Florida Marlins catcher, Ronny Paulino was suspended 50 games for violating Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Paulino will not contest the result and his suspension will start immediately and carry into the beginning of next season.
Paulino claimed that the positive test resulted from a diet pill that was not approved by major league baseball. MLB’s statement did not reveal for which drug Paulino tested positive, as per policy.
Paulino issued a statement.
“To control my weight this season, I used a dietary pill. I recently learned that the dietary pill contained a substance banned under Major League Baseball’s drug policy. I am ashamed and saddened for disappointing and distracting my family, my teammates, the entire Florida Marlins organization and baseball fans.”
Marlins’ president David Samson said the suspension was “extraordinarily disappointing.”
Samson said players at all levels of the organization are taught to look for what’s known as NSF certification on anything they choose to ingest. NSF International is a company that gives athletes and consumers another resource to ensure the products they take are clean.
Otherwise, Samson said, it’s DNT — Do Not Take, in Marlins vernacular.
“I don’t care if it’s a Flintstones vitamin or something in a hypodermic needle,” Samson said.
Paulino stands to lose around $270 000 in salary depending slightly on his salary/contract status for next year.
