PED Suspensions Coming

[weams]

Uggh. Let's clear up a few things.

• Clenbuterol is an effective PED. It's a muscle builder and fat burner. It's a Hollywood skinny drug. It's used in steroid stacks very effectively. It's most well-known use is for when bodybuilders go from building bulk to preparing for a show.
• There is no good reason for it to be in cold/flu medicine. It causes body temperature to go up. That said, its legal use in the US is for horses with asthma.
• More likely, you'd have Clen in a cold/flu medicine because the medicine would, in theory, counter some of the side effects of the clen. Or, it'd be sold under the guise of cold/flu medication when the real purpose was as a fat burner/muscle builder.
• Clen clears the system in 24-48 hours. It is exactly the kind of PED players would cycle right before they had to report. And with the earlier testing period catching players this year, we shouldn't be surprised someone got caught using it.
• The deduction to 50 games from 80 games wasn't because MLB was nice under the circumstances that Mondesi didn't 'knowingly' cheat. I'm sure the testers believe he did knowingly cheat. It was simply a result of following the negotiated rules. If he were an Olympic athlete, for example, the rules would've been a two year ban from international competition. I'm sure he's glad he has a union right now.

Good concise summary.

[TakebackOPACY]

My last post came across too much like I'm claiming to already be an expert. I'm not... just an 'expert' googler.

I'm well-read on the subject of PED's, as it's a sore subject for me. But I just read up on Clenbuterol over the last day. I'm not trying to prove anything with my post. Instead I encourage anyone who is interested to google it and read up from some steroid-centric sites concerning how Clen is used. Draw your own conclusions; or don't.

What do the negotiated rules say about cold meds? Why would there be any leniency because that was the source? Do you know?

Nothing specific on Cold Meds.

General PED MLB stuff:

Burden of proof of a positive test is on the commissioner's office. They have to prove that the test was positive and that all the agreed upon procedures and chain-of-custody stuff was followed to a tee.

Mitigation:

If there are mitigating circumstances such as:

If a Player proves by clear and convincing

evidence that he bears no significant fault or negligence for the

presence of the Performance Enhancing Substance in his test result, the

Arbitration Panel may reduce the mandated suspension set forth in

Section 7.A, subject to the following: (i) the Panel may not reduce the

penalty for a first-time violation to fewer than 40 games...

Below that section, there is a list of drugs for which there can be no reduction from the 80-games. Clenbuterol is on the banned list, but not on the no-reduction list.

http://mlb.mlb.com/pa/pdf/jda.pdf

Edited May 14, 2016 by TakebackOPACY

[sportsfan8703]

Uggh. Let's clear up a few things.

• Clenbuterol is an effective PED. It's a muscle builder and fat burner. It's a Hollywood skinny drug. It's used in steroid stacks very effectively. It's most well-known use is for when bodybuilders go from building bulk to preparing for a show.
• There is no good reason for it to be in cold/flu medicine. It causes body temperature to go up. That said, its legal use in the US is for horses with asthma.
• More likely, you'd have Clen in a cold/flu medicine because the medicine would, in theory, counter some of the side effects of the clen. Or, it'd be sold under the guise of cold/flu medication when the real purpose was as a fat burner/muscle builder.
• Clen clears the system in 24-48 hours. It is exactly the kind of PED players would cycle right before they had to report. And with the earlier testing period catching players this year, we shouldn't be surprised someone got caught using it.
• The deduction to 50 games from 80 games wasn't because MLB was nice under the circumstances that Mondesi didn't 'knowingly' cheat. I'm sure the testers believe he did knowingly cheat. It was simply a result of following the negotiated rules. If he were an Olympic athlete, for example, the rules would've been a two year ban from international competition. I'm sure he's glad he has a union right now.

Awesome post. And people still think the game is clean. Just from this thread I've learned that this cutting steroid leaves your system in 24-48 hours and testosterone in a night's sleep. Players have to be really stupid or really unlucky to get caught.

[El Gordo]

My last post came across too much like I'm claiming to already be an expert. I'm not... just an 'expert' googler.

I'm well-read on the subject of PED's, as it's a sore subject for me. But I just read up on Clenbuterol over the last day. I'm not trying to prove anything with my post. Instead I encourage anyone who is interested to google it and read up from some steroid-centric sites concerning how Clen is used. Draw your own conclusions; or don't.

Nothing specific on Cold Meds.

General PED MLB stuff:

Burden of proof of a positive test is on the commissioner's office. They have to prove that the test was positive and that all the agreed upon procedures and chain-of-custody stuff was followed to a tee.

Mitigation:

If there are mitigating circumstances such as:

Below that section, there is a list of drugs for which there can be no reduction from the 80-games. Clenbuterol is on the banned list, but not on the no-reduction list.

http://mlb.mlb.com/pa/pdf/jda.pdf

OK that clears it up. "If a Player proves by clear and convincing

evidence that he bears no significant fault or negligence for the

presence of the Performance Enhancing Substance in his test result, the

Arbitration Panel may reduce the mandated suspension set forth in

Section 7.A, subject to the following: (i) the Panel may not reduce the

penalty for a first-time violation to fewer than 40 games..." If that's the agreement then that's what happened. Still it was dumb for the MLBPA to agree to that.

[Sessh]

I'll never understand it. Every baseball player who gets caught is a villain forever.

Ray Lewis reportedly uses a banned substance for several years and I hear a few jokes about it for a day and it's never mentioned again. He's still worshipped.

Nor will I. Fans of other sports just want to see the players play and be entertained with their competitive sport of choice. They don't sweat the small stuff. I wish baseball could be that way, but it never will be again.

[Sessh]

Uggh. Let's clear up a few things.

• The deduction to 50 games from 80 games wasn't because MLB was nice under the circumstances that Mondesi didn't 'knowingly' cheat. I'm sure the testers believe he did knowingly cheat. It was simply a result of following the negotiated rules. If he were an Olympic athlete, for example, the rules would've been a two year ban from international competition. I'm sure he's glad he has a union right now.

Royals top prospect Raul Mondesi Jr. has received a 50-game suspension after testing positive for the banned substance Clenbuterol, the league announced today. The son of the former big league outfielder of the same name, Mondesi saw his suspension dropped from 80 games to 50 games after the league and the MLBPA showed that the substance was present in a cold medication which Mondesi had taken, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

..

Quinn points out (links to Twitter) that Mondesi Jr. is the first player to receive a reduced suspension ? a possibility that was added to the latest drug agreement. Had he tested positive for a stronger substance, the reduction wouldn?t have been possible, but Clenbuterol is specifically listed among the substances for which a [suspension] can be reduced if lack of intent can be proven.

Source

Lack of intent was proven. Lack of intent means MLB believes he did not knowingly or intentionally ingest this substance.

[BohKnowsBmore]

I'll never understand it. Every baseball player who gets caught is a villain forever.

Ray Lewis reportedly uses a banned substance for several years and I hear a few jokes about it for a day and it's never mentioned again. He's still worshipped.

Eh. The Ray Lewis thing was sort of a tabloid story. Apparently the deer antler spray contains a hormone that's banned, but far lower than the test threshold. Like, lower than the amount you get from eating eggs and drinking milk low.

[BohKnowsBmore]

Eh. The Ray Lewis thing was sort of a tabloid story. Apparently the deer antler spray contains a hormone that's banned, but far lower than the test threshold. Like, lower than the amount you get from eating eggs and drinking milk low.

So, the hormone is IGF-1, its naturally occurring, but the synthetic form is banned, I guess. My understanding is that deer antler spray is essentially snake oil.

[BohKnowsBmore]

Football players and Basket ball players are already gargantuan. Baseball players are relatively normal looking. So when they start looking like football players it is noticeable. Why did Congress focus on PEDs in the MLB? Because it was more obvious. And there was the whole stats thing.

Also the fact that baseball enjoys an antitrust exemption not provided to the NFL or NBA.

[weams]

Oh look, a JoeyBats sighting...

“If anything, I’m more concerned about the integrity of the (league’s drug-testing) program and what can be done to make sure that those systems that are in place are fully transparent and human error is taken into account,”

[Babypowder]

Football players and Basket ball players are already gargantuan. Baseball players are relatively normal looking. So when they start looking like football players it is noticeable. Why did Congress focus on PEDs in the MLB? Because it was more obvious. And there was the whole stats thing.

I think PED is most obvious in football, myself. I would guess that the majority of players are on something. I just don't understand why in football no one cares and in baseball it's treated as some sort of heinous crime.

[scOtt]

Man you guys just talk and talk and argue and fight about PEDs.... WhoTF cares?

Let it go!

[scOtt]

I hope our guys were/are using and getting away with it! Like everybody else. "If you know how to cheat start doing it!" rough Earl quote.

[bpilktree]

Marlon Byrd gets a full year suspension. I am not suprised it's not like you can expect a guy late 30's or early 40's playing great ball without some help.

[Can_of_corn]

BA mentioned in a teaser that a 16 yr old international player tested hot for something but the details are behind the paywall.