Photo by Brian Allen
Major League Baseball announced Monday severe suspensions for 12 players connected to a Miami anti-aging clinic, but Washington Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez is not among the names. Even though Gonzalez has reported links to the now-defunct clinic, Biogenesis, a league investigation cleared him of violating MLB’s drug policy.
Thirteen players were disciplined today. Twelve received and accepted 50-game suspensions, long enough to excuse them for the rest of the current season, while New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez was suspended for the remainder of 2013 as well as the entirety of the 2014 season. Rodriguez is appealing his penalty, and will play tonight in Chicago.
As for Gonzalez, a Miami native, baseball “found no violations of the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.”
A January article by the Miami New Times listed Gonzalez, who was the ace of the Nationals’ pitching staff last year with 21 wins, as one Biogensis owner Anthony Bosch’s premier clients. The New Times reported at the time:
Gonzalez’s name appears five times in Bosch’s notebooks, including a specific note in the 2012 book reading, “Order 1.c.1 with Zinc/MIC/… and Aminorip. For Gio and charge $1,000.” (Aminorip is a muscle-building protein.)
Following the publication of the New Times’ report, Gonzalez denied that he had been a Biogensis client, saying that he has played his entire career without using any performance-enhancing substances. The pitcher’s father, Max, said he was Biogensis’ customer for weight loss treatment.
“I am very pleased that Major League Baseball has cleared my name,” Gonzalez, 27, said in a statement released by the Nationals today. “With this process now complete, I have no lingering sense of animosity, as I quickly realized that the objective of this investigation was to clean up our game.”
Among the players receiving suspensions were former all-stars including the Texas Rangers’ Nelson Cruz and Detroit Tigers’ Jhonny Peralta. Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun previously accepted a 65-game suspension for his links to Biogensis.
In addition to Gonzalez, Baltimore Orioles third baseman Danny Valencia was cleared of violating MLB’s drug policy.
