Manny Ramirez has tested positive for performance enhancing drugs and will be suspended without pay for 50 games, the LA Times is reporting.The Los Angeles Dodgers star is the most prolific player to be suspended by MLB since it began testing in 2003.
The paper is reporting Manny will attribute the positive test result to "medication received from a doctor for a personal medical issue."
The suspension will cost the Dodgers left fielder $7.7 million, or roughly 31% of his $25-million salary. Players in violation of baseball's drug policy are not paid during suspensions.
Ramirez, in a statement, blamed the test result on prescription medication for what he called "a personal health issue."
Ramirez tested positive during spring training for "a banned performance-enhancing substance that is not technically an anabolic steroid," according to a source not authorized to speak publicly about the issue.
The substance, identified by the source as human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), could legitimately be prescribed for a man who does not naturally produce enough testosterone, according to a high-ranking sports doping authority. But HCG often is used as an antidote to diminished testosterone levels at the end of a cycle of steroid treatments, said BALCO founder and convicted steroid dealer Victor Conte.
The Dodgers currently have the best record in baseball.
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