Cubs prospect Oscar De La Cruz has been hit with an eighty-game suspension, per a league announcement. He tested positive for the same banned masking agent/diuretic, furosemide, that led to the recent suspension of Robinson Cano.
Entering the season, De La Cruz was seen as a prospect to watch, with an intriguing combination of size, stuff, and command. MLB.com rated him third among Cubs farmhands, in fact, after seeing him turn in a dozen solid starts at the High-A level in 2017. Though he didn’t carry forward the gaudy strikeout numbers he showed in the prior season, and missed a lot of time with arm issues, De La Cruz had worked to a strong 3.46 ERA in 54 2/3 innings with 7.7 K/9 against 2.1 BB/9.
Now 23, De La Cruz opened the 2018 campaign at the Double-A level after being added to the 40-man roster in the fall to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. He hasn’t really generated the results that might have been hoped for over his first 16 starts in the upper minors, though. Over 77 1/3 innings, he carries a 5.24 ERA while recording 73 strikeouts and giving out 31 walks.
It certainly seemed promising that De La Cruz was able to take the ball for the first half of the current campaign, even if he wasn’t exactly thriving. Now, though, he’ll face yet more questions about his future. In the near-term, De La Cruz will miss out on developmental opportunities for the rest of the 2018 season, though perhaps he’ll be a candidate to pitch in the Arizona Fall League. He’ll also again end up with a limited innings tally.
For a Cubs team that is no doubt considering possible mid-season acquisitions, the temporary loss of De La Cruz weakens the upper-level prospect base from which it may need to deal. That’s all the more worrying given that the organization already lost fellow hurler Adbert Alzolay for the season due to injury.
Another DR/DR related player suspended because of PED’s. Maybe MLB should start looking into it a bit.
Really are you freaky serious
I think he’s freakin’ serious. Not sure about “freaky”
Technically, it’s not for PEDs. It’s for the masking agent.
What do masking agents mask, dude?
So he was just taking the masking agent and not the PED’s huh?
Blackball em.
Wtf is wrong with you blackball em.
He’s a cheater. Don’t hire him in the league ever again. Blackball his cheating ass.
Will you calm down
Cheater
Mlb really needs to start cracking down on PEDs. Some might disagree with my plan, but my plan would be
First and 2nd time offense= 162 game suspension with no pay.
All players must take a PED test before the season begins. You could do it during the last week of spring training.
Have a mandatory testing date at some point during the season (the date would change every year)
Finally install a true random test, in which 10 players on every teams 40 man roster get selected. Those tests would be during a random point in the season.
There should be no “two time offenders”. Second time, null contract and out of the league.
That sounds fair
And void contract after first offence so clubs aren’t on hook for these guaranteed contracts.
Yeah, that should be a no-brainer.
If you do that, dan Duquette will slip a little drugs in Chris Davis’ drink and poof, no more bad contract.
This is not an option
Lol
It’s the only option. You have to punish cheaters, not protect them because of the potential of corruption.
I think you can imagine why voiding a contract after the first offense would become quite problematic and a non-starter.
I can imagine it being problematic for cheaters.
I definitely think they should be able to void contracts. Players I i.e. (Cano) would think of risking $200 million or whatever it is.
Let me remind you about what George Steinbrenner did when he decided in the 80s he wanted to void Dave Winfield’s big contract: He hired a mob-affiliated numbers runner to try to falsely implicate Winfeld in an illegal gambling ring. Do you remember that? Steinbrenner was suspended from baseball for that little stunt; do you think there’s not an owner sleazy enough to try that with a PED plant these days? You know there are.
Yes as I pointed out below, how quickly we have forgotten George Steinbrenner’s illegal stunt he pulled when he decided Dave Winfield was making too much money.
So don’t punish cheaters because of a corrupt owner in the past? That makes sense.
Uhh, there are no corrupt owners now? And if they had a great incentive to eliminate a contract? Do you think baseball owners are saints?
Punish cheaters sure. Eliminate guaranteed contracts? Uh, no. That would create a lot of weird annoying lawsuits and would probably eventually end with an owner getting the Steinbrenner treatment. Suspended players aren’t paid anyway, as it should be. But the other approach you suggest is absolutely setting up another Steinbrenner situation.
Zach725….there already are mandatory tests for all players during ST as well as at least 200 other random tests. All players receive another mandatory test at random dates in the regular season as well as a mandatory test in the off-season. There are 4800 random tests (at least 20 of which are in ST) throughout the year. There are 350 random tests in the off-season. Those are the urine tests for PED’s (including masking agents etc) HGH blood tests are a different schedule.
Link to JDA
link to mlbplayers.com
The standard response from the talking heads is that the MLBPA will never agree to it. The players union may not be the cause of the problem, but they do everything they can to enable it.
You don’t know how the testing system works, do you? All players are tested randomly a minimum of five times per season. Previous offenders more frequently.
You know I keep hearing about these players testing positive for just taking masking agents and usually the excuse is “well a doctor prescribed it to me.” Where is the team medical staff? Are they just not keeping an eye on the players? Are the players dumb enough to take whatever is prescribed to them knowing full well other players have used the same excuse? Did no one at least send the players an email that said “hey, don’t take the list of following banned substances, if you have a question our assistants are available 24/7.”
Teams need to start policing their own or face punishment themselves. I say anyone testing positive shouldn’t just not get paid, but the team should have to fork over the salary to some anti-drug charity. For prospects or players making the league minimum then set a minimum fine on the team, say 5 million.
Once you start hitting the teams rather than just the players then teams will be forced to make sure their players are clean and anyone caught using will probably start having trouble getting a new contract.
I don’t get it. Furosemide is a diuretic. Its purpose is to reduce the amount of salt, and, therefore water, in the body. I have taken it, as ordered by a medical doctor, for four years.
Were they sent an email? The players know full well to run everything through the team doctor. The players aren’t paid during their suspension. Give their salary away to someone else? Ok commie. You can’t punish the team for the private actions of a player unless you let them test the player as well, which is against the CBA.
Solution…suspend for 1 year unpaid and then for rest of career you play for the league minimum…that way they can never “cash in” and make millions
This guy needs to learn how to cheat and get away with it from Rizzo, Bryant, and Baez.
Or he just needs to learn how to not be a stupid moron, like la verdad.
Ry your just jealous that your IQ puts you at the idiot level, looking up to morons like De La Cruz as your intellectual superior.
Oh la verdad … RytheStunner certainly called you out and nailed it!
What’s more sad than Ry’s idiot level IQ is that JKB feels the need to suck up to that idiot. That must put JKB on the same IQ level as a rock.
Verdad, you’re clearly as much of a scumbag as the cheaters.
How dare you compare me to the Cubs?!
Haha, you forgot Kyle, too.
If he had any amount of actual talent I would have included him as well.
Exactly
I think the cheating cubs should be stripped of that one championship they won in the last 110 years!
I think you meant to use the phrase fraudulently obtained in place of won.
I think we as fans have come a long way since it’s this deep in the comments without anyone trying to make excuses for these guys or justifying the act of taking PEDs and masking agents.
Honesty does this even matter. The only thing it might effect is his timeline to the MLB. Jenry Mejia got reinstated after 3 failed tests.
Just to verify I’m not suggesting I agree with his decision, but in reality nothing was effected but his MLB timeline and I doubt he would’ve made it to the show this year.
That’s kinda the point. Harsher penalties.
Nothing will hurt your brain more than reading ignorant comments on PEDs. The public has been duped into thinking there saint of something. I have skin cream for rosacea, under the USDA testing that cream if applied will cause a failed test. Eating meat in Mexico will almost certainly cause a failed test. The drug cheats are always going to be ahead of the testing agencies. Rich athletes can afford to buy the best untraceable drugs while poor DR players are forced to take drugs to try and make it off the island.
You ignorant people waving around the ban for lifetime hammer need to actually watch documentaries about steroids. You’re damn doctor will prescribe you steroids probably if you get sick. Frankly I think you should get fired from your job. It’s unfair advantage for me in the workforce to compete with someone who uses caffeine in the workforce. I have a hard time getting up at 7am for work. My peers all abuse caffeine it’s not fair to me.
Run all drugs, creams and supplements through the team doctor, how hard is that? It’s something players agreed to when signing.
DR players are “forced to take drugs”? Wow dude.
Caffeine isn’t a violation of my employment contract. Taking a banned substance is against thiers. Keep your oranges, we’re trying to talk about apples.
By writing “forced to take drugs” I think they are talking about the opportunity it provides to get away from poverty in the DR. Because obviously there’s also many players from the US and other countries that lack talent and aren’t rich, but they aren’t the ones getting busted for PEDs. That’s because they have plenty of other opportunities to support themselves and live comfortably outside of baseball.
If they are using supplements from the DR, who knows what is in them. No making excuses. I hate a cheat.
But who knows, he may have taken some of those liquor/gas station male enhancement pills. Those would make you pop a piss test.
I know when I was 19-20, I had no need, but who knows?
Anyway, with y’all’s harsh stance, I can’t disagree with you. I think if you’re cheating by putting a substance in your body, you should be amply punished.
The difference in MLB and other sports people take this stuff waaay to seriously. What does this really matter anyway?
He’s no longer a prospect. After this. Dont know much about him. I’m pretty sure he’s good but at least he wasnt on the 25 man roster. That would hurt him even more.
Baseball was better in the ‘90s when everyone was juicing…bring on the roids & PEDs.
he’s not worried since the league can.let you fail more than three time and still play