Source: Three Yankee stars to be suspended for PEDs
If ESPN, SI, and FOX Sports do not report a story, is it still a valid story? We'll let you be the judge on that one, but our job at Red Sox Life is to bring you the latest news regarding your favorite baseball team (and in this case, your least favorite baseball team).
A little background: Back on July 18, Joe Bisceglie, a sports beat write for an internet-catch-all website called Dog and Pony Show, tweeted that according to his sources, Melky Cabrera would be suspended for PEDs:
My sources tell me that Melky Cabrera will be suspended soon for violation of MLB's PED policyAt the time, Melky was batting an eyebrow-raising .354, but no mention of performance enhancements had been tied to his name. Of course, as we all know, one month later Cabrera was suspended for 50 games after testing positive for high levels of testosterone.
— Joe Bisceglie (@joebisceglie) July 18, 2012
Now the story gets good: On Monday, Joe Bisceglie tweeted this:
Anonymous Source: Cano, Granderson, A-Rod and Braun will all be suspended for failing PED test this season.Of course, this must be taken with a grain of salt because Bisceglie is no Buster Olney (who we will get to in a minute) and is as uncredible of a "reporter" as they come. However, can/should we just dismiss this report considering that he was 100% accurate on Melky Cabrera's suspension?
— Joe Bisceglie (@joebisceglie) March 4, 2013
In today's game, practically any player can be pointed at and accused of PED use, but there is some smoke with these players, so maybe there is some fire as well. Alex Rodriguez's past steroid use is well documented, and his most recent involvement in the Biogenesis scandal make him an unsurprising name on this "report". Ryan Braun's 2012 failed test and his involvement with Biogenesis also give some validity to the report. Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera were best friends during their playing days with the Yankees, so this isn't too much of a stretch (in today's MLB). Curtis Granderson would certainly be a surprise; he is as stand-up of a guy as they come, but we've had the wool pulled over our eyes by nice guys before.
This random tweet from a random beat writer might be nothing. But it also might be more. None of the major, respected websites have covered this story (I don't even know if Deadspin has); however, it is worth noting that Buster Olney eluded to it last night.
Response to many questions: We can't report 'might be' PED stories. Either a positive PED test or a suspension. No gray area, or no report.Buster only referred to the story because he was getting bombarded by tweets about it, but he also did not shoot down the story, which might be worth something?
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) March 6, 2013
Again, this story may not even be a story; anyone can tweet whatever he or she wants, accurate or not. But remember: fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice...
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