Bartolo Colon Reportedly Fails a Drug Test
Well, Melky Cabrera might now have some company. Jon Heyman is reporting that Bartolo Colon has failed a drug test and is subject to a 50 game suspension by MLB, which would end his season and make him ineligible for most of the playoffs.
Colon has been fantastic for the A’s this season at age 39, but his career revival was subject to some skepticism surrounding the injections of platelet rich plasma that he received in 2011, which raised questions about what kinds of treatments are performance enhancing in a viable way and which ones should be illegal. Colon was the poster child for the positive effects of PRP, and it seems unlikely that promoters of the treatment will continue to lean on him as evidence of its success.
For the A’s, this is certainly a blow, but the arrival of Brett Anderson from the disabled list now looks like incredibly valuable. Anderson might not be able to pitch at the same level that Colon did, but he should be able to replace most of that production, and help keep Oakland in the pennant race.
For Colon, my guess is that this will be the end of the line. He had trouble finding work last winter, and now heading into his age 40 season and coming off a PED suspension, I don’t imagine too many teams will be lining up to give him another shot.
Dave is the Managing Editor of FanGraphs.
Can this be “Year of the Least Surprising PED Busts?”
I had trouble mustering a reaction to either this or Melky greater than shrugging at how unsurprising it was they failed a test.
waiting on Mike Trouts positive test
Watch your tongue
…and your back
Trout is from New Jersey, that’s more evidence than a positive test.
you spelled trout wrong. p-i-e-r-z…
Whoever is accusing Pierzynski has obviously not been watching him play. He’s just getting lucky and running into a bunch of bad breaking balls.
The internet is full of experts on things they never even see.
Don’t know about you, but I was surprised by Marlon Byrd. Proof that steroids aren’t a cure-all.
Was it entirely clear when he was caught exactly?
Considering his numbers this year, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if someone showed up at his house with a cup to pee in the second he got the needle out.
Poor Marlon Byrd.
not sure how you reached that conclusion. do you know something about his past use or non-use?
KJ – Some folks don’t get the inside joke….
COMPLETELY agree with emindor3rd. 35 year old catchers routinely set career highs in HR and slugging. i mean, his slugging is only up, what, 80 points from his career high (in 2003). it’s not like the offensive environment has dissipated in the last 10 years. also, he’s only been scraping them out–18 out of his 23 are rated “plenty” or “no doubt”. further, his babip is only 10 points less than his career avg babip which clearly marks him as very lucky and bound for regression. and keep in mind, there is zero economic incentive for him to use PEDs. at most, he’s looking at *maybe* 20MM extra guaranteed dollars from a multiyear deal based on this level of production.
I don’t think you read his comment correctly.
I’d wager to say he didn’t start taking them until this season. Science has linked the procedure he had before the season began is more effective when PED’s are taken concurrently.
What
“Science.”
My bad, he got the procedure done in 2011. Either way it’s a bummer he cheated.
Is Sal Bass your brother? I saw him in the sauna the other day…mistook him for Salmon Rushdie…
It certainly answers the question: “How do you improve the performance of a Colon?”
Probiotics
Enemas
I read this headline in the sidebar as “Bartolo’s Colon Reportedly Fails.”
“Another Former Yankee Fails Drug Test”
is that you Peter Gammons?
6 teams have employed most of the steriod users who have been caught. Yankees are but one of them. The others A’s, Orioles, Giants, Cardinals, and Rangers.
Red Sox much?
Although I despise both the Yankees and Red Sox, I think it should probably be noted that those two teams are most likely the victims of circumstance more then actual breading grounds for users.
When you are constantly actively buying the best talent available, you are going to be targeting and acquiring users at a much higher rate then the other clubs.
I also don’t see how the Cardinals should be on the list. From my recollection, they too acquired most of the users they saw – and they have still seen fewer users then teams like the Padres, Astros and Twins, so their inclusion just seems a bit strange overall.
The Padres especially were a hot-bed of use and should probably be mentioned in the 5 most suspect teams (along with Oak, SF, Balt and Tex)
and, two of those teams are of the BA in BALCO – bay area.. oakland, and sf giants. coincidence?
Clayton, you are an idiot!
Missed opportunity with the boring, straight forward title.
Were you hoping for crappy puns?
Wait for the follow-up FG article “How will the A’s fill their Colon void?”
Yes
“…coming off a PED suspension, I don’t imagine too many teams will be lining up to give him another shot.”
I thought it was the shots that got him in trouble in the first place 🙂
Billy Beane must have grown tired of finishing under 500 every year, so he started passing out the chemicals again
Old guys who can’t play in the majors anymore using a crutch to keep themselves employed.
MLB should really ban the DH.
Bartolo Colon and Melky Cabrera are DHs?
The DH is the best thing to happen to baseball!
When the pitcher comes up, he’s out!
He can bunt
“When the pitcher comes up, he’s out!”
That’s not much different then when a Mariner or a Cub comes to the plate.
“That’s not much different then when a Mariner or a Cub comes to the plate.”
Actually, it’s still drastically different. At least the Cub or Mariner has the ability to hit minor-league level pitching – pitchers cant even do that.
Pitchers the last 5 years
.129/.163/.161/.324
.141/.175/.182/.357
.141/.175/.174/.348
.136/.176/.174/.350
.139/.177/.175/.352
Pointless waste of time is an understatement
So something that happens almost 18% of the time never happens?
What is a joke?
When I have trouble with my Colon I DH!!!
Who knew all that bulk was pure, steely muscle?
Really, he certainly didn’t improve by working out. A least Melky looked like he got into shape.
When I saw this on TV, I laughed and remarked that someone forgot to tell him you have to workout when you roid. He isn’t the physical poster boy for roids.
If Andy Pettite can come back in 2013 so can Colon…
Yeah, after roughly the amount of time it takes to cycle on and off. Weird.
So is there some new test that’s catching testosterone more, are players just being stupid, or is it just coincidence?
Maybe they were sold the same lie about a way to beat the test this year.
Colon flushed from the A’s(s)?
I’d like to see the word “Dump” in there, myself.
I’m now going to declare the Bay area a hotbed for steroids based on the robust sample size of two cases.
Also, when is Bartolo’s website coming out?
You’re about eight years late to that party, friend.
BALCO ring any bells?
8? Try more like 30+.
Balco was the outlet, but Pat Arnold made the juice in Seymour, Illinois.
It makes me wonder if there is a bias in testing practices. Melky and Colon are clearly easy suspects and I recall Bautista claiming that after his power spike he was tested like dozens of times more than usual (or some excessive total).
What is the average amount of tests per player? Does every single player get tested at least once? I don’t know the answers, but a player who happens to be seeing a boost in performance cannot be subjected to increased testing just because of their performance.
I believe its once at spring training plus more ant a random time during the season, with more for previous offenders (Manny, now Melky and Colon) or if there is ‘just cause.’ They might not just test more for players experiencing a breakout, but for any player with playing at a high level, which may explain the Ryan Braun fiasco, as he had played at a high level for a long time, so it would be surprising if his one random test occured during the playoffs, like it did.
As I understand it, the testing isn’t designed to be purely random.
The testing is not random by design. Basically MLB has the discretion to test players they suspect more often than a random player.
tested positive for cheese fries.
Who is Colon’s agent? It’s not the Levinsons by chance, is it?
Nope. Some dapper gentleman named Mitch Frankel, per Cots.
Do Melky and Colon have the same dealer? And did that dealer happen to have a bad batch of testosterone enhancer this time?
Really upsetting, I’ve been coming around to Colon the past year, I was thinking this a great story for baseball, himself, the A’s, and now this. It’s unsettling to know players still are doping at this rate. MLB has made great strides in recent year however they’re going to have to take more and better preventative steps to continue the decline of PED’s. Otherwise it’s going to be difficult for fans to be able to trust and support the sport moving forward.
There’s PEDs in Twinkies?
How else would they survive the nuclear apocalypse?
OK, we now have FOUR players from the Bay Area that are involved in PED’s. Manny, G. Mota, Melky and now Bartolo Colon. And all four are from the Dominican Republic. I’m not trying to sound racist, but this seems to be more than just a trend at this point.
They got a lot of really good vitamins down there in the Dominican..
So many issues with this:
1. Manny may have been born in DR, but he was raised in Manhattan.
2. Both Manny and Mota failed tests long before coming to the Bay Area (Mota with the Mets or Indians and Manny with both the Dodgers and Rays, he never actually played a game in Oakland).
3. All of these players have a much more obvious thing in common than the DR or Bay Area: they were all looking at the potential end of their careers. Manny, Mota and Colon were all aging players with nothing left to lose who were looking at either juicing or retiring. Cabrera was young, but in a similar boat of it being a make or break period for him (He had a -1.0 WAR in 2010).
That’s why I was stating I’m not trying to sound like this is a racial issue. But is it possible that it is a “social” issue? Have they socialized in the same groups due to their heritage? Are they being supplied by someone in those social circles? PED is a big spectrum of potential abuse, so are they all associated? PED’s can’t generally be bought at your local pharmacy, so is there a connection?
Sorry but Manny was always Manny. It was not a late in career decision.
@ChipJack,
There are few things more hilarious than a “I’m not trying to be racist, but…” remark followed by something that is remarkably racist.
They’re not in some secret Dominican Steroid club. People from the same race/nationality don’t all hang out together. I’m a white dude with a beard from New Hampshire and I’ve never met Brian Wilson, for example.
Sorry, but implying that the fact these guys are all Domincan has ANYTHING to do with their steroid use is text book racist. The reason they all did steroids is obvious on the surface: they were all looking at a situation where their choice was steroids or their career ending. That has nothing to do with being from the Dominican Republic.
Jonathan, you obviously have not been to the Bay Area. There are TONS of “social clubs” dedicated to the myriad of different nationalities that are in this area. I’m suggesting that is possible that they have come into contact with someone that is suggesting this use. With Bonds, it was BALCO. You can state that “money” is the reason they did what they did, but I guarantee there is more to this story than just a declining career.
Maybe its just society.
I think the DR thing is irrelevant, but it’s not racist. Chipjack was citing their country of origin, not the color of their skin or ancestry. There’s nothing wrong with making the observation. Just point out that it’s wrong and move on instead of debating whether it is racist or not.
Yeah. They all chilled at the Mark McGwire club wit Bonds an dem.
You leave me alone!
I only know Manny Mota from his mention in Airplane!
Manny was playing for Tampa Bay when he got busted.
He signed with Oakland after he got suspended.
I’ll go out on a limb and say that *any* player that has established a baseline of performance in organized baseball and then suddenly leapfrogs that performance is suspect. My #1 person of interest right now is Luis Cruz. He’s had 11 seasons of amazingly mediocre performance in various minor league stops including the Mexican league last year, then all of a sudden he posts a 115 wRC+ with the Dodgers this year? Small sample sizes and all, but it’s a little red flag given what we know about baseball..
Speculating out loud is dumb. Keep it to yourself.
It is pretty irritating to look at the standings and realize just how valuable Colon and Melky have been to these playoff races.
Moneyball 2: Back to the PEDs
Never imagined a case of ‘roids could extend to the Colon
I think this is the winner. Tweak this a little and you have a clever title.
Steroids Found in Colon
no wait
Steroids Found in Swollen Colon
Now just shorten it to “Roids Found in Swollen Colon” so you have the double entendre with “roids” meaning both steroids and hemorroids – so sorry I had to spell that out.
Colon Dump Creates More Sh__ for Beane
notice colon wasnt caught while playing for the yankees. unlike the low revenue A’s the Yankees have enough $$$ to buy proper PED maskers for their players.
in unrelated news 38 year old derek jeter is having quite a bounce back season this year. good for him.
I’m not even a Jeter fan – but let’s bring out the pitchforks and torches! So ucanthandlethetruth: when did you stop eating your snot?
The A’s got pretty good value out of him, a nice ending to a fine career; undeserving Cy Young not withstanding.
I seriously doubt Jeter is juicing, but him getting caught would make me so happy as a lifelong Jeter hater.
OK. So I see puns, “social issues”, and sorry for the A’s comments. But I’m surprised to see no talk about what this means for the WC race. The A’s are, after all, 1/2 a game out. And got there with a cheater. Maybe it’s just that I’m an O’s fan desperate for a playoff appearance, but I find myself wishing the MLB would repeal wins based on WAR accumulated by these PED offenders. If nothing else it would help to encourage teams to discourage their players from cheating. Also! I want the O’s in the playoffs!
Uh. MLB doesn’t exactly regard WAR the same way Fangraphs users do.
It WILL be interesting if both the Giants and the A’s get Wildcard berths……. in races that were determined by less than one game.
Sure, you can take those wins from the A’s, but then you’ve got to strip the ’97 and ’96 O’s of Palmeiro’s contributions. Suddenly a fifteen year playoff drought turns into 29 years.
Slippery slope and all that.
If they checked for cholesterol he’d been popped a long time ago.
Colon Blown out of Oakland
And we have a winner.
Okay, this article is factually incorrect in kinda 2 big ways:
1) Colon was not the poster child for Platelet Rich Plasma – Colon had some even weirder, but likely more effective stem cell therapy. I am not a doctor, and don’t understand these things exactly, but it’s two different things. So called plasma therapy is a quack science that guys like Tiger Woods and A-Rod have received, but effectively it’s getting a blood transfusion – so, something that would get you kicked out of the Olympics, but somehow not the World Baseball Classic.
2) There simply isn’t any baseball community skepticism of either therapy, and it’s sorta a smear for Dave Cameron to say so after the fact (Sorry, Dave).
You don’t buy it? Okay, well, Fangraphs does a little article on everything, so where is the skeptic’s article on either therapy from Fangraphs? Answer – no one ever wrote any such thing. How about other baseball sources? Again, no – baseball community is not paying that much attention…
Let me make the same point I made with Melky in two ways…
1) Neither of them have any noticeable change in physique
2) Neither of them are experiencing upgrades in the so called PED improved areas
Melky was seeing the ball better and hitting for a higher average/BABIP, but he wasn’t hitting for any more power, or at least enough that could be written off as hitting your physical prime (since he’s 27/28 this year). Colon isn’t seeing any increased movement on his pitches, and the speed of them all appears to be relatively stable within the context of comparing it to past years. So, how exactly, do these guys appear as candidates? Because one came back from a long hiatus with better control (PEDs make you Greg Maddux now apparently)?
I’m with Keith Law on this, there’s no existential proof that PEDs actually increase performance to the degree that people make it out to be. If anything, it could be having a placebo effect to some degree.
‘existential proof’? Sounds, uh, harrowing.
Extra testoterone makes you “feel” better, stronger and recover more quickly. Kind of like when you were young, when you worked out hard one day and could do it it again the next. Don’t underestimate the ability to recover.
Can you link us to this study?
just follow victor conte on twitter. he links to all the stuff.
How did Melky not have a noticeable change in physique?
How is that relevant?
i’m sure there’s a joke to be made out of comments by stringer bell about drug use, but i’m not clever enough to think of it
Has anyone noticed how many of this current crew of PED Heads are former Yankees.
2/2 Former Yankee
2/2 Dominican
2/2 Bay area
2/2 Last name starts with “C”
2/2 Silly name
2/2 Played for at least one AL Central team…
2/2 Baseball Players