Photo by MudflapDC

Photo by MudflapDC

Major League Baseball will attempt to suspend 20 players connected to a now-shuttered Miami clinic, according to an ESPN report last night, but the Washington Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez is reportedly safe.

The clinic, Biogenesis of America, was the subject of a blistering report in January in the Miami New Times in which the business was described as the “East Coast version of BALCO,” a reference to the San Francisco-area clinic that supplied Barry Bonds with performance-enhancing substances.

Gonzalez figured largely into the Miami New Times story, particularly for a 2012 order from Biogenesis for a dose of Aminorip, a muscle-building protein, but one that is not on MLB’s list of banned substances. In the New Times article Gonzalez’s father, Max, said he was Biogensis’ patient and that his son, who won 21 games for the Nationals last year, had never visited the clinic. Gonzalez’s name also appeared next to an order for a product listed only as “pink cream.”

Biogensis’ owner, Anthony Bosch, is cooperating with MLB’s internal investigation into Gonzalez and other players connected to to the clinic, ESPN reported. Among the players of whom MLB is said to be seeking suspensions are New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun, and more than a dozen others. Rodriguez, who has not played at all this year, has admitted to steroid use in the past, while Braun, the 2011 National League Most Valuable Player, was accused of steroid use but successfully overturned the results of a drug test. The players face suspensions of up to 100 games.

As for Gonzalez, the Nationals declined to comment on the Miami New Times report in January, though Gonzalez himself made public statements denying involvement with Biogenesis. The Washington Post reports that the team is “publicly and privately” confident that Gonzalez, who passed a drug screening a few days after the initial Biogensis story came out, will not be suspended.