NEW YORK, N.Y. - Baseball union head Michael Weiner said it would be unfair to make judgments about players and agents before evidence is sorted out in the sport's latest drug investigation.
Alex Rodriguez, Gio Gonzalez, Melky Cabrera, Bartolo Colon and Nelson Cruz of Texas were among those implicated last week by the alternative weekly Miami New Times, which published documents it alleged showed they received performance-enhancing substances from a Florida anti-aging clinic.
Other players, including Ryan Braun and Jhonny Peralta, have since been linked to the clinic by other publications, and most of the players have issued denials of the allegations. Several of the players are clients of the agency ACES Inc. and brothers Sam and Seth Levinson.
Major League Baseball is attempting to gain access to the documents and establish a chain of evidence that could be used to justify any potential suspension for violating the sport's drug agreement. MLB has declined comment other than to say it is investigating. The league hopes to interview the implicated players, but does not want to request the interviews until it has evidence.
"This investigation that MLB is running has yet to produce any evidence that any player has violated the program, much less than any agent has violated the program," Weiner said Thursday. "It's unfair that both players that have had distinguished careers and that agents who have had distinguished careers such as ACES have had their names raised in this context."
The Levinsons said no one at their agency has ever heard of the clinic or knows anyone there, Biogenesis of America LLC.
