Brewers catcher Pedro Severino has been suspended for 80 games after testing positive for the performance-enhancing substance Clomiphene, tweets Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. He’ll go on the club’s restricted list.
Severino released a statement via the MLB Players Association (Twitter link), attributing the positive test to an unintentional byproduct of fertility treatments he’d undergone in the Dominican Republic. “I accept responsibility for this mistake and have decided not to challenge my suspension,” he said as part of the statement. “I have been a professional baseball player since I was 16 years old, and I have also been in the big leagues for part of 7 seasons. I have been tested over 100 times in my career and I had never had an issue. In my attempt to start a family, I made a mistake.”
Regardless, Severino will miss the first half of the season. Milwaukee signed the righty-hitting backstop to a one-year deal before the lockout, setting him up to serve as the #2 option behind Omar Narváez. The Brewers allowed Manny Piña to depart in free agency, and the backup catcher spot now becomes a real question.
Milwaukee has Brett Sullivan and Mario Feliciano on the 40-man roster. Between them, that duo has one game of MLB experience. Feliciano is coming off a rough .210/.246/.314 showing in 32 Triple-A games. Sullivan, whom the Brewers signed to a big league deal this winter despite his lack of MLB experience, is coming off a better but hardly overwhelming .223/.302/.375 mark with the Rays top affiliate in Durham.
That’d seem to make Sullivan the favorite for the season-opening gig. Milwaukee also has Jakson Reetz — owner of two big league appearances — in camp as a non-roster invitee. They could look for a veteran option who might shake loose in the coming days as well. Sandy León just opted out of a minor league deal with the Guardians, to name one speculative possibility.
Clearly the substance didn’t work lol
Clearly MLB will never address the white elephant in the room.
How many jobs are being stolen because of their reluctance?
And they wonder why the number of African American players in MLB sits at a low of just 7%.
So if a player tests positive for PEDs, we are supposed to let them play because they are African American and the number of African Americans in the MLB is low?
What? It’s hard enough to make the majors without having to compete against a pipeline of PED users coming from one specific country.
Well they no longer test for marijuana, which is pretty major. Even prior the being removed from banned substance list, MLB wasn’t the NFL. You got a fine and might be required to seek treatment at worst
If players are going to say they are the best in the world then they need to compete against the world. And I don’t see the NFL or NBA getting flack for having very few Hispanics.
Don’t really know what race has to do with it, but in your eagerness to focus on this, you state “white elephant in the room.” Is there a gift exchange somewhere?
It’s “elephant in the room.” At least get your cliches right w these weird claims.
wine – Clearly humor is not your forte, although your handle is quite appropriate.
As for the race comment, I’m not gonna get into a pissing match with anyone who wants to keep their eyes wide shut (feel free to “correct” that term as well).
Is your implication that African Americans aren’t pursuing baseball because they can’t use PEDs or that they are being kicked out because they get caught using PEDs? And isn’t Severino a Latin player? Or is that your inference: Latin players are using PEDs to take jobs from African American players?
In this case a backup player got caught using something from the banned list. What jobs are being stolen here?
Also “white elephant” has nothing to do with race/color.. it’s a gift exchange style also referred to as yankee swap or dirty Santa.. if you are trying to imply a glaring but ignored issue, it’s just an “elephant in the room.”
PED users from one specific country are taking jobs away from another country that includes African Americans. It’s been well documented for many years now, a simple Google search would provide many of them.
There’s plenty of explanations of white elephant in the room, I wouldn’t expect everyone to be familiar with the term so no worries.
I always felt African Americans just found baseball to be boring.
milt – In the 1970’s they comprised 20% of MLB players despite African Americans being only 11% of the total country’s population.
Now they comprise only 7% of MLB players despite increasing to 12% of the total country’s population..
The game hasn’t changed so much as to go from popular to boring, it’s harder for them to make the majors when competing against a pipeline of PED users.
basketball became a lot more popular and they are more into that which is why the decline in black MLBers.
what’s the ratio of black to white in bball? because not only do i see very few white players in bball, the ratio used to be mainly white to now mainly black. why ? because black people are more interested and generally better at that sport.
The percentage of African-American players in the minor leagues sits at just under 7% as well. “The elephant in the room” has nothing to with players getting caught using PED’s (black players have been caught too). Baseball is a multicultural sport, not one force fed one culture and one culture only. The lack of African-American players is due to multiple circumstances one of which is lack of interest in the sport beyond high-school by African-Americans
Well at least Severino didn’t disappoint with some far out there excuse. It’s like saying “well I manufacture cocaine in my spare time and forgot to wear gloves so it seeped into my pores that’s why I failed the drug test”.
Honestly, this “excuse” is probably one of the more plausible ones. Dude approaching 30 wanting to have kids and trying to conceive with his wife in their native home where medicine is less rigorously tested. Makes me actually feel bad for the guy outside of the suspension.
The drug in question is prescribed to females to stimulate egg production and in males to stimulate sperm production. It is a common treatment apparently used for fertility issues. It is a plausible reason and his only mistake was not having his agent clear the treatment to make sure it was not going to have a problem with drug testing.
It actually does NOT do that for sperm at ALL, but nice try spreading misinformation lol. Is that you Pedro or your agent?!?
“Clomid is typically used as an infertility treatment in females. It’s not approved by the FDA for use in males, but it’s often prescribed off-label for treatment of male infertility.”
“Taking Clomid can lead to an increase in testosterone and sperm count. Studies on its efficacy in males have had mixed results.”
healthline.com/health/clomid-for-men#takeaway
To say “It actually does NOT do that for sperm at ALL,” is disingenuous.
Moonlight – It’s amazing how some here will go to great lengths pretending PED usage is not a major problem in one particular country.
Even after 3 of the 4 players announced right here over the last 24 hours are from that same country.
“Statistically, there is not even room for debate, the Dominican Republic leads the other countries that have players in the Major Leagues by a large margin, with more than 100 players since 1995 (article written in 2018). Not to mention the minor leagues, where the numbers are terrifying.”
Dude, just take the L. Stop digging your hole even deeper.
I’ve took a 100 drug tests for MLB as well and look at me. I don’t choose my agents well but besides that I’m a straight arrow.
good grief, your first 5 words are why kids should stay in school!
Quite the opposite. Amfam field is extremely hitter friendly.
Oopsie
guess that explains the hitting bump with BAL
Milwaukee doesn’t seem like a great place for hitters, period.
Yep, VP/GM is not good at picking offense.
But no baby bump on his wife?
Mario Feliciano will be better anyway
Oh for sure he will be a nice backup for omar
they’re not gonna resign narvy
*Sullivan
Sullivan sucks
well he’s probably the backup, right? I’d like to believe they want Feliciano to get more AAA ABs.
Tough decision really. They say baseball is mostly mental, so do you throw the dude out there with the best in the world? Sure, he gets exposure to the big league clubhouse, gets to work with an elite pitching staff, and maybe plays 2 days a week, but has access to better big league coaching. I’d agree it’s probably the best place to learn. The contrary argument is that so many kids come up early, don’t get the regular at bats, and then never get the chance to work out of a bad day, which turns into a bad week, a bad month, and pretty soon they swing at anything because they’re so frustrated. If he stays down and learns how to be consistent at AAA, the odds are he can make that translate at the show.
I’d probably choose to let the kid give it a shot, but I wouldn’t be totally opposed to bringing back a Lucroy for some real experience and steady finesse that could bolster a clubhouse.
He first cracked the Bigs when he was with the Nationals, and while it was good to see him succeed with Baltimore, the PED suspension here tarnishes that look 🙁
Maybe he was using Ryan Braun’s old locker that they forgot to clean?
Braun was my favorite player growing up. After that happened, couldn’t stand the guy
Braun was playing 3rd at Petco one day and took a grounder off his chest. From my seat, I asked him “What hurt worse- that shot off the chest or the pregame shot in your butt?” I could tell he wanted to flip me off. All that being said, my Pads have an available catcher or two… shall we stir up any rumors involving Hader or Yelich today?
How about Caratini and a prospect like Mears for Yelich?
Padres are trying to get under the tax threshold, Yeli definitely wouldn’t help in that regard.
Manaea put us over threshold #1 by a good sum… is the plan to reset the CB Tax this year or next? I’m (honestly) confused now… and not much payroll to be moved “easily.” I think we bite the bullet in ’22 and duck under next offseason. Idk for sure!
That’s an interesting story because Braun only played 3rd in ‘07, his rookie year, but didn’t test positive until 2011. How did you know?
Pre-game
Yeah. This never happened.
I’m sorry? What? YOU administered a pre-game shot into Braun’s posterior in his rookie season in 2007? That’s the only way your answer makes sense. I know it’s cool to rip on “cheaters” but it’s not very cool to fabricate stories about how you burned on them for cheating when it’s clear you did not.
Your Angst is showing. Sorry I wasn’t more clear and definitely not recanting the story to “sound cool” with you and other strangers. Braun was fielding 3rd in pregame routines and BP. I remember it vividly because I was talking to me ex-teammate Rickie Weeks about it. I forget who was at SS at the time (I could probably figure it out if I looked at the Brew Crew’s 2012-ish roster) but they were having fun with a fungo coach. I suppose he didn’t flip me off because there were kids around. It’s ok if you don’t believe me, the world will keep spinning. Heck, maybe even he remembers if you were to ask him. Good day!
If I’m Milwaukee, I’m calling the Rangers up about Yohel Pozo, who would make a fine backup catcher and someone who can be added to the DH mix, as well. They also have some stopgap guys who could serve in a backup capacity, like Jack Kruger and Meibrys Viloria.
Maybe Victor caratini.
Agreed. That would be a good fit, as well.
The only other options I see are:
(A) Pillage a fringe 40 guy and send cash/a young longshot lottery ticket back the other way, like Chadwick Tromp for the Braves or Dustin Garneau of the Tigers..
(B) Grab a late spring NRI cut like Austin Romine (LAA), Nick Ciuffo (CWS), Mike Rivera (CLE), Tyler Heineman (TOR) or Sandy Leon (CLE). In those cases; though, I’m not sure that’s making them any better than just rolling out Sullivan.
To me, Pozo and Caratini are the best options by a landslide.
I like Pozo, yeah. nice AAA production, started off well if I remember correctly in the Majors last season.
He makes the Molina brothers look like track stars, but has a good bat and a competent receiver.
Looks like Brett Sullivan will be the backup now.
I hope not
Shouldn’t have let pina go to begin with. With that being said, he’s a backup catcher and there’s dozens out there to grab. Not a huge deal. This was Omar? Yeah we talking big trouble but Severino type guys are a dime a dozen. I was wondering why this guy was scorching the ball all spring. Now we know why
I was confused why Milwaukee didn’t try harder to keep Pina. Much better defensive catcher than Severino, with just as much pop in his bat. Seems like he would have been well worth committing the $10-12 million to that it would have taken to bring him back.
6 years difference was probably part of it. Pina signed early
He just released a statement, he couldn’t get his wife pregnant so he went to a fertility doctor and the fertility doc prescribed him a drug that contained the banned substance. He isn’t appealing.
He should have went the other direction and called Steve Garvey or Chipper Jones.
The Padres have four catchers on the 40 man now, and the Brewers are welcome to Alfaro. Don’t care about his hot spring, 3,700 professional at-bats tell the true story.
Him or Victor Caratini + lotto ticket prospect for Tyrone Taylor?
Be nice to have another outfielder besides Grisham who can play center.
As with any possible Padre trade, I spend way too much time trying to find a way to get Hosmer (plus a boatload of money) involved. He’s so flippin’ underwater.
With Hosmer they really need to stop trying to get anything back of value for him. It doesn’t make sense to me to try to shoehorn that salary dump into acquiring pieces that they need by adding more value on their side. It’s already hard enough just to dump his salary, they don’t need to complicate their other moves, like trading a catcher, by adding that mess into the mix.
Take it easy. Poor guy’s just trying to have kids.
Or so he says…we’ll never know for sure if this is truly an accident or if he took this on purpose, using the guise of fertility treatments to try and mask his true intentions. These marginal MLB talents are most likely to take the risk of using PEDs to improve performance and secure multi-million dollar contracts. Even if it just keeps them in the majors as a bench player, the league minimum is a great wage for these guys versus what they are paid at AAA.
I doubt it.
1-The fact that he went to the DR for a doctor instead of getting one in the US is suspicious.
2-It should be standard for every player to check with his agent on any substance that he is about to take. This is what you pay these people for.
When you’re making this kind of money, absolutely.
Doesn’t mean Severino isn’t just a little bit of a dummy, who happens to live in the DR & didn’t feel like flying to America to get his substances.
Have to remember he grew up in the DR & started playing pro ball at 16. You’re talking about a guy with the education of a 15 year old coming from DR schools. Extremely stupid but it’s plausible his story is true. Cost him a ton of money but we’ll never really know.
During the lockout access to mlb medical resources was banned.
2-It should be standard for every player to check with his agent on any substance that he is about to take. This is what you pay these people for.
NL Central wide open for the Cubs now.
The a Blue Jays have like a million catchers. Pick one and let’s make a trade.
Lindblom for Vlad and cash
Vlad can catch if we make him
How about Tom Murphy, Evan White and George Kirby for Josh Hader?
The Mariners aren’t trading Kirby.
Always an excuse. Just once,…..
Liar
“In my attempt to start a family, I made a mistake.” That’s either really sad or really false
The new children’s book, “Why Daddy Has Big Muscles” will quickly be banned from schools.
Didn’t the Pirates once have an outfielder get dinged for the same thing and he used the same fertility excuse?
Then it was found out that his wife was 53 years old?
These agents earn their money having to write these mea culpas.
Exactly, there is no other reason to validate a man taking a woman’s fertility medicine so they had to devise a “sympathetic” story to cover their BS lying and cheating.
I’ve always thought these fertility treatment excuses …etc starting with ManRam were always such BS. MLB players probably have access to fully paid for healthcare from the best doctors on the planet and chose to get treatment in the Dominican Republic instead of the Mayo Clinic, Mass General, or John Hopkins?
I mean I get it for your average joe. You can get prescriptions in Canada, cancer treatments in Cuba, or surgery in South East Asia for a fraction of the cost. But I think MLB players could possibly have the best health insurance coverage on the planet.
They absolutely have outstanding insurance coverage, not to mention making millions of dollars in salary to easily pay for anything their insurance doesn’t! Also, from the very beginning after signing, it is instilled not to take ANY medication without consulting union/MLB first. Very easy process to confirm if safe or not. After the whole “my workout supplement must’ve been tainted…” excuse got continued eyerolls, some idiot agent came up with the new excuse of “having fertility issues”. They figured no one could ever blame someone for trying to have kids and sounded like a real excuse that many could relate/sympathize with. In the end, it’s even more insulting to us all and I hope he never plays again. Then he can take all his secret/back alley “medicine” he supposedly needs.
They get lifetime health insurance the minute they are added to the major league roster, which is absolutely worth hundreds of thousands of dollar.
I COMPLETELY understand a minor leaguer using PED. As I just mentioned, 1 single day on the major league roster is life-changing. A veteran major leaguer using PEDs just seems greedy.
Gila……
“As I just mentioned, 1 single day on the major league roster is life-changing”….that is a myth fueled by erroneous web articles and uninformed opinions.
youtu.be/wh71WjqN56Y
Thanks for the Antonelli vid, Mando! Semi-surprised you didn’t post some cat videos though…
Sorry…no pics. Got my first cat in 75. I couldn’t decide on a name when Bob Seger’s “Katmandu” came on the radio it was a message from god…LOL
Just for clarification this is from the MLBTR chat with Christian Bergman….. “And reminds me of one more myth – you do not get lifetime healthcare by playing one day in the big leagues. You get MLB healthcare for the calendar year if you play one day, but you have to accumulate 4+ years of MLB service time to even have access to pay for the MLB healthcare after retirement. I ended with 2 years 130ish days of service and I don’t have access to that plan”
jotcast.com/chat/live-chat-with-former-mlb-pitcher…
43 days of service time is the key to be eligible for a pension plan.
Do I understand why a guy who doesn’t make a living wage would take PED’s in an attempt to make high 6 figures & get the other benefits? Absolutely. The moral hazard is there & always will be.
Guys like Cano & Sevy with guaranteed major league deals are absolutely idiots.
Nice, Cat Mando! Similar story- my girlfriend and I were watching “Gladiator” from the couch in 2001. We heard tiny meowing outside and walk out to the patio to see an abandoned kitten. Couldn’t find Mama Cat anywhere so we took the lil tike in. Was foraging for a name and “Maximus” was decided by the movie. He’ll be 21 on July 4th, a true patriot kitty! Aloha
So someone who doesn’t make a living wage as a bank teller, you understand if they steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from their employer? Are all people allowed to cheat/steal if it’s for a good cause? Or does your understanding only apply to professional athletes, I’m honestly just curious?
That’s a poor comparison because they didn’t steal a single dollar from their employer.
They stole it from some other guy who deserved it more on natural abilities—presumably.
I don’t support it but if you wanna pretend that it won’t always happen—then more power to you. It always will because I understand the moral hazard is there. There’s the perfect clean world where everyone acts wonderful & then there’s reality.
Not a poor comparison at all in my mind, stealing is stealing. It if you want to justify it to fit your argument then go right ahead. They’re stealing money from their employer by cheating and stealing money and a roster spot from another player who played clean.
I never pretended at all that it doesn’t happen, I know it does all the time because too many liars and cheaters in this world.
Ah yes, the old “uh…I was trying to start a family” excuse while taking a WOMAN’s fertility treatment! Obviously a liar, insulting fans with terrible and made up excuse and insulting those who have real conception issues. Just once can one of these scumbag players admit they were caught?!?
Still waiting for MLB to get rid of all the cheaters and unqualified in the HOF. Until they do that, I don’t see the point of these rules.
Old York…………
MLB has no say over the HoF.
I understand, however, it essentially represents their sport, considering most of the players are from the MLB. Maybe MLB could distance themselves from the current HOF and induct actual players in a different HOF that weren’t cheats or got in because they knew someone.
Why don’t you invest the money in your town and start a PED-free HOF? If you are not willing to put your money where your mouth is, then maybe it is not that important.
@hiflew
There are more non-PED players who shouldn’t be in the HOF than PED users. So, why would I want to construct such a building only for it to be the same failure that the HOF is?
Sandy Leon on line 1.
Just tell him to get on the next flight to MIL. We’ll work out the details while he’s enroute.
If PEDs increased pregnancies that much, maybe there would be less cheating.
Chance Sisco was just let go. Could be decent org. filler in case of injury.
Is Brett Sullivan the son of Marc? If so, he probably has a cannon.
My money is on cash considerations to Baltimore for Jacob Nottingham. Better hurry before Seattle makes that call.
It’s Deivy Grullon time in Milwaukee.
It’s incorrect when they say that clomiphene citrate is just for females, but males can also get it as well. The one stickler is that other than increasing low sperm counts (not guaranteed) … it also has the ability to increase hormone production.
I looked it up to see what it was. For males, it is used if there is an issue with sperm production due to low testosterone levels. The drug stimulates receptors in the brain which can increase testosterone levels and increase sperm production. As you said, it is not a guaranteed treatment but it does apparently work for patients. His mistake was not considering if the treatment would violate the MLB rules. He should have had his agent check out the treatment before doing it. Maybe they did and if they were desperate for kids, they took the risk anyway.
Natural sperm and test production get depressed by PEDs, and clomiphene citrate can help restart the body’s own output.
It’s not impossible that he took it strictly for fertility. It boosts sperm count / motility / other important baby-making hormones by a small but not insignificant amount. Is it likely, or more likely than that he took it to deal with PED complications? HellifIknow.
I call him Ro Severino.
Because he took the PED.
I’d stop testing for PEDs like Covid if you want the problem to go away.
San Diego seems to be always itching to trade so how bout swinging a trade for Nola?
For Urias and Renfroe? 🙂
Cue trade with Padres in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Alfaro is out of options. Wouldn’t be a bad back up for the Brewers until Severino returns. Padres basically need to get something for him in the next 2 days anyway.
Just sign Sandy Leon.
Well let’s see our options we could get Nottingham, Sisco, or Lucroy on free agency. My guess is Sullivan gets the call. My pick would be Dillard who is a sleeper. Now I know some say Felliciano needs his at bats but this is how Lucroy ended up getting his career started.
A kid that was a teammates with my son in high school went to the DR one summer to play baseball when he was 16 … (this was in 2018) he had relatives there. When he came back he said the team had a coach that walked around with a clip board and checked in with every player to find out what “cycle” they were on. The kid asked the other players “what’s a cycle?” They all looked at him and said “steroids”…doesn’t your coached administer them to you in the US? It’s no joke…..these kids are groomed early on.
Domini-can’t.
they should all be tested as soon as they get off the plane.
They administer PED down there like Pez.
Pedro has never hit for anything. PEDs are not gonna turn him into Albert Pujols. If he can prove for real that he is seeking fertility treatments with his wife and doctor, then they should let this stuff go. His doctor can try other alternatives. But if this is him trying to replace lost hormones due to prior use of steroids, then he should be banned.
Dialing Mr Preller…..