3 Sox minor leaguers test positive for Steroids

[Randar68]

Originally Posted by kevingrt

Bad, bad, bad I don't like that at all. I believe the Scrubbies had much more though...

They had eight out of the 32 or so in the original mass-announcement.

[TaylorStSox]

Why does it matter how many the Cubs had.

Valido surprises me. Is he the only legit prospect who's tested positive league wide? Most of the other guys I see are journeyman.

[Evman5]

wasnt Tetsu Yofu the guy who could throw like 6 different pitches?

[Randar68]

Originally Posted by TaylorStSox

Why does it matter how many the Cubs had.

Valido surprises me. Is he the only legit prospect who's tested positive league wide? Most of the other guys I see are journeyman.

When Valido told the Sox everything he had taken, they supposedly had norrowed it down to something in an over-the-counter supplement from GNC. It takes a while for people to get used to what is and isn't allowed, how carefully they have to personally be responsible for verifying what they are using is legal, etc.

People really have to remember that this early going from little-to-no drug testing policy to a relatively stringent policy, there are going to be a lot of people who take what they believe to be harmless supplements, shakes, etc, and end up getting caught.

Does anyone really think these guys are still shooting up regularly with known banned substances given all this attention to the subject? It's just something to keep in mind here in the early days of the program.

[The Racehorse]

Originally Posted by Evman5

wasnt Tetsu Yofu the guy who could throw like 6 different pitches?

6 pitches?

Reminds me of what Bill Lee once did to get back at Carlton Fisk.

Lee, frustrated at Fisk's slow, methodical nature when putting down signs
[leading Bill to say (in his book) "what's taking him so long, I've only got two pitches"]... shook him off six consecutive times. Fisk called time and went to the mound. "How the hell can you shake me off 6 times? I've only got five fingers!"

Bill Lee response? "My point, exactly."

[maurice]

Levineline on the suspensions:
- Valido is a AA player
- Toca and some other guy were suspended also.
It must be nice to get paid for this kind of insider / expert baseball analysis.

On a more useful note, the Sox told him that Valido thinks the positive test was from something he bought from GNC.

Has anyone else heard about this? I forget their names, but 3 minor leaguers in the Sox organization were suspended for steroid use. Think this will just give the media more ammo to take shots at the White Sox? Other thoughts?

[Randar68]

Originally Posted by seanpmurphy

Has anyone else heard about this? I forget their names, but 3 minor leaguers in the Sox organization were suspended for steroid use. Think this will just give the media more ammo to take shots at the White Sox? Other thoughts?

OLD NEWS! SHEEESH.

Ever think of trying the "Minor League Board?" How can they take shots? There was barely a peep when 8 Cubs prospects tested positive...

Sorry!

[Randar68]

Originally Posted by seanpmurphy

Sorry!

Rule of thumb:

If it was announced more than an hour or 2 ago, it's already been covered.

[Deadguy]

Originally Posted by seanpmurphy

Has anyone else heard about this? I forget their names, but 3 minor leaguers in the Sox organization were suspended for steroid use. Think this will just give the media more ammo to take shots at the White Sox? Other thoughts?

Not only that, but I heard eight players on the White Sox were kicked out of baseball for fixing the World Series. Say it ain't so.

[Flight #24]

Originally Posted by Randar68

When Valido told the Sox everything he had taken, they supposedly had norrowed it down to something in an over-the-counter supplement from GNC. It takes a while for people to get used to what is and isn't allowed, how carefully they have to personally be responsible for verifying what they are using is legal, etc.

People really have to remember that this early going from little-to-no drug testing policy to a relatively stringent policy, there are going to be a lot of people who take what they believe to be harmless supplements, shakes, etc, and end up getting caught.

Does anyone really think these guys are still shooting up regularly with known banned substances given all this attention to the subject? It's just something to keep in mind here in the early days of the program.

Out of curiosity, I assume these are the guys caught as part of the major league testing (not the minor league testing that's been going on for a while)? Either way, it's interesting that these guys apparently weren't caught in prior minor league testing.

Was there some rule about guys on the 40-man being exempt from minor league testing? I wasn't aware of one. If not, then it would support the case that it was a one-time thing or accidental. The big leaguers don't ahv that excuse since they've not been tested prior to this year (except for when they were in the minors).

EDIT: Randard, I have no doubt that there are still a decent # of guys taking all sorts of banned substances, it's just based on who can afford the good stuff that's either not tested for or that can't be discovered.

[maurice]

For some reason, the Trib thinks that all 3 players are "prosepcts."

Apparently, they define "prospect" as "anybody on any minor-league roster," including a DL.

[Randar68]

Originally Posted by Flight #24

Out of curiosity, I assume these are the guys caught as part of the major league testing (not the minor league testing that's been going on for a while)? Either way, it's interesting that these guys apparently weren't caught in prior minor league testing.

Was there some rule about guys on the 40-man being exempt from minor league testing? I wasn't aware of one. If not, then it would support the case that it was a one-time thing or accidental. The big leaguers don't ahv that excuse since they've not been tested prior to this year (except for when they were in the minors).

EDIT: Randard, I have no doubt that there are still a decent # of guys taking all sorts of banned substances, it's just based on who can afford the good stuff that's either not tested for or that can't be discovered.

The Minor League testing became more comprehensive along with the introduction of the new MLB testing. They were caught in the minor league phase, thus the 15-game suspensions. I don't recall if you have to be on the 25 or 40 man roster to be subject to the MLB phase, but I believe it's the 40-man roster.

Of course people are taking "banned substances", as they can be found in thousands of seemingly harmless over-the-counter items from cold/allergy medications to dietary supplements to protein shakes to creatine (IIRC not banned, but some commercial versions contain some banned substances), etc...

However, the guys who were taking the hardcore stuff were not new to this game. They know how to beat the system and they will adapt. The guys you see getting caught now are a lot of the smaller/younger guys who are not taking HGH or steroids or crap like that, they just didn't know any better.

Have you seen Robert Valido? How about Alex Sanchez? You think those guys are taking steroids? Ignorance is not an excuse, but there is going to be a clear initial "learning the hard way" curve...

All the announcements on the minor league testing thuis far have come from the teams with Arizona camps. The list of violators from Florida is expected to easily eclipse that of the people tested from the Arizona camps whenever that eventually comes out.