Major League Baseball has suspended Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Ervin Santana 80 games for violating its anti-performance-enhancing drug policy.
According to the MLB public relations staff on Twitter, Santana tested positive for the anabolic steroid Stanozolol:
Santana is the second pitcher in two days to be suspended for Stanozolol, joining Atlanta Braves prospect Arodys Vizcaino, as reported by Mark Bowman of MLB.com.
The Twins released a statement about Santana's suspension, via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com:
Per Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Santana issued his own statement, claiming he is unaware of how this happened:
The loss of Santana leaves a huge void in Minnesota's starting rotation heading into the regular season. He signed a four-year contract with the team in December that was the biggest free-agent deal ever given by Minnesota, according to Nightengale:
He's been among the most durable pitchers in baseball with at least 30 starts in six of the last seven seasons. One silver lining for the Twins is they have an impact arm in the system on the verge of joining the big leagues in Alex Meyer.
Since the Twins aren't expected to compete for a playoff spot, they can get by without Santana for half the season. He is a good innings-eater who takes pressure off a bullpen that could be called on a lot more if the rest of the rotation doesn't pick up Santana's slack.
Innings are what the Twins needed, as their starters threw the second-fewest in baseball last year, per ESPN.com. Santana isn't a dominant starter who will contend for a Cy Young Award, but he would have been good for 190-200 innings in a full season.
Now, Twins manager Paul Molitor has to figure out what he wants to do with his starting rotation three days before the season starts.
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