By Alex Pavlovic, San Jose Mercury News –
SAN DIEGO — In a statement released after he was suspended for use of a banned substance, Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera said he accepted Major League Baseball’s decision. As it turns out, Cabrera wasn’t nearly as amenable when he first found out he had failed a drug test.
According to the New York Daily News, Cabrera created a fake website and nonexistent product in an attempt to prove that his use of the substance was inadvertent. Manager Bruce Bochy had no comment on the latest development but again expressed his disappointment in Cabrera’s actions, which led to a 50-game suspension and cost the Giants their No. 3 hitter in the middle of a tight division race.
“You can be world-class parents and your kids can go south or have some issues,” Bochy said. “We can’t follow guys 24/7, and it comes down to choices. (Cabrera) is a grown man, he’s a veteran. These are unfortunate things, and we’ll continue to work at cleaning out baseball.”
The Giants don’t allow noncredentialed individuals in the clubhouse and have banned any supplements that are not approved by Major League Baseball. If a player has a question, team trainers, strength coaches and doctors are available, and Bochy said the Giants work hard to make sure their players know that.
But, Bochy said, the Giants can’t control the advice players get in their personal life.
“These guys get bad info away from the ballpark,” Bochy said.
That appears to include the advice
Cabrera got after failing a drug test. According to the New York Daily News report, Cabrera associate Juan Nunez paid $10,000 to acquire the phony website, which was supposed to help support the claim that Cabrera ordered a supplement that inadvertently caused the positive test.
The website was included in a presentation Cabrera and his representatives made to MLB and the players union before Cabrera was charged with a violation of MLB’s drug policy. But the ruse quickly fell apart, and an investigation showed that the website had been altered to include an ad for a topical cream that didn’t exist.
MLB and federal investigators will continue to look into the matter to find the true source of the synthetic testosterone that was in Cabrera’s system. According to the report, the players association has not been presented evidence that Cabrera’s agents, Seth and Sam Levinson, had any connection to the stunt.
After he was caught, Cabrera put out a statement saying in part: “My positive test was the result of my use of a substance I should not have used.”
Cabrera was suspended Wednesday and will miss at least the rest of the regular season. Bochy declined to share his thoughts about what the Giants might do with the impending free agent.
“Our focus is on (Sunday’s game),” Bochy said. “He’s not here. We’ve moved on.”
