Latinos hit hard by baseball’s drug policy

NEW YORK (AP) — Baseball’s drug suspensions are dominated by Latin Americans.

Seventeen minor leaguers have received 50-game bans since July 25, and 16 of them tested positive while playing in the Dominican and Venezuelan summer leagues. The latest two were announced Friday, when New York Mets minor league pitchers Leandro Geremy and Jose Valentin were penalized. Geremy’s test showed metabolites of Nandrolone and Valentin’s a metabolite of Boldenone.

“The way we’re going to improve this situation is by education, not only in Latin America, but here,” said Mets general manager Omar Minaya, among the highest-ranking Latinos in the sport. “When we build the academies, we have to continue to invest in education.”

Baseball didn’t announce suspensions of players in the Dominican and Venezuelan leagues prior to this year because of legal issues.

Before July 25, just eight players had been suspended this year following positive tests for performance-enhancing drugs: San Francisco catcher Eliezer Alfonzo, Colorado infielder Humberto Cota and six minor leaguers. But once those Latin American summer leagues started, the number of suspensions skyrocketed.

“Sometimes they come back in bunches,” said Rob Manfred, executive vice president of labor relations in the commissioner’s office. “Those leagues get started later. Obviously, we push aggressively to do some testing. That can lead to bunching of results, depending on what’s going on in the lab.”