NEW YORK (AP) Just back from an 80-game doping suspension, New York Mets reliever Jenrry Mejia was banned for an additional 162 games by Major League Baseball on Tuesday following a second positive test for steroids.
Mejia was suspended on April 11 after testing positive for stanozolol. This time, he tested positive for stanozolol and boldenone.
Mejia will miss the final 63 games this season. If the Mets don’t reach the playoffs, he must sit out the first 99 games next year.
His 162-game penalty matches the one served by Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez last year for the longest doping suspension handed out to a Major League Baseball player.
The bans will cost Mejia $2,112,869 of his $2,595,000 salary this season.
”I was totally shocked. Incredulous – whatever the right term is – that this could happen so swiftly on the heels of a past suspension,” Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said.
Mejia returned to the mound on July 12 and was 1-0 in seven games, pitching 7 1-3 scoreless innings. Because of the first suspension, he would have been ineligible for the postseason this year – if the Mets made it that far. He would, however, be eligible for the 2016 postseason.
Alderson was asked if it was fair to assume Mejia’s career with the Mets was over.
”I wouldn’t want to be that hasty today,” he said. ”Trust plays a big part. It’s not just a matter of trust, it’s a matter of reliability. So dependability, consistency, those are all important considerations.”
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