Mariners minor league outfielders Jabari Blash and Jamal Austin received 50-game suspensions without pay following second positive tests for a drug of abuse, effectively immediately. The commissioner’s office made the announcement Friday.
The drug was not identified, but it was not a performance-enhancer, which typically is identified.
Blash, 24, a 6-foot-5, 224-pounder, has 12 homers and 37 RBIs in 45 games this season in AAA Tacoma, where he was promoted after 25 games in AA Jackson. In Tacoma, he was hitting .210 with 57 strikeouts and 17 walks. He was an eighth-round pick in the 2010 draft from Miami-Dade Junior College.
Austin, 23, a 5-9, 170-pound centerfielder, was hitting .262 with one home run, 16 RBIs and 19 stolen bases in 45 games with Jackson. He had 30 strikeouts and seven walks. He was a 13th-round selection by the Mariners in the 2011 draft out of the University of Alabama-Birmingham.
5 Comments
I dislike this action taken without IDing the drug of abuse. Name it and educate the players and fans. Let me guess, oh, the hell with it.
I’d like to know what they were taking, too, but the fact that this was the SECOND offense tells me these guys weren’t listening the first time. Maybe sitting 50 games and having to pay rent without a paycheck coming in might wake them up.
minor leaguers don’t make squat. they are exploited to the max by mlb. why do even care what they were “taking?” please read: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/06/baseball-broshuis-minor-league-wage-income
The M’s signed their top pick for over $4 mil. Some mane good money at least.
I wonder how the M’s farm system compares to other teams in terms of positive test results for banned substances? When the Mitchell Report came out I was disappointed at how many players said they started using while in the M’s minor league system. Is it the culture within the system? Does management turn a blind eye until players fail a test? Or are failed tests consistent all over the farms of all teams?