Source: USA TODAY

Major League Baseball might have the star witness it covets in its drug probe, but lawyers and baseball officials cautioned Wednesday that the league was far from attaining the punishment and suspensions its officials desired.

Tony Bosch, director of the defunct Biogenesis wellness clinic that allegedly provided performance-enhancing drugs to as many as 90 major league and minor league players, is expected to have his credibility attacked by union officials if he accuses players of illegal drug use.

Bosch has informed MLB he will testify about his relationship with performance-enhancing drugs and dozens of baseball players, a move expected to significantly bolster the league’s aim to suspend stars who have been tied to the clinic, such as former MVPs Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun. MLB, in turn, would drop its lawsuit against Bosch.

The league, however, figures to need far more than Bosch’s testimony to move forth with discipline.

“The one thing we do know, the credibility of the witness and the motives of the witness is in severe question,” said high-powered agent and attorney Scott Boras, who represented Manny Ramirez when he was suspended for 50 games in 2009 without a positive steroid test.

“We’re talking about allegations made about a prescription medication that can only be given to a doctor, when in fact, he practiced medicine without a license.

“So the motives are many, financial and criminal. How is this guy getting around the admission that would send him to jail? Is he really going to admit to a felony for obtaining drugs without a prescription, and now another felony for injecting it without a license, in return for (MLB) dropping a lawsuit? These players are going to put him in the same box as MLB. They are rich men, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and they can say, ‘If you say this stuff, I’ll come and sue you.’”

It’s unknown what Bosch will say under oath to MLB investigators, but one official briefed on the matter said MLB would seek cellphone records, e-mails, text messages and calendars for proof of corroboration. The official spoke to USA TODAY Sports on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the investigation.

It will be difficult without government subpoenas, former commissioner Fay Vincent said, but MLB proved it can be accomplished with its private investigators when Pete Rose received a lifetime suspension for gambling in 1989 and New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner was suspended for two years in 1990 for conspiring with a known gambler.

However, neither Rose nor Steinbrenner had the backing of the Major League Baseball Players Association, whose executive director, Michael Weiner, released a statement saying, “Every player has been or will be represented by an attorney from the Players Association” in interviews with MLB investigators.

“It’s a very difficult proposition, because the defense has its advantages,” Vincent told USA TODAY Sports. “People trying to prove the case will have the burden, and that proof is tough to come by. There is doubt. The best investigation is done by law enforcement. They can subpoena you. We don’t have the clout.

“We had to do it with people willing to talk to us.”

Bosch was never served a subpoena, but MLB filed a suit against him and his associates.

In exchange for his testimony, according to ESPN, Bosch asked MLB to drop a suit against him, provide security and assist him if criminal charges are filed. MLB confirmed last month that it purchased records from Bosch’s Biogenesis clinic.

“Anytime a witness comes to the table with financial demands, they are vulnerable under cross-examination,” said New York criminal attorney Ben Brafman, who represented NFL receiver Plaxico Burress in his 2009 criminal case of carrying a concealed weapon. “And there will be a basis that undermines that credibility. If he has ‘sold’ the information to Major League Baseball, that by himself makes him very vulnerable to a vigorous cross-examination.

“I don’t want to give Bosch legal advice, but some of the allegations he is making may well subject himself to civil and criminal liability. You do not get a complete legal free pass from the federal government just because Major League Baseball is involved.”

Investigators also must establish that players used performance-enhancing drugs without testing positive.

“For me, the credibility of the witness has to be involved in this,” San Francisco Giants player representative Jeremy Affeldt said. “These are pretty heavy suspensions coming down. If there’s no proof, to be able to take our money away off of ‘allegedly this’ and ‘allegedly that,’ there’s got to be 100% proof.

“Some of these guys that are on the list, these are millions of dollars that you’re taking away from these players. It’s not like a $5,000 fine.”

If any player in the Biogenesis records used performance-enhancing drugs, Tigers starter Max Scherzer said, he deserves to be suspended. Yet, Scherzer would like MLB and the union to reach an agreement to stiffen the penalty for violators who intentionally cheated, even if its costs them the entire season.

“There’s a difference between an innocent positive and a blatant cheater,” Scherzer told USA TODAY Sports. “And the penalty for blatant cheating is not enough. There should be 81 games for the blatant cheater, or if you want to do one year, I’m fine with that, too.

“If you blatantly cheat, you should be blatantly punished.”

Ultimately, MLB officials will have to determine whether their investigation will hold up in front of an independent arbitrator.

“The other thing needed to keep in mind is that MLB is not a courtroom,” Brafman said, “where ballplayers have as many rights as someone accused of a crime. The standard of proof (MLB) may require to suspend a player may be substantially less than might be necessary in a real courtroom proceeding.”

Contributing: Jorge L. Ortiz in San Francisco

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Source: USA TODAY

Major League Baseball has been informed by Tony Bosch, head of the South Florida wellness clinic, that he will testify about his relationship with performance-enhancing drugs and dozens of baseball players, a move that could lead to suspensions for Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun and other notable major leaguers, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.

The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on condition of anonymity because negotiations with Bosch are ongoing. ESPN first reported an agreement with Bosch and MLB.

The agreement would be a significant boon in baseball’s efforts to corroborate reports, initially from the Miami New TImes, that Rodriguez, Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Melky Cabrera and more than 20 other players received banned substances from Biogenesis, a since-shuttered wellness clinic.

Cabrera, when approached by USA TODAY Sports before the Blue Jays played his old team, the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night, said he had no knowledge of a possible suspension. Cabrera served a 50-game suspension last season when he tested positive for testosterone, missing the Giants’ run to the World Series title.

“I don’t know anything about it,” Cabrera said in Spanish. “This is the first I hear of it. If they suspend me again, I think that would be a harsh punishment because I already served my sentence. But it’s up to them.

“I believe I’ve already served my sentence, especially missing the playoffs. That’s what hurt me the most, getting suspended and not being able to play in the playoffs.”

Braun smiled as he spoke to reporters after the Milwaukee Brewers’ walkoff win over the Oakland Athletics, saying the threat of suspension was not on his mind.

“The truth has not changed,” he said, according to MLB.com. “I don’t know the specifics of the story that came out today, but I’ve already addressed it, I’ve already commented on it, and I’ll say nothing further about it.”

Bosch, according to ESPN, will meet with MLB investigators within a week. MLB had filed suit against Bosch in March, but ESPN reported MLB will drop that suit in exchange for Bosch’s cooperation.

MLB Players’ Association executive director Michael Weiner issued a statement Wednesday morning:

“The Players Association has been in regular contact with the Commissioner’s Office regarding the Biogenesis investigation. They are in the process of interviewing players, and every player has been or will be represented by an attorney from the Players Association. The Commissioner’s Office has assured us that no decisions regarding discipline have been made or will be made until those interviews are completed. It would be unfortunate if anyone prejudged those investigations.

“The Players Association has every interest in both defending the rights of players and in defending the integrity of our joint program. We trust that the Commissioner’s Office shares these interests.”

Rodriguez, who admitted using performance-enhancing drugs while with the Texas Rangers from 2001-2003, has denied any links to Biogenesis; documents obtained by New Times indicate he may have received PEDs from the clinic in 2009 and 2012.

The three-time AL Most Valuable Player is not expected back from hip surgery until next month. On Opening Day, in regard to the MLB investigation of Biogenesis, he told reporters that “At some point, I feel that everything will be good.”

The list of players linked in published reports to Biogenesis is extensive, and includes stars, bit players and others, like Cabrera, previously linked to performance-enhancing drugs.

Most notable: Texas Rangers slugger Nelson Cruz and former Cy Young Award winner Bartolo Colon, who like Cabrera was suspended for 50 games in August 2012 for a positive testosterone test. So, too, was Padres catcher Yasmani Grandal, who returned one week ago from a similar suspension.

Other notable players linked include Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli, Mariners minor league catcher Jesus Montero, Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta and Padres shortstop Everth Cabrera.

Contributing: Jorge L. Ortiz in San Francisco

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

Source: USA TODAY

Jonathan Gray, the University of Oklahoma pitcher who may be selected Thursday with the first pick in the Major League Baseball draft, tested positive for the stimulant Adderall, three high-ranking major league team executives told USA TODAY Sports.

The executives, each directly involved in the draft, requested anonymity because test results are supposed to be private.

The top 200 draft prospects are subjected to testing under Major League Baseball guidelines, however there are no penalties since they are still amateurs.

Adderall is banned by MLB, with a 25-game suspension for a second offense, unless the player received a therapeutic use exemption.

Yet, the team officials said they don’t expect the positive test will hurt Gray’s position in the draft since it involved a stimulant and not a steroid or human growth hormone.

Gray, 10-2 with a 1.59 ERA, and 138 strikeouts in 119 innings this season, is eligible to pitch this weekend in Oklahoma’s super regional game against LSU.

“All University of Oklahoma student-athletes are subject to institutional and NCAA drug testing and are subject to corrective action relative to those policies,” according to a statement released by the Oklahoma communications department. “At this time, we are able to confirm that Jonathan Gray is eligible to compete for the University of Oklahoma baseball program.”

No one answered a phone call to Gray’s family home in Chandler, Okla.

The Houston Astros have the first pick in the draft, followed by the Chicago Cubs, Colorado Rockies, Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians.

A 6-4 junior, Gray has dazzled scouts with a fastball that reaches 100 mph and a slider that leaves opposing batters swinging at air.

Gray twice has been chosen in the MLB draft, by the Kansas City Royals in the 13th round in 2010 and the New York Yankees in the 10th round in 2011. He attended junior college at Eastern Oklahoma State before going to Oklahoma, where his draft stock has soared.

“You just sit there and shake your head,” said Coastal Carolina coach Gary Gilmore after Gray blew away his team this weekend in opening game of the NCAA tournament in Blacksburg, Va. “The kid’s going to be a great professional.”

Contributing: Alejandro Zúñiga Sacks in Blacksburg, Va.

Copyright © 2013 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.