After a third failed PED test, Mets reliever Jenrry Mejia threw his entire career away for his continued use of banned substances. At the age of 26, he received a lifetime ban from baseball on February 12, essentially ending his MLB career.
In an earlier MMO article, different avenues were examined as to the reason why Mejia tested for PED use a third time despite his professed innocence.
As part of the analysis, there was the mention of a Latino Sports article wherein Mejia claims he was being singled out and that no one was helping him. He said the player’s union abandoned him. He was told that if he appealed the second positive test baseball would suspend him a third time thereby giving Mejia a lifetime suspension.
Mejia has now double-downed on those claims in an exclusive interview with the New York Times:
“They will find a way to find a third positive,” Mejia said through an interpreter. “I felt there was a conspiracy against me. I felt that they were trying to find something to bring me down in my career.”
Naturally, MLB denies these claims.
As for Mejia, who never appealed any of his three steroid suspensions, he will tell anyone who is listening that no one was there to help him save his career:
“The association should have done more,” Mejia said, adding that he thought the union “should have been there to defend me – because that’s what they’re there for. They should have found something to appeal for.”
With no recourse available in through the MLB appeal system, Mejia has hired an attorney, Vincent White, to see what, if any, legal recourses are available to him. White stated, “For us, this is a collective bargaining issue, this is a labor issue, this is an employer who we see perhaps overstepping.” At this point, White gave no indication as to when and if Mejia will be able to file suit against MLB to reinstate him. For Mejia’ sake, he better hope his attorney can find a path for him to be reinstated because as of right now he’s barred from even applying for reinstatement until after the 2017 season.
Overall, while it’s hard to fathom how anyone could have three positive PED tests so close in time, it’s getting harder to fathom how Mejia is the victim of some elaborate conspiracy as he never appealed any of the suspensions. Maybe he’s telling the truth. Maybe his attorney will find an avenue for Mejia to be reinstated this year. Stranger things have happened. For example, no one ever expected a player to have three positive tests in less than one calendar year.
