Ervin Santana signed a four-year, $55 million deal with the Minnesota Twins back in December, which was the largest free-agent contract in the franchise's history. There's already a setback with their investment.
Major League Baseball suspended Santana for 80 games without pay on Friday after the right-hander tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug called Stanozolol, according to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com. Santana was expected to be the team's No. 2 starter behind Phil Hughes, but now Mike Pelfrey will slide into the rotation and fill in until the suspension concludes.
Minnesota recalled lefty reliever Aaron Thompson from Triple-A Rochester to replace Santana on the 25-man roster.
Unfortunately for Santana, the MLB and MLBPA agreed to more strict penalties for PED use about a year ago, not too long after the Biogenesis Scandal rocked the league in 2013. First-time offenders will now face an 80-game ban as opposed to a 50-game ban and second-time offenders receive a yearlong suspension as opposed to 100 games.
"Stanozolol, which is believed to assist in muscle growth, is one of the 74 performance-enhancing drugs (PED) that are specifically banned by the league. Its most famous user was Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, who forfeited his gold medal in the 100 meters at the 1988 Olympics after a positive test. In baseball, Rafael Palmeiro tested positive for it in 2005," according to La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Shortly after the suspension was announced, Santana and the Twins both released statements, which you can read here.
The 32-year-old Santana said the news was "unexpected" for him and his family and he "would never knowingly take anything illegal to enhance" his performance. Santana added he needs "to be more careful" in regards to what he consumes in his home country, the Dominican Republic, and will be "more vigilant of medications" he consumes in the future.
The right-hander was having an excellent spring and concluded the preseason with a 1.89 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and 12 strikeouts in five starts (19 innings). He'll now have to wait until July 4 to return to the Twins.
