Post by JohnM on Feb 16, 2013 5:55:32 GMT -5
Ryan Braun, Alex Rodriguez, Francisco Cervelli and Melky Cabrera linked with dollar amounts in documents belonging to 'biochemist' Anthony Bosch, according to report
The report, which cites a source who said the list indicates the players received the performance-enhancing drugs from Bosch — and that Braun owed him money — appears to contradict statements by Braun, who said he used Bosch as a consultant
BY TERI THOMPSON , MICHAEL O’KEEFFE AND BILL MADDEN / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2013, 12:24 AM
KEITH SRAKOCIC/AP
Ryan Braun's explanation for why he's linked to Anthony Bosch doesn't seem to be adding up.
As Major League Baseball and the feds continue their investigation into Anthony Bosch, the circle appears to be closing around at least four of the players linked to the Miami-area “biochemist” and his Biogenesis anti-aging clinic.
ESPN reported Friday that it had obtained documents belonging to Bosch that list the names of players who have already been linked to him and performance-enhancing drugs — Alex Rodriguez, Francisco Cervelli, Melky Cabrera and Ryan Braun — alongside what appear to be dollar figures.
The report, which cites a source who said the list indicates the players received the performance-enhancing drugs from Bosch — and that Braun owed him money — appears to contradict statements by Braun. The Brewers’ slugger had claimed that his only association with Bosch came when he consulted with the man who has at times misrepresented himself as a doctor while the 2011 National League MVP was fighting a 50-game suspension for what the Daily News reported were off-the-charts high levels of testosterone.
Rodriguez has also denied dealing with Bosch. Cabrera issued a statement on Friday saying he will cooperate with MLB in its investigation "the best I can, just as my legal counsel has told federal investigators. I have been instructed by legal counsel not to answer questions relating to the pending investigations.”
According to a source familiar with Cabrera’s case, the former Yankee outfielder has already spoken to federal investigators, who have intensified their efforts in the wake of recent news stories linking Bosch and the players to PEDs.
The Daily News first reported on Jan. 26 that MLB and the feds were looking into Bosch, who has also worked with Manny Ramirez, the then-Dodgers slugger who was suspended for 50 games in 2009 for violating MLB’s drug policy. Bosch’s father, Pedro Bosch, is a physician who has practiced family medicine in the Miami area since 1976. The News reported in June of 2009 that the DEA had initiated an administrative review of Pedro Bosch because investigators suspected he wrote a prescription for a banned drug used by Ramirez.
On Jan. 29, the weekly Miami New Times reported that it had obtained notes and records belonging to Bosch that linked several players to Bosch and the Biogenesis clinic. Yahoo! Sports reported that Braun’s name had appeared in Bosch’s logs but not alongside performance-enhancing substances, as Rodriguez’s and others had. According to the documents cited by Yahoo! Sports, Bosch sought $20,000 to $30,000 from Braun. ESPN reported Friday that the figure next to Braun’s name in the documents it reviewed was “1500.”
RELATED: LUPICA: TIME FOR MLB TO MUSCLE UP WITH BRAUN
Braun’s attorney, Martin Singer, told ESPN that there are several witnesses who will confirm that Braun used Bosch as a consultant as he fought the MLB suspension, eventually winning when an arbitrator ruled that his urine sample had been mishandled by a specimen collector. He said the “1500” figure was for money Bosch was trying to collect for the consultation.
As The News has reported, one of Braun’s attorneys, Chris Lyons, was familiar with Bosch, and helped arrange a meeting to enlist his services as Braun’s team tried to figure out the intricacies of drug testing. According to Braun, Bosch was never paid.
Cervelli, meanwhile, said this week that he consulted with Bosch after breaking his left foot in March of 2011 on the advice of someone he declined to name.
“I checked with doctors, people, and somebody recommend me Biogenesis,” the Yankee catcher said. “I went there for maybe suggestions, and that's it. I walked away with nothing in my hands. I just went there, talk, and that’s it.”
According to ESPN, the documents indicate that Cervelli paid Bosch $2,500 and that Rodriguez paid him $4,500. There was no figure listed for Cabrera.
Cervelli, along with the other players whose names have emerged in the investigation, is sure to be interviewed by MLB about why his name is next to a figure that appears to represent a dollar amount.
“I would think Cervelli is in deeper now,” said one source familiar with the investigation.
RELATED: BRAUN ON BOSCH'S CLINIC ROSTER, BUT SAYS IT'S OVER MONEY, NOT PEDS
Members of MLB’s Department of Investigations have been in Miami attempting to verify the records obtained by the New Times but are somewhat hamstrung by a lack of subpoena power and the investigative power of the government.
However, as The News has reported, the players involved face possible discipline if they are found to have previously lied to MLB about their knowledge of or use of performance-enhancing drugs.
Three of the players linked to Bosch — Cabrera, Bartolo Colon and Yasmani Grandal — previously received suspensions for what a source said were elevated levels of testosterone and as part of the investigative process would have been interviewed by MLB. Rodriguez has also been interviewed by baseball officials on several occasions following his admission in 2009 that he had used performance-enhancing drugs when he played for the Texas Rangers, and after his association with Toronto physician Anthony Galea, who pled guilty in 2011 to bringing unapproved drugs into the U.S., including human growth hormone and Actovegin.
According to the documents cited by the New Times, Bosch provided clients with a “pink cream” infused with a 20% shot of testosterone, well above the amount usually used by compounding pharmacists who mix the substances.
BALCO founder Victor Conte, for instance, infused his infamous “cream” with 10% testosterone to avoid triggering the 4-to-1 testosterone to epitestosterone ratio MLB has used to catch drug cheats.
“It’s all about ducking and dodging the testers,” said Conte, who is now an advocate for clean performance. Conte has been saying for almost two years that the en vogue form of ingesting testosterone is through creams and balms rubbed on the wrists or inside the elbows. The creams are fast-acting and leave the body within six to eight hours and, if they are used in conjunction with epitestosterone, would likely not trigger a positive test.
A 20% infusion, however, might be risky, especially for a player using the cream before or after a game, when he might be tested. “I have never heard of a compound pharmacy making a 20% testosterone cream,” Conte said. “It doesn’t surprise me (Bosch’s) people got caught.”
Read more: www.nydailynews.com/sports/i-team/report-braun-a-rod-cervelli-melky-linked-amounts-article-1.1265865#ixzz2L3gBUb97
The report, which cites a source who said the list indicates the players received the performance-enhancing drugs from Bosch — and that Braun owed him money — appears to contradict statements by Braun, who said he used Bosch as a consultant
BY TERI THOMPSON , MICHAEL O’KEEFFE AND BILL MADDEN / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2013, 12:24 AM
KEITH SRAKOCIC/AP
Ryan Braun's explanation for why he's linked to Anthony Bosch doesn't seem to be adding up.
As Major League Baseball and the feds continue their investigation into Anthony Bosch, the circle appears to be closing around at least four of the players linked to the Miami-area “biochemist” and his Biogenesis anti-aging clinic.
ESPN reported Friday that it had obtained documents belonging to Bosch that list the names of players who have already been linked to him and performance-enhancing drugs — Alex Rodriguez, Francisco Cervelli, Melky Cabrera and Ryan Braun — alongside what appear to be dollar figures.
The report, which cites a source who said the list indicates the players received the performance-enhancing drugs from Bosch — and that Braun owed him money — appears to contradict statements by Braun. The Brewers’ slugger had claimed that his only association with Bosch came when he consulted with the man who has at times misrepresented himself as a doctor while the 2011 National League MVP was fighting a 50-game suspension for what the Daily News reported were off-the-charts high levels of testosterone.
Rodriguez has also denied dealing with Bosch. Cabrera issued a statement on Friday saying he will cooperate with MLB in its investigation "the best I can, just as my legal counsel has told federal investigators. I have been instructed by legal counsel not to answer questions relating to the pending investigations.”
According to a source familiar with Cabrera’s case, the former Yankee outfielder has already spoken to federal investigators, who have intensified their efforts in the wake of recent news stories linking Bosch and the players to PEDs.
The Daily News first reported on Jan. 26 that MLB and the feds were looking into Bosch, who has also worked with Manny Ramirez, the then-Dodgers slugger who was suspended for 50 games in 2009 for violating MLB’s drug policy. Bosch’s father, Pedro Bosch, is a physician who has practiced family medicine in the Miami area since 1976. The News reported in June of 2009 that the DEA had initiated an administrative review of Pedro Bosch because investigators suspected he wrote a prescription for a banned drug used by Ramirez.
On Jan. 29, the weekly Miami New Times reported that it had obtained notes and records belonging to Bosch that linked several players to Bosch and the Biogenesis clinic. Yahoo! Sports reported that Braun’s name had appeared in Bosch’s logs but not alongside performance-enhancing substances, as Rodriguez’s and others had. According to the documents cited by Yahoo! Sports, Bosch sought $20,000 to $30,000 from Braun. ESPN reported Friday that the figure next to Braun’s name in the documents it reviewed was “1500.”
RELATED: LUPICA: TIME FOR MLB TO MUSCLE UP WITH BRAUN
Braun’s attorney, Martin Singer, told ESPN that there are several witnesses who will confirm that Braun used Bosch as a consultant as he fought the MLB suspension, eventually winning when an arbitrator ruled that his urine sample had been mishandled by a specimen collector. He said the “1500” figure was for money Bosch was trying to collect for the consultation.
As The News has reported, one of Braun’s attorneys, Chris Lyons, was familiar with Bosch, and helped arrange a meeting to enlist his services as Braun’s team tried to figure out the intricacies of drug testing. According to Braun, Bosch was never paid.
Cervelli, meanwhile, said this week that he consulted with Bosch after breaking his left foot in March of 2011 on the advice of someone he declined to name.
“I checked with doctors, people, and somebody recommend me Biogenesis,” the Yankee catcher said. “I went there for maybe suggestions, and that's it. I walked away with nothing in my hands. I just went there, talk, and that’s it.”
According to ESPN, the documents indicate that Cervelli paid Bosch $2,500 and that Rodriguez paid him $4,500. There was no figure listed for Cabrera.
Cervelli, along with the other players whose names have emerged in the investigation, is sure to be interviewed by MLB about why his name is next to a figure that appears to represent a dollar amount.
“I would think Cervelli is in deeper now,” said one source familiar with the investigation.
RELATED: BRAUN ON BOSCH'S CLINIC ROSTER, BUT SAYS IT'S OVER MONEY, NOT PEDS
Members of MLB’s Department of Investigations have been in Miami attempting to verify the records obtained by the New Times but are somewhat hamstrung by a lack of subpoena power and the investigative power of the government.
However, as The News has reported, the players involved face possible discipline if they are found to have previously lied to MLB about their knowledge of or use of performance-enhancing drugs.
Three of the players linked to Bosch — Cabrera, Bartolo Colon and Yasmani Grandal — previously received suspensions for what a source said were elevated levels of testosterone and as part of the investigative process would have been interviewed by MLB. Rodriguez has also been interviewed by baseball officials on several occasions following his admission in 2009 that he had used performance-enhancing drugs when he played for the Texas Rangers, and after his association with Toronto physician Anthony Galea, who pled guilty in 2011 to bringing unapproved drugs into the U.S., including human growth hormone and Actovegin.
According to the documents cited by the New Times, Bosch provided clients with a “pink cream” infused with a 20% shot of testosterone, well above the amount usually used by compounding pharmacists who mix the substances.
BALCO founder Victor Conte, for instance, infused his infamous “cream” with 10% testosterone to avoid triggering the 4-to-1 testosterone to epitestosterone ratio MLB has used to catch drug cheats.
“It’s all about ducking and dodging the testers,” said Conte, who is now an advocate for clean performance. Conte has been saying for almost two years that the en vogue form of ingesting testosterone is through creams and balms rubbed on the wrists or inside the elbows. The creams are fast-acting and leave the body within six to eight hours and, if they are used in conjunction with epitestosterone, would likely not trigger a positive test.
A 20% infusion, however, might be risky, especially for a player using the cream before or after a game, when he might be tested. “I have never heard of a compound pharmacy making a 20% testosterone cream,” Conte said. “It doesn’t surprise me (Bosch’s) people got caught.”
Read more: www.nydailynews.com/sports/i-team/report-braun-a-rod-cervelli-melky-linked-amounts-article-1.1265865#ixzz2L3gBUb97