Thursday, May 19, 2005 | 10:47 a.m.
Cashman Field 7:05 p.m. tonight, Friday and Saturday; 12:05 p.m. Sunday Radio: all games on 1460-AM
Probable Starters
Two Las Vegas 51s players have tested positive for banned substances, 51s manager Jerry Royster confirmed early today. Royster, who would not divulge the players' names, said an announcement was likely Friday.
"We were very surprised," Terry Collins, minor league director of the parent-club Los Angeles Dodgers, said today. "I have not talked to (the players). I'm not familiar with what went on, but there's no doubt in my mind this was guys taking a supplement they bought at the nearest drugstore and had no idea that this was going to cost them."
Collins did not know when the players tested positive, but said the tests could have been from last season with results coming in just now. He said that no Dodgers were tested during spring training.
The players will each be given a 15-day suspension, the punishment for players who are not on a club's 40-man roster. Only six 51s players are on the Dodgers' 40-man roster.
"Anytime anyone tests positive, we are following the major league drug testing policy," Royster said. "The major leagues are on top of it. They've been on top of it. It's unfortunate that it happens."
The new Major League Baseball anti-drug policy, which was put in place last spring and applies to players on a club's 40-man roster, calls for a 10-day suspension for players who test positive for a first time. A second offense prompts a 30-day suspension and a third results in a 60-day suspension.
The Minor League Baseball drug policy calls for a 15-game suspension for first-time offenders.
"What we try to tell everybody is, you're not going to escape this," Collins said. "A lot of these guys are coming up positive for over-the-counter stuff. They think it's OK if it's over-the-counter, that there's nothing illegal in it. The stuff is starting to contain derivatives of some type of steroid or growth hormone. They're getting hammered thinking there's nothing wrong with what they're doing."
Collins said the Dodgers organization is emphasizing to players to use caution when purchasing products at health and nutrition stores.
"You'd better know what the ingredients are, and you'd better find out if there's anything in the supplements these players are taking that can come up positive," he said. "Show the trainers, ask team doctors. A lot of players, including Jon Weber, had no idea they were taking anything illegal."
Weber was the first Dodgers player to be suspended for use of banned substances. He tested positive last season, when he was pitching for the Sacramento River Cats, but his test results did not come in until April.
Double-A pitcher Agustin Montero, on the Texas Rangers' roster a year after playing for the 51s, was given a 10-day suspension in April for testing positive. He later appealed his suspension.
Several players who were suspended this year were released by their clubs. Collins said he doesn't believe that will be the case with the two 51s players.
"We certainly support MLB and their testing policies," he said. "We believe in accountability and that's the system today. We'll move on. When the 15 games are over, we'll continue to move on. Hopefully it doesn't happen again -- which we know it won't."
Late last week, MLB suspended 15 minor league players for violating drug policy. Four of those 15 -- Memphis' Jeremy Cummings, Albuquerque's Wilson Delgado, Omaha's Luis Ugueto and Sacramento pitcher Steve Smyth -- were Pacific Coast League players.
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