Minor league players speak on Biogenesis scandal, suspensions

By Jordan Greer

August 7, 2013

The Syracuse Chiefs battled the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders Tuesday night at NBT Bank Stadium in an unusual doubleheader. 

The RailRiders took the first game by a final of 7-6 in a continuation of a game that started on July 12 but was suspended with the game tied after 11 innings.  The Chiefs managed a split by winning the second full game 3-2. 

But players from both teams commented on more than the play on the field after the doubleheader.  Major League Baseball suspended 13 players Monday involved in the Biogenesis scandal and the use of performance-enhancing drugs. 

Twelve players received and agreed to 50-game suspensions while the most notable player involved in the scandal, New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, was slapped with a suspension for the rest of this season and the entire 2014 season for a total of 211 games.  Rodriguez is appealing the ruling and is allowed to play until his appeal is heard.

Chiefs’ infielder Will Rhymes pulled no punches outside the locker room after the make-up game when expressing his opinion on the scandal.

“To me, it’s a total joke,” Rhymes said.  “I mean if it hadn’t been for some disgruntled employee with a piece of paper… that’s how the Biogenesis thing started.  They only caught three of those people from a test.”

The impact from the Biogenesis scandal was felt in the night’s first game.  RailRiders outfielder Fernando Martinez, who was still on the team as of Tuesday night, was among those suspended by MLB.

“The reason we were in extra innings is because Martinez, who just got popped, hit a homer,” Rhymes said.  “So, it has a ripple effect through the pitcher who gave up the home run, his stats, and my stats now because I wore another at bat that I shouldn’t have had to have. 

“It has a big effect on not only our numbers, but obviously on our chance of getting back to the big leagues.”

RailRiders’ outfielder Corey Patterson was drafted in 1998 by the Chicago Cubs and played for the Cubs from 2001-2005 alongside teammate Sammy Sosa.  Those were the years when Sosa and Mark McGwire captured the nation’s attention by routinely hitting more than 50 or 60 home runs per season.  Sosa and McGwire were later connected to PED usage and may never enter the Hall of Fame as a result.

Patterson has seen the transition from players burying their heads in the sand to now demanding stiffer penalties regarding PEDs. 

“I think when I played a lot more people were using steroids than they are now,” Patterson said.  “I think it’s gotten better up to this point, but I think it’s still kind of a work in progress.  But I think it has improved along the way.”

The desire for change goes beyond those on the field, to the front office.  Chiefs’ General Manager John Simone echoed the sentiment of the players.

“I think all players who don’t do steroids are probably upset with the guys that do,” Simone said.  “Now in the last few years they know who does do it to get ahead.  Hopefully it changes the game a little bit because down at this lower level guys have more stringent testing.  It’s not like that in the big leagues unfortunately.”

It certainly isn’t surprising to think a “clean” player would be upset considering the opportunities and bigger paychecks he could be losing to someone gaining an illegal advantage.

Rhymes has played three stints in the big leagues with the Detroit Tigers in 2010 and 2011 and the Tampa Bay Rays in 2012.  He says for players who go up and down between the majors and minors, the vast majority are very upset with how MLB handles players who have used PEDs.

“Unfortunately the players’ union is going to protect the one percent of dudes who are making the A-Rod (money),” Rhymes said.  “But they’re forgetting about those of us who are grinding it out for the minimum, and it’s not fair.

“It’s almost unanimous from players that we think the penalties should be harsher.  It needs to be a lot harsher.  Obviously, it’s not working.”