Rays Drug Suspensions

The Rays organization has had 12 13 players suspended over the years for violations of either the Minor or Major League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Why bring that up? Not to embarrass the players or comment on the policy or its effectiveness, but because 7 8 of the 12 13 players are still in the organization. Having already been suspended once, under the current policy and depending on the substance, a 2nd suspension would be 100 games, or most of a season. As these players move up through the system I think it is important to remember the additional risk these players provide as we discuss their value as 'prospects'.

Date      Player               Substance         Team         Length  
8/13/10   Marcos Torres        Methylhexaneamine GCL          50 games
7/21/10   Francis Vizcaino     Stanozolol        DSL/VSL      50 games 
7/7/10    Jhancarlos Infante   Stanozolol        DSL/VSL      50 games 
9/14/09   Waldo Rosario        Stanozolol        DSL/VSL      50 games 
8/17/09   Noel De Leon         Stanozolol        DSL/VSL      50 games 
6/19/09   Franklin Alcala      Nandrolone        DSL/VSL      50 games  
6/19/09   Carlos Orasma        Nandrolone        DSL/VSL      50 games
8/4/08    Cesar Guillen        Ephedrine         DSL/VSL      50 games 
8/4/08    Victor Henriquez     Stanozolol        DSL/VSL      50 games 
7/26/08   Jonathan Quinonez    Nandrolone        DSL/VSL      50 games 
8/18/07   James Houser         PEDs              Montgomery   50 games  
5/7/07    Juan Salas           PEDs              Tampa        50 games 
4/3/05    Alex Sanchez         PEDs              Tampa        10 games

Notes: Players in bold are currently listed on Rays affiliate rosters, either active or restricted, according to milb.com. Team is the team the player was on at the time of the suspension, not their current team. I combined players on the DSL Rays and VSL Rays as 'DSL/VSL'. Data is from milb.com and The Biz of Baseball.

Interesting note: Alex Sanchez was the first player in history suspended for a violation of MLB's drug testing policy. Sanchez did not file a grievance contesting the suspension, as many other players did in the early period of the policy. The suspension cost him $32,787 of his $600,000 salary.

Updated: BaseballAmerica has the report on Marcos Torres.