The Seattle Mariners have acquired an outfielder, but it wasn't one of the high-profiled ones they were previously linked to. On the East Coast, first baseman Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles received some news relative to his 25-game suspension for Adderall use.
Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports first mentioned the trade talks between the Mariners and Chicago Cubs regarding outfielder Justin Ruggiano. A little while later, FOX Sports' Jon Morosi reported the two sides agreed to send Ruggiano to Seattle and Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune noted the Mariners sent minor league pitcher Matt Brazis to Chicago and designated pitcher Logan Bawcom for assignment.
Although it wasn't quite the Justin Upton or Melky Cabrera acquisition the Mariners were previously talking about, Ruggiano will fill a big need in the corner outfield spots for Seattle. The 32-year-old played in only 81 games this past season due to various injuries, including a sprained ankle that required season-ending surgery. He slashed .281/.337/.429/.766 in 224 at-bats with six home runs and 28 RBIs. He's only played in 398 career major league games with the Tampa Bay Rays, Miami Marlins and Cubs.
Like Ruggiano, Baltimore Orioles slugger Chris Davis missed the end of the season, but for a different reason. He was suspended for 25 games for violating the MLB's drug program when he tested positive for amphetamines. Davis blamed the positive test on Adderall and he was unable to play in the season's final 17 games as well as seven of the team's postseason games. He still has one game left on the suspension.
On Tuesday, Orioles manager and AL Manager of the Year, Buck Showalter, told reporters Davis has been approved for a therapeutic-use exemption for Adderall for the upcoming 2015 season. It was noted after the 2013 season that nearly 10% of MLB players were cleared to use Adderall to combat attention deficit disorders and other related conditions.
"MLB and the Players' Association joint release of a report on its drug-testing program revealed that 119 players received therapeutic use exemptions to treat attention deficit disorder, up from 116 one year ago," wrote Gabe Lacques of USA TODAY Sports on December 1, 2013.
Davis will now add to that slowly increasing number of exemptions.
