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MWL1 Cedar Rapids Kernels

Statement on Suspended Minor League Baseball Players

April 4, 2005 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Cedar Rapids Kernels News Release


Our organization is aware of the suspension of 38 minor league baseball players for violating Minor League Baseball's substance abuse policy. Five members of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim organization, including two former Kernels players, are among the list of players that have been suspended.

Though we as an organization have absolutely no knowledge of past steroid use among players assigned to Cedar Rapids, these suspensions come as no surprise to us.

The minor leagues have a long history of stringent drug testing among their players. Minor League Baseball will continue to test its players and suspend them accordingly. Our club stands behind the efforts of Minor League Baseball in its effort to rid the game of performance enhancing drugs such as steroids at any cost.

We would like to clarify that while four of the suspended Angels players are listed as being members of the Kernels, none of them are listed on our 2005 Opening Day roster. Two of the players, Francisco Cordova and Alexander Francisco, were assigned to the Cedar Rapids roster upon completion of the 2004 season. Minor League Baseball expands its roster following the season just as Major League Baseball does. Each player in an organization needs to be listed as belonging to an affiliate of their parent club. Cordova and Francisco were assigned to the Cedar Rapids roster for this reason.

Baltazar Lopez and Ryan Leahy were both members of the Kernels during the 2004 season. At no time was anyone in our organization aware of these two players using any performance enhancing drugs.

It is important to note that while the 38 players listed have been suspended for testing positive, it does not necessarily mean the test were positive because of steroid use. Many over-the-counter medications contain drugs that will trigger a positive test result. This does not, however, mean all 38 players are innocent. We trust Minor League Baseball will continue to investigate the results of each test to determine whether or not such errors may have occurred.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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