dade Circuit Court seeks unspecified damages from Coral Gables anti-aging clinic Biogenesis of America and its operator, Anthony Bosch. Several other Bosch associates are named in the lawsuit. A phone message left for a Bosch representative wasn’t immediately returned, and associates have previously said Anthony Bosch is out of the country.
MLB contends the clinic’s operators solicited players to use banned substances knowing that would violate their contracts, specifically the drug prevention and treatment program that became effective in 2003. That program, part of baseball’s collective bargaining agreement with players, includes a list of banned substances, lays out penalties for violations and imposes testing requirements.
the lawsuit states that Major League Baseball has suffered “costs of investigation, loss of goodwill, loss of revenue and profits and injury to its reputation, image, strategic advantage and fan relationships,” MLB attorneys Allen Weitzman and Matthew Menchel wrote in the complaint.
Although its seeking money damages, the lawsuit reportedly could provide a way for MLB to more deeply investigate Biogenesis and Bosch through the depositions of witnesses and subpoenas to obtain documents.
MLB was turned away in their effort to obtain clinic records from the Miami New Times newspaper, which has published detailed accounts of the alleged player drug use.
The players implicated are Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, outfielder Melky Cabrera of the Toronto Blue Jays, Washington pitcher Gio Gonzalez, Oakland pitcher Bartolo Colon, Texas outfielder Nelson Cruz and San Diego catcher Yasmani Grandal.
Former Major League star Manny Ramirez reportedly obtained a prohibited substance from Bosch in 2009 which resulted in Ramirez’s 50-game suspension when he was with the Los Angeles Dodgers.