According to T.J. Quinn of ESPN, Jenrry Mejia’s second failed drug test came while he was still serving his first 80 game suspension.
So despite the second suspension being announced a few weeks after Mejia was reinstated, the results were from while he tested positive during his first suspension.
That’s kind of difficult to believe…
Nah, not really.
July 29
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 24 hours, you now know that reliever Jenrry Mejia has tested positive for performance enhancing drugs again and is suspended for 162 games effective immediately.
I wanted to update this posting with some of my thoughts and quotes from Sandy Alderson.
Mejia only recently returned from his previous 80 game suspension when he tested positive for the steroid Stanozolol.
This time, according to Major League Baseball, Mejia tested positive for not one, but two forms of steroids – Stanozolol AND Boldenone.
“Not surprisingly, there’s a tremendous amount of disappointment — I think to some extent anger, to some extent amazement — that this could happen so soon after a previous suspension was completed. And some sadness,” Sandy Alderson said in a press conference to announce the news.
“This is having a tremendously adverse effect on a very promising major league career, and that’s a shame. But the rules are the rules. We support the rules. This is the consequence of making bad choices.”
It’s unbelievable that any player can get busted so soon after returning from a previous suspension. If there was such a thing as a Horse’s Ass Award in baseball, Mejia wins unanimously.
He left the clubhouse without so much as a murmur I heard. No emotion, no dejection, not even an apology or some show of remorse. Nothing.
Well that’s exactly what the Mets owe this selfish but talented player who has twice undermined this team – Nothing. Cut his dumb ass as soon as he’s done completing his suspension. And if the collective bargaining agreement permits it, cut him today.
The team issued a statement yesterday that read:
“We were extremely disappointed when informed of Jenrry Mejia’s second suspension for violating MLB’s joint drug prevention and treatment program. We fully support MLB’s policy toward eliminating performance enhancing substances from the sport.”
I felt bad for Sandy Alderson, who looked like a guy who had just been blindsided on Tuesday. Apparently he has more emotion than people give them credit for, and that was on full display during the press conference. He said two things that were worth noting.
One, getting Tyler Clippard was completely coincidental and that he had no previous knowledge that this Mejia suspension was coming down.
And two, he has no intentions of trying to replace Mejia by acquiring another reliever before the trade deadline.
I believe him.
The one positive that came out of this was seeing how the team responded on the field against the San Diego Padres last night. They looked positive and motivated, they looked hungry and focused, and they played a clean and crisp game.
