OAKLAND, Calif. – Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Melky Cabrera said Wednesday he hasn’t been told by Major League Baseball whether he will face a suspension for his ties to the Florida clinic Biogenesis accused of distributing performance-enhancing drugs.
Cabrera, who wasn’t in the starting lineup for Wednesday afternoon’s game at Oakland, said he is following media reports that he will not be suspended again, but noted he had heard nothing definitive from MLB. The 2012 All-Star game MVP received a 50-game suspension on Aug. 15 last year for testing positive for elevated testosterone while playing for the World Series champion Giants. San Francisco chose not to add him to the post-season roster even after he was eligible to return.
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“Nothing’s been told to me,” Cabrera said. “I served my suspension last year, but MLB has never told me that it’s OK now. I’m seeing it in the press, but I don’t know.”
Blue Jays manager John Gibbons has said he doesn’t believe Cabrera will be suspended. While discipline had been expected to be announced Friday, it now appears the probe won’t be wrapped up until at least the weekend.
“To be honest with you we haven’t give it much thought,” Gibbons said. “We really have no idea. You wouldn’t think anything is going to happen, but Major League Baseball will decide that. Truthfully, we just go according to the day.”
Cabrera is batting .281 with three homers and 30 RBIs.
Cabrera and Oakland’s Wednesday starter, Bartolo Colon, may have baseball’s Joint Drug Agreement on their side even if MLB concluded the players received testosterone from the clinic. Colon was suspended last Aug. 22, also for a positive test for elevated testosterone.
Article 3 (H) of the Joint Drug Agreement states “players shall not be subjected to multiple disciplines as a result of the same use of a prohibited substance.”
The A’s said they had not been given any notification from MLB as of Wednesday morning.
“I haven’t heard anything that would suggest there’s any changes,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said.
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