So baseball insiders weren't kidding when they said there was more Biogenesis stuff waiting to come out, were they?
The likes of Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun have dominated the headlines in the past month, but as more documents from the Miami anti-aging are leaked to the press, more names are being made public. Today, ESPN outed five more: San Diego shortstop Everth Cabrera, Oakland reliever Jordan Norberto, Houston outfielder Fernando Martinez, San Diego (formerly Milwaukee and Oakland) reliever Fautino De Los Santos and Mets minor league outfielder Cesar Puello.
ESPN says "at least" 25 players are named in various Biogenesis documents, but that number could be even higher. The "new" documents also include more references to names that have already been reported in the past: Braun, Rodriguez, Melky Cabrera, Nelson Cruz, Francisco Cervelli and Yasmani Grandal.
The latest documents also add to an interesting subplot — Martinez, De Los Santos and Puello are clients of the ACES sports agency, while Everth Cabrera and Norberto are former clients. That brings the total number of ACES-related names in the Biogenesis investigation to 10. Seth and Sam Levinson, owners of ACES, came out with a strong statement in response, saying they "do things the right way" and they wouldn't "ever condone the use of performance-enhancing drugs."
This is a story that is seemingly getting bigger by the week, and soon — if it hasn't already — it'll be too big to ignore. As much as MLB may want to punish everyone involved in the case (and as much as they'll be pressured to do so by the media), their hands are tied at the moment. Baseball's CBA says the league would need official documents like receipts or sworn testimony — not hand-written scraps written on scratch paper — in order to suspend anyone. As of yet, no paper trail has been uncovered, and the sworn testimony is looking unlikely, as there isn't a single law enforcement agency currently investigating the lab.
[ESPN]
