The MLB commissioner’s office announced today that Reds infielder Noelvi Marte has received an 80-game suspension without pay after testing positive for Boldenone, a banned performance enhancing substance. “The Reds fully support Major League Baseball’s drug policy and its penalties,” the club said in a statement. “We will have no further comment.” Marte will be on the restricted list until the first 80 games of the regular season are completed.
Marte, 22, was one of several exciting young position players to debut with the Reds last year. An international signing of the Mariners out of the Dominican Republic, he was one of four players that came to the Reds in the 2022 trade that sent Luis Castillo to Seattle. He slashed .279/.358/.454 in the minors last year, earning himself a call-up in mid-August. He then hit .316/.366/.456 in his first 123 major league plate appearances while splitting his time between shortstop and third base.
Marte was coming into the 2024 campaign as a consensus top 50 prospect in the sport and set to be a key part of the left side of the Cincinnati infield. Instead, he will sit out the first half of the season while serving his suspension.
As mentioned, the Reds have been graduating a number of prospects to the majors lately and should have plenty of options to cover for Marte’s absence. Matt McLain can play either middle infield spot while Elly De La Cruz could play either spot on the left side. Jeimer Candelario and Christian Encarnacion-Strand can play the corner infield spots.
Spencer Steer can bounce all over the diamond but may end up in left field with the infield logjam, even without Marte. Jonathan India has been a second baseman for the most part but has been getting work at first and in the outfield due to the club’s bevy of infielders. Catcher Tyler Stephenson has some experience at first base. Even if Steer and India end up spending more time on the infield, the outfield still has TJ Friedl, Will Benson, Jake Fraley and Stuart Fairchild.
How the club manages their roster without Marte remains to be seen. For him personally, this figures to push back his free agency and perhaps his qualification for arbitration as players do not accrue service time while on the restricted list. He currently has 44 days of MLB service time but this suspension will prevent him from getting over the one-year mark in 2024.
Yikes
I hit the refresh button and this is what I get. Wow, that’s disappointing news. I’m sorry Reds fans…
Can’t ever have anything nice smh
Seems like they only drug test Dominicans, what’s up with that??
They test everyone, the Dominicans have a high percentage fail rate. It’s not conspiracy. It’s failing drug tests.
I am sensitive to creating a stereotype based on National origin, but do you have any statistics that PED use is higher amongst Dominican players than say Puerto Rican or Venezuelan players?
Or, I dunno, white Americans?
The percentage testing positive does sound higher for foreign born players, I am questioning the claim that Dominicans are highest even among foreign Latinos without a citation.
not going to count all of them as im not that invested in this but i looked at suspensions over 80 which means a 2nd suspension and of those 9 players 7 were dominican. Marlon Byrd and A-rod are the 2 that are not.
@Jack White Americans are more into fentanyl & meth !
@Manny Here’s an interesting transcript from a podcast where they talk about the Dominican and why you might see increased PEDS use…yeah it’s 10 years old but the dynamics haven’t changed…
npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=21021825…
You must be new to following baseball. PEDs are ingrained in the Dominican culture and are one of the few ways out of poverty in that country. Ten percent of MLB players have Dominican roots, but well over 50% of positive test results are Dominicans.
nytimes.com/2022/11/04/sports/baseball/jenrry-meji…
ARod is Dominican he played for the DR in the 2009 WBC and both his parents are Dominican immigrants and he lived in the DR as a child.
Random means random. The MLBPA and players would sue individually if it weren’t.
“do you have any statistics that PED use is higher amongst Dominican players”
Yes, they keep failing random drug tests.
Seriously, who/why in the world would such a study exist to break down steroid use by South American and Caribbean? Just accept the facts at face value. There’s no conspiracy.
Dominican players make up about 50% of PED suspensions.
Actually I found a Wikipedia site of suspended players and it does seem to support the idea that there are more Dominicans than other foreign Latinos, though it does not have the numbers of players from each country that are not suspended to compare percentage-wise
“seem to support the idea that there are more Dominicans than other foreign Latinos”
You state the obvious, so whats your point? Are you just coming to the realization of this fact and wanted to tell everyone?
@manny
if you are looking for population of players by country you Roster Resource has a breakdown by country for each 40 man roster which can be used as a proxy for the overall number. shouldnt take you more than 10-15 mins to put it together.
Dominicans are the majority of foreign players. That’s where they predominantly come from. More than Canada. Small amount Cuba, smaller Venezuela and Japan. Tiny amount Korea and Mexico, Panama..
I’m guessing the higher rate of PEDs is like a class thing. Their paths to big leagues are different and higher risk in some ways. Different prospects too.
This would be worse if they didn’t already have Elly, McLain, and India.
A very boldenone choice
“That’s a boldenone strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off!”
Cotton Weiry?
Legacy means absolutely nothing to some.
I have nothing but contempt for these cheaters.
Womp womp.
Ouch!
And the Reds vaulted depth thins a bit.
Hate seeing it happen this way, wonder how he failed in his usage? Always find how they get outed interesting.
Nice frees up the Reds crowded inf for fantasy at least.
My first thoughts too haha
Same, feeling a lot better about Steer’s playing time in my keep-15 league.
Steer was already getting enough playing time. CES and India are the beneficiaries.
Benson or Fraley will be pushed into hitting against LHP now…don’t think that;’s a good thing for either though.
Well, that just made the Candelario signing that much more important.
the baseball people are usually smarter than the average fan thinks… now we know why Candelario was playing alot at 3rd… and josh harrison & kemp was signed… when healthy India will get a lot of at bats
The move was motivated by this suspension. The ruling comes months before and it only gets announced after the player has spent months to fight it/settle.
That’s what I suspect as well. I was somewhat surprised when they signed him.
Reynaldo, what is your source for this info?
Gbs42. Suspensions are a drawn out processes. The appeals can take weeks, and they are done in private.
The Reds have known about this for awhile. Of course we don’t know when, but I bet they knew about this before Spring training started.
mlbplayers.com/jda
Anything you want to know is right there.
Test happened when he arrived at camp. He was notified within 72 hours. The Reds have known for a few weeks.
Yada yada unknowingly ingested yada yada tried a different supplement yada yada would never knowingly take a banned substance yada.
The Reds fully support MLBs yada yada
“We will have no further comment”. Well perhaps you should have to deal with the media like everyone else. It’s your player.
Rishi,
“It’s your player?”
The Reds didn’t give him the PEDs.
You answer for the mistakes of people who work for you. You hire them. He is a Red. Therefore one should be able to ask the Reds organizational people about it because it concerns the Reds.
GBs, but they did acquire Montas, so they don’t seem to have a huge problem with it.
I’ve yada yada’d knowingly ingesting a banned substance.
Since its an injection, pretty sure he isn’t going to say it was unknowingly ingested or came from a supplement.
Good point. Pun intended.
Blame the Fed Ex guy
Ryan Braun was the worst!
Maybe he was just trying to treat ringworm
Boy, that never gets old
At least he wasn’t trying to get pregnant.
Marte forgot to phone a friend.
Wonder whether the Reds knew about this and if it played into their offseason decisions – Candelario, India etc
Yes.
He probably wasn’t tested until after Spring Training started. The Reds have probably known for only two or three weeks while they waited for Marte to appeal and get retested. This does not go back months…
Players are tested during the offseason as well
3A(c) – Mandatory and Random Testing – MLB/MLBPA JDA page 13…. All Players will be randomly selected for an unannounced mandatory
urine specimen collection at a randomly selected date and time during the offseason
OK. If Marte had been tested months ago, then he would have suspended then. The test, retest, appeal process only takes a couple of weeks. This test was recent or he wouldn’t even be in ST…
1) where did I say monts ago…I pointed out that players are teasted in the off-season. That could have been Nov or Dec, or even Feb.
2) have you ever read the JDA? Betweem the test results being delivered to the MLBPA which then has 72 hours to tell the play to the scheduling of a “B” sample which then is shipped to the only testing facility used by MLB (in Montreal) to the sceduling of a conference and then a grievence which trigger an automatic appeal (withing 10 days) to that hearing and and decision (within 25 days) to the report being wriiten (within 30 days) then the anoucement to the public.
A couple weeks is optimistic.
Well, that solves that roster problem for the first half of the season…
This makes a bit more sense as to why they kept all of their infield depth in place, and even added to it.
I know the Red have known about this for awhile, but I’m curious as to when they found out.
If they really somehow didn’t know, then I bet they’re pretty greatfuk they made the moves they did, or didn’t make some of then.
Several people said they were ignorant for keeping India, but I’d say that move looks a bit better now..
Still couldn’t bring back Votto how pathetic
Why would they want to pay the full $20 million salary for a broken-down and washed-up Votto? That would be idiotic.
Could’ve bought him back on a minor league deal
Wow, that sucks for reds fans and an idiotic decision by Noelvi. Just because your last name is Marte doesn’t mean you need to act like Starling!
tatis 2.0
Tatis wasn’t taking a needle in the behind like Marte was. Baldenone is an injection. What Tatis tested positive for is in a cream.
What’s the difference? It’s all illegal.
The cream he used is readily available in drug stores in the DR for use on skin conditions and you can use it thinking its for something else. and without knowing what’s in it.
Sticking a needle in your behind is not something you do without knowing you are cheating.
Tatis is doing just fine and so will Marte once this is over.
Tatis will do fine because he is like Bonds. There is an A- version without steroids and maybe an A+ version with steroids. NoeIvi, too early to tell.
Blue Jays fans would gladly give you back Votto. Jays have an abundance of infielders and the idiot GM would probably give you one for a cup of coffee,
Well, that ought to end his career but quick
Oh, and the Reds didn’t know about this beforehand(Candelario and India signings). If they had, they would have traded him faster than you can snap your fingers.
Something tells me a team can’t legally attempt to trade a player with a looming suspension, without informing the other team. And if they tried, mlb would probably void it, and throw a little fine or something to the team for failure to disclose pertinent information.
They just found out today. They signed Candalerio months ago. Even if they “somehow” behind the scenes knew he was doing it, there would be no proof, so they could have traded him since there were no testing results that verified he was on PEDS. They were just about to play him this week. Now the guy has the value of a basket of used baseballs.
Most teams don’t trade guys simply because of PED suspensions. Generally they just hope the guy doesn’t get caught next time.
The biggest reason they are rarely traded after testing positive, is that, now they have no real trade value anymore. As is the case here.
He still has plenty of trade value. What are you talking about?
If he did, they would trade him. Who wants a kid whose performance may have been enhanced by PEDS? How can you judge his “true” ability now? Outside of A Rod, who got caught again, most of these players never come back to their previous form, and those were proven guys more often than not. His trade value today is a microcosm of what was yesterday.
Because he’s probably gonna keep using them and just try harder to not get caught next time. Look at a guy like Cani, getting suspended multiple times ain’t rare.
This might be the best answer, but it still belies the point that his trade value is now dog crap, so they might as well keep him around, and hope he doesn’t get caught again.
People signed Nelson Cruz to 3 contracts after his PEDs and he was positive WAR. Shoot, the Reds just gave millions of dollars to Frankie Montas THIS off-season. I don’t think PED history is their top roster building determinant. Grandal is still getting contracts now, 12 years later. Is this just the first story you’ve ever read about PEDs?
Plenty, nah. Some, yes.
Trade him back to Seattle for a pitcher
But what if he’s unhappy as a Red, and he and the M’s are in collusion. what if the gave him the substance telling him once he’s banned they’ll approach the Reds for a trade.. It’s a joke ya’ll.. just a joke..
Wow what a loser bet last years stats were fraudulent
Who cares?
What a muh-roon.
Legalize it
Very disappointing, he not only affected his own career but the team he plays for due to a bad decision. Even if it was a supplement as many claim, there are many ways to find out what is cleared and what is not prior to putting it in their body.
Reds knew, so they signed Candelario and retained India. Everything makes sense.
Disappointed would be an understatement… and right after Votto signed with the Blue Jays.
Explains a few things
“greatfuk?” What does that even mean? I’ll try using it in a sentence, I dated this girl once & she was very greatfuk I paid for dinner. Ahahaha!
see the infield logjam worked itself out like the reds said
Lol it’s bad enough when you don’t know who a player is but when you only find out who they are after they get suspended for PEDs is even worse lmfaoooooo !!!!!
He’s a top 10 prospect in baseball and has been top 50 since he was signed as a 16 year old. He hit over .300 in his first taste of mlb. If you’ve never heard of him, you’re pretty casual to the sport.
Caught Reds handed
Disappointing. No ROY for him. Tarnishes him as a playerfor Cincy moving forward or even as a trade chip.
I’m a tad vague on the drug policy but, Isn’t 80 games the SECOND penalty and 162 the 3RD? I’m not hip on the drug penalties.
No , 80 is the first.
My thinking was the same, but I guess they changed that. Think 3rd is permanent so that makes sense the 1st would be 80 though.
First is 80, second is 162, third strike and you’re out.
Ask Robinson Cano for more details.
These “they have too many ____” situations tend to work themselves out. This isn’t the normal way, though.
Dang. Between this and the Reds refusal to even give Votto a shot with a minor league deal today has been a real kick to the nuts.
Well that kills the value of my De la Cruz/Marte dual auto baseball card.
How do you think I feel with all my Wander Franco autos? Lol
Yeah, Cincyfan, because that’s the important part of that situation.
It is for me.
But if he signs as a free agent in Boston and makes up a cute nickname like “Big Marte” he can still get into the Hall of Fame with a lower WAR than Ian Kinsler.
SHOTS FIRED
Top 10 comment LOL Ortiz is a stain!
Well now the hometown kid Josh Harrison has a shot to make the team..him or Kemp.
Or Jose Barrero, who has outplayed both of them in Spring.
Barrero has done this before and has never produced. He and Fairchild both look great in ST but they’re both AAA players.
Boldenone is an anabolic androgenic steroid and synthetic derivative of testosterone that was originally developed for veterinary use but has since become one of the more common performance-enhancing drugs that athletes test positive for in sport
ANDRO
Classic stuff from the 1990’s.
Big Mac kept a clearly labeled jar of Androstenedione in a very visible part of his locker.
That trade keeps looking better and better for the Ms.
It looked like a win-win trade until this morning
Give me one slugger that played from 1980 to 2005 that didn’t juice
Frank Thomas
“She’ll like it, too.”
youtube.com/watch?v=X1y4mPTgUEE
Ken Griffey Jr
Griffey cheated. Skinny kid bashing 56 homers, ironically in the steroid era, then watching his body break down like a ’72 Chevy Vega? Frank Thomas probably cheated. Tony Gwynn cheated, too. Late career he starts hitting homers (again, steroid era) then dies at 54? Steroids, kids. Deny it all you want.
Insane
Gwynn died from chewing tobacco. Get your facts straight on that one.
Probably but we’ll never know if it was everyone. The ballplayer brotherhood keeps its secrets. And we cheer them on.
Most of the guys from the 80s. At the time you could see just by looking at them all. Pretty marked difference between Jose Canseco and, say, George Brett or Mike Schmidt.
At about 1993 that became much harder to do.
I didn’t, but then again that could be why I never made the majors because they all were.
Matt Stairs
Jim Thome, Cecil & Prince Fielder
Edgar Martinez.
Bright side: roster crunch solved?
Is there room for Votto now? He would probably tear up the minor league contract he just signed. Make it happen Reds!
Mercenary
Just signed with Blue Jays
Castillo trade continues to look better and better for the Mariners.
Hopefully he learns from this. Such a talented kid who made a mistake…
Correction. Was talented. Now this season is shot, and he will be caught behind other players, and passed by even more in the Reds system. I imagine he will be traded to the A’s in the off season, where he will be stuck in that limbo of disaster, with a AA lineup around him, for a minor league middle reliever.
It was either a mistake or a cheat. Either way, he will live and learn, hopefully, to play another day.
If he had the talent, he wouldn’t have cheated.
This is true, to a point. I don’t think there is a question of talent but more judgment. A decision that will follow him for the rest of his career, however long that will be…
What an idiotic way to smear your professional reputation permanently. He’s still just a kid, and maybe some bad actors in the DR got into him, that place is a hellhole of peds. Rehardless, its a long road back for him, not just 80 games, but re-earning respect of his peers. I hope he can get his head screwed on straight and recover his rep.
Never listen to cousin Sterling.
I suspect this is from testing all players undergo upon reporting for spring training.
As opposed to self-reporting of usage??
This seems to happen with the foreign young players much more often as well
I don’t see the problem with peds and steroids. It made 1998 great. Who cares about the sanctity of this game.Juice world.
*yawn* Then just let the batters hit off of a tee. Why have competition?
Need advice:call Ryan Braun
Now everyone decides to forget about the Stros, we’re not the only ones who cheat…
Clears up some infield surplus they had.
This Week on “The Boldenone & The Beautiful” Ballplayer # 3: “Man… I never seen that syringe in my life, dude!” MLB Cop:”Yeah, yeah. Tell it to the Judge, kiddo.”
Always had a feeling this guy was too good to be true. Glad I was never hit on the league switch or suspension. Just a guy playing for his bloated extension like tatis did.
CES 1B, India 2B, EDLC 3B, McLain SS with JC switching between 1B, 3B & DH.
Wow what is it with the young stars that cant stay away from controversy? Wander’s going away for a while, tatis ruined his career with PEDs, now noelvi!
Difference with tatis is he got paid. Not justifying it myself, but I just see so many similarities between the two. Tatis wasn’t an elite player coming up to the extent marte was projected as early in their careers. Really comes down to hype and prospect evaluation throughout the years.
How did Tatis ruin his career? He’s making big money and is still one of the best players in the game. You people are nuts.
Ok he’ll earn a few bucks
But He’ll never make the HOF
And ruined his reputation forever
Earn a few bucks? If $400 million in 2022 doesn’t set your great-grandkids up to never be uncomfortable, you have terrible financial advisors. Oh no, he missed his 1.5% chance at the HOF in order to do that. The 80 year olds that vote on that corrupt institution probably would’ve snubbed him anyways for his “attitude towards the media”. HOF is not objective and of waning relevance in our culture
The fact that youre defending a cheater and a liar is the reason why these young kids take PEDs. Theres no respect for the game. Its about $. And its the reason baseball went from #1 american sport to about #11. Nobody wants to see guys jacked up on PEDs. Or players banging on cans to win championships. Youre delusional if you dont think mlb has lost way more fans than it gained the last decade and its bec the game is forever tainted. These tiktok athletes are nothing compared to ted williams, jackie robinson, sandy koufax, hank aaron, rickey henderson- real athletes who left it all on the field. Maybe they didnt earn $400 million but they have legacies that will outlive us all. Tatis has no respect for mlb and worst of all no respect for himself
He certainly ruined San Diego that’s for sure
He also missed all of 2022 when SD almost won a WS. He might have been the missing piece. Then came back a shell of himself in ‘23. You’re the one thats nuts
He bankrupted an entire city/organization mlb put a stop on the extra funding requested mainly because of his contract and Prellar being a mad man. Tatis is what he is the roids made him elite he’ll never shed the label anyways and now he’s got to live up to those unrealistic expectations year after year from the contract. But let’s go pat a dude on the back for that steroid story and salute syringes while we’re at it. These guys that juice deserve all the hate in professional sport because it’s for professional and contractual advantages. When things are said and done judge them by the numbers only if and then.
Now we know why the added infield depth. Wonder if any other young exciting reds players are cheating?
Maybe someone on your team is cheating, too.
That’s gonna hurt the value of his /5 card I’ve been holding
Unrelated but can someone explain to me in very simple terms, what the luxury tax hit for the 2040 Dodgers will be for Ohtani, Betts and Freeman? They will be paid $68,000,000 + $11,000,000 + $5,000,000 in “deferred salary” that year.
The tax hit will be $250,099 per year, beginning in 2070. This is because
Dodgers will renegotiate an additional 1 billion in deferred payments between all 3 players, payable to their extended grandchildren beginning anytime after the year 2070. Dodgers will roll 2020 era deferrals into the new deal, extending the tax hits for the whole deal. Deferrals will be escrowed in interest bearing funds, principal being collected by local levies on homeowners and businesses for a 50 yr period. Interest earned accrues 50% to Dodgers 49% to MLB, 0.9% to Anaheim county, and 0.1% to homeowners and businesses. That 0.1% will of course be repatriated to the Dodgers for partial payment to construct a new stadium every 15 years beginning in 2050. Everybody wins!
It would be just that amount as we can assume that there will be a substantial increase in the CBT threshold by then, if it’s still in existence. The Mets are currently paying Bobby Bonilla $1.2MM yearly in deferral money but also effectively paying an additional 110% in tax with team payroll over the fourth threshold.
Bang!! Shot themselves in the foot again! Looks like the perfect re-make of F-Troop.
.280 hitter in the minors? That’s not a recipe for success. If he was using PEDs even then, that means he really wasn’t going to last long in MLB.
Buh Bye!
He just turned 22, Langford and crews are older than him.. history says there’s still growth in the games of 21 year olds. Uninformed take, other than old man yells at clouds mad about PEDs
l’m sure you had good reason.
Son I am disappoint
What’s up Dock?
You left out the “ed” in PED
Candelario signing looks a lot better today
JD Martinez is still out there. Let him DH and hit cleanup. 33 HR and over 100 RBI last season.
The old man can still swing the stick. He would put some numbers up in that lineup/ballpark
I don’t get presuming Krall signed Candelario and made a 2 year deal with India because he knew about Marte months ago. There’s no evidence of that. Because Moll and Young haven’t pitched yet in ST is that why he signed Suter and got Tyler Gilbert on a MiLB contract? Krall knows all his players and is preparing for as many possibilities as he can. He is just proving to be better at his job than Reds fans are familiar with. Now there’s a roster spot open. I hope he’s talking to maybe Adam Duvall’s agent.
I agree with cguy about a return of Duvall. Way better than Kemp or Harrison out there. Also consider Michael Taylor who can play all three spots because if Freidl goes down we have no true CFer. One year deal for either.
Both should have been done a long time ago and I doubt it does now. Total roster construction is a foreign concept as we have seen for two years now.
Foreign in your mind for sure.
A friend brought up a good point. I wonder if the Reds new, it was kept quiet on appeal and this is why the Reds signed Candelario. That signing makes sense now but didn’t then.
IMO Candelario’s signing made sense back then because things like this happen.
This one belongs to the Reds!
Any chance he just had ringworm?
There are smarter ways to get in shape…
No biggie
Not a reds fan but it’s not like they knew he was cheating….. blame the player but not the reds I’m a brewers fan I’ve seen the same thing but don’t blame the team blame the player
Avoidable mistake (at best).
All the Marte’s get busted.
Another Dominican..shocker