Miami, FL

Several wellness clinics and individuals with potential ties to players in South Florida are the subject of an investigation by Major League Baseball for possible involvement in the proliferation of performance-enhancing drugs in professional baseball.

According to a report by ESPN's "Outside the Lines", the MLB believes that the region stretching 50 miles south from Boca Raton to Miami is "ground zero" for PEDs.

"Outside the Lines" has discovered that MLB security officials have spent considerable time in South Florida since last summer, investigating clinics believed to have links with sale of human growth hormones and testosterone to players.

MLB officials are now hoping that law enforcement will subpoena clinic records to determine whether players received illegal and banned substances.

MLB declined comment on the report, which also stated that the league is closely working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

However, sources close to the investigation said it's unclear whether subpoenas have already been issued and a direct link to players has yet to be found.

Sources also said that the probe is tedious because of the involvement of multiple agencies and the fly-by-night nature of questionable clinics, which shut down and reopen under new names to avoid sanctions.

Among the clinics being investigated is ran by Anthony Bosch, a self-described biochemist who most recently ran Biogenesis of America in Coral Gables.

Bosch's father, Dr. Pedro Publio Bosch, wrote a prescription for a substance that led to the suspension for baseball star Manny Ramirez -- an outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers at the time.

The New York Daily News also reported that MLB is investigating Bosch, whom the newspaper said had been an adviser to New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.

Well-known in Latin American baseball circles, Bosch operates from a base in South Florida, where wellness clinics pitch growth hormone treatments and testosterone injections, and legions of pro baseball players live and train every offseason.

He was seen in a popular Coral Gables nightspot after the 2011 season with Melky Cabrera, who was suspended by baseball last season after a positive drug test.

A former colleague who requested anonymity told "Outside the Lines" that Bosch bragged of having treated Major League Baseball players.

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