More bad Twins pitching news: first Johan Santana loses for the first time in 10 months. Now, the team's #2 reliever, Juan Rincon, has tested positive for drugs and been suspended. Boo Berry on steroids? What will Batgirl say?
UPDATE: Here she is, with responses from a very sad Twins Nation. For now, Juan's the answer to a trivia question: who was the first player of consequence to be suspended from baseball for steroids?
Posted by Stephen Silver at May 2, 2005 12:55 PMIs it possible that this is a false positive? Please be the case. Can I be so naive?
If he really has been using "the cream or the clear" than this will be interesting to see what happens with Rincon as Terry Ryan and Ron Gardenhire are "no nonesense" guys with mostly a team emphasis and not an individual emphasis. I wouldn't be surprised to see Rincon traded. It'd be a shame because he's so important to the bullpen and picked up where JC Romero has slacked off.
It hurts to say this, and the Twins will be forced to set the trend as how to respond to an everyday player accused of/caught cheating. I believe that if Rincon truly did use steroids (but we may never know) he should be traded or released. That sucks!
Posted by: Jeff S at May 2, 2005 07:57 PM