Rangers' Cruz denies connection to PED clinic
Texas Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz, one of the players identified by the Miami New Times as having purchased performance-enhancing drugs from now-defunct Biogenesis, denied having any connection to the clinic.
The New Times report, which focused on claims that Alex Rodriguez and Gio Gonzalez bought products from Biogenesis' Anthony Bosch, also said Cruz bought $4,000 worth of products.
"We are aware of certain allegations and inferences," Cruz's law firm, Farrell & Reisinger, said in a statement released to the Associated Press. "To the extent these allegations and inferences refer to Nelson, they are denied."
The law firm is notable. While it is not his baseball representation team (that is the Levinson Brothers of ACEs), the firm headed Jay K. Reisinger and Thomas J. Farrell helped represent Andy Pettitte after allegations about his use of steroids surfaced in 2008. In 2005, it advised Sammy Sosa before he testified in front of Congress, and in 2006-07 it represented several players named in the Mitchell Report to Congress on steroids in baseball.
The Rangers acknowledged being approached by the New Times, but declined further comment. Major League Baseball indicated it was involved in an active investigation of the clinic.
Cruz, who hit 24 homers and played in a career-high 159 games in 2012, has never tested positive for PEDs and has not been linked to any previous scandals. He was in Miami for much of the offseason between 2011 and 2012. He trained at Bommarito Sports Performance and also saw doctors about a long-lasting stomach virus.
MLB does reserve the right to suspend players even without "analytic" evidence of PED use.
