By DAMIAN CRISTODERO, Times Staff Writer
Published April 8, 2005
Devil Rays centerfielder Alex Sanchez has decided not to file a grievance regarding his 10-day suspension for taking a performance-enhancing substance, his agent said Wednesday.
"Under the letter of the law, we didn't have a chance of winning in arbitration," Juan Iglesias said.
Sanchez, 28, the first player penalized under Major League Baseball's tougher testing policy, was suspended Sunday after a second positive result on a urine sample given March 7 while Sanchez was with the Detroit Tigers.
Iglesias said Sanchez unknowingly took a banned substance contained in an over-the-counter supplement. Iglesias would not offer specifics but said the substance was one federal legislation changed on Jan. 15 from over-the-counter availability to prescription and was added to the list of substances banned by Major League Baseball.
"Alex did fail a drug test," Iglesias said. "He used a supplement that was banned. Alex didn't take the initiative to look at the back of the label. ... We have to accept it for what it is. The way the rule is written, he did fail and an arbitration case would drag this for nothing."
The suspension is not appealable. Filing a grievance would have been to regain the money and service time lost during the suspension, which runs through Wednesday.
Sanchez will lose $27,322 of his $500,000 salary. "If I am guilty, I am guilty of not taking the initiative to learn more about the contents of what I was taking," Sanchez in a statement released by the Rays. "Once my agent informed me that I tested positive, I then started finding out what was in my supplements. Then, and only then, did I find out about the particular ingredients of this supplement."
Sanchez, signed March 19 after his release by the Tigers, is working out at the Rays' minor-league complex. He is eligible to be in the lineup Thursday against the Orioles.
"He's working out every day," Iglesias said. "He's ready to go."
