Baseball Analyst Rick Sutcliffe Wants Cabrera Deported
Fitzgerald Cecilio
New York, NY
Former Cy Young winner and current ESPN baseball analyst Rick Sutcliffe wants suspended San Francisco Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera deported for creating a fake website to justify his positive test for performance enhancing drugs.
During his 18-year Major League career, Sutcliffe played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, Chicago Cubs, Baltimore Orioles and the St. Louis Cardinals. He won the NL Rookie of the Year in 1979 after winning 17 games for the Dodgers and the NL Cy Young award in 1984 with the Cubs.
"First of all this guy is over here in the United States on a working visa and he broke the law, what's he still doing here?" Sutcliffe told ESPN Radio. "Forget the 50-game suspension from baseball, why is he still here? That visa should be taken away and he should not be allowed to play over here again or work here again."
Juan Nunez, a known Cabrera associate, reportedly shelled out $10,000 to acquire a fictitious website and a non-existent product to boost the outfielder's claim that he inadvertently took the banned substance that led to his 50-game suspension.
The inadvertent purchase and use of the supplement can be used to invoke a clause in the collectively bargained drug program that allows a player who has tested positive to attempt to prove he ingested a banned substance through no fault of his own.
Cabrera and his representatives used the website in a presentation made to MLB and the players' union to explain the spike in his testosterone level before he was charged with a doping violation.
The fake website was discovered by Jeff Novitzky, a criminal investigative agent for the Food and Drug Administration and agents from MLB's Department of Investigation.
Nunez, described by Cabrera's agents Seth and Sam Levinson as "paid consultant" of their firm but not an employee, has accepted responsibility for the fake website and said the Levinsons were not involved in the scheme in any way.
"I was the only one who had dealings with the website," Nunez said. "Neither Seth nor Sam had any dealings with the website, nor did anyone else in the firm."
Before his suspension, Cabrera leads the majors with 159 hits, to go with 11 home runs and 69 RBI. He's second in the majors with a .346 batting average. He was also the All-Star Game MVP.
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