San Francisco Giants reliever Guillermo Mota has become just the third Major League Baseball player to be penalised twice for positive drug tests.
The MLB commissioner’s office said the 38-year-old pitcher tested positive for clenbuterol,and suspended him for 100 games on Monday.
In November 2006, while with the New York Mets, Mota was suspended for 50 games.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy said his organisation will have to adjust to the loss of Mota “We won’t have Mota for a while, it is what it is, and you move on,” Bochy said.
“If we get into a situation where we need a pitcher, we’re going to have to make a change.
“Right now we’re going with 11 pitchers, and if we have to adjust, we will. We’ve got some pretty good options, we think, and (General Manager) Brian (Sabean) and I will continue to talk about them.”
Mota’s agent Adam Katz said in a statement that the clenbuterol was in children’s cough syrup.
“Players are responsible for what they put in their bodies, Guillermo understands that,” Katz said.
“A 100-game suspension for taking a children’s cough medicine that contains trace amounts of a prohibited substance, which is what happened here, is severe and unfair and does not reflect the intention of the joint drug prevention and treatment program. We will appeal it.”
The MLB Players Association filed a grievance challenging the suspension that will be heard by an arbitrator. Under MLB’s drug agreement, grievances for initial positive tests are heard before a suspension is announced but cases involving second or third positives are argued after the penalty is made public.
Outfielder Manny Ramirez and catcher Eliezer Alfonzo are the only previous players to twice test positive. No player has tested positive a third time, which would result in a lifetime ban.
By the time Mota’s suspension is over, the Giants will have 34 games left on the schedule.
Mota was 0-1 with a 5.06 ERA in nine games for the Giants this year. This is his 14th season in the majors. He has been a set-up man and middle reliever throughout his career. He is 39-45 with 10 saves in 726 games while playing with Montreal, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Florida, Cleveland, the New York Mets, Milwaukee and San Francisco.
