Major League Baseball announced that Orioles minor league pitcher Matt Harvey has been suspended 60 games for “participating in the distribution of a prohibited Drug of Abuse in violation of Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.” The suspension retroactively begins on April 29, meaning Harvey will first be eligible to return in late June. He is not on the O’s 40-man roster.
Harvey was one of multiple players called to testify in the trial of former Angels communications director Eric Kay, who was eventually convicted by a Fort Worth jury of distributing fentanyl that resulted in the death of former pitcher Tyler Skaggs. A series of players admitted on the witness stand they’d been provided opiates by Kay, but Harvey testified he’d also provided Skaggs with Percocet pills. Harvey had been granted immunity from criminal prosecution.
Today’s suspension is for that admission he’d given Skaggs a controlled substance, explaining why none of the other players who testified have been suspended. T.J. Quinn of ESPN reported in February that Harvey was facing a possible 60-90 day ban for drug distribution, and the league has indeed levied punishment.
Harvey was a free agent at the time of the trial. The Orioles re-signed him to a minor league deal in April, but he has yet to report to an affiliate after missing Spring Training. Baltimore was obviously aware of the possibility of a suspension at the time they signed him.
Orioles general manager Mike Elias told reporters today the club “(supports) all aspects of MLB’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program and their ruling in this particular case. … I am glad that Matt now has the opportunity to put this part of his past behind him and pursue another shot with our organization after serving his suspension” (via Rich Dubroff of Baltimore Baseball).
The Dark Knight falls
….further.
Just like the Mets World Series championship hopes every year after 86
What does that have to do with anything? A person died and the best you can do is come up with some lame Mets comment….?
Fundaysunday
We’re talking about a suspension for Matt Harvey here. Stop being so sensitive and lighten up.
Don’t see why the Orioles signed him at all. What could possibly be the upside???
Mostly to see if there’s anything left in the tank on a low-risk deal.
There wasn’t one..
Selling minor league tickets?
Like his a career, nose dive into earth!
Has never been the same since the thoracic outlet surgery.
He was already bad before the surgery
2015? He was pretty damn good, even after TJ surgery.
Matt Harvey two face
I didn’t know he was still pitching
noooo he was gonna stabilize the O’s rotation
way too light. life ban.
Guy should be in jail.
So this ends his career? If I understand this correctly (I may not), he can’t serve the suspension until some team puts him on their MLB roster, and no team will do that since he immediately has to serve a 60-game suspension.
Yea he’s not good enough for anyone to bother with him. Shot himself in the foot in the worst way. I hope he works through his obvious addiction issues. He was real fun in his prime, brief as it was.
The suspension began retroactive April 29.
I completely get what you’re saying, but I’m pretty sure I remember Manny Ramirez serving PED suspensions as a free agent. But your analogy sounds more correct
Okay, after reading Mannys wiki page, the suspension is served if the player is playing on any team affiliated with MLB… for example when Manny was a free agent he tried to play Dominican winter ball, but apparently that league is affiliated with MLB, so he wasn’t eligible. As long as the Orioles don’t release Harvey, his suspension will be likely served as a Norfolk Tide
@jgoody, thanks for the info. The story was also updated. That makes more sense; otherwise, a player might be trapped in limbo.
Go reread the first paragraph of the article.
That info was added after the original post.
Now who’s going to protect the streets?
Pablo “Kung Fu Panda” Sandoval – but he’s busy at the moment fighting the cartels.
Captain America’s in San Fran right now.
When did David Wright sign with the Giants?
Brian mccann. The mlb ethics enforcer.
Aaaand his career is over.
They’ll never convince me that Angels’ management didn’t know they had players using. The clubhouse guy got scapegoated.
Playing professional sports is a privilege, not a right. He should be permanently suspended from the game.
MLB suspended Harvey for distributing opiods, not for his use of substances.
Society cracks down on dealers more than users. Users are sometimes seen as victims. Dealers are enablers.
imo the whole system in the us is (bleep)ed up you have big pharma pushing the “legal” drugs and incentives doctors to prescribe them without knowing and/or caring about long term effects as long as they get that nice kickback. then at some point you get your “legal drugs” taken away your only option is go to the street because most likely at this point your addicted. street dealers in essence are doing what big pharma does albeit its illegal but there just practicing capitalism. imo the best solution to all of this to rein in big pharma, decriminalization for users and offer treatment and non criminal punishment on users. dealers only do what they do because there is money involved and enough to forego the risks of being caught. tbh if anyone is guilty it’s a mix of our society and the desire to get “high” and practicing capitalism.
Does this mean the Orioles are going to give him a long term extension?
Things like this make you wonder…Harvey has made close to $29M. Why would he be doing this, or are the charges other-related.
He “hooked his buddy up” with some pain pills. He isn’t a drug dealer.
He got an illegal substance. He distributed an illegal substance. He is a drug dealer.
@ed i have a quote for you from mjk the frontman for tool, “Soapbox house of cards and glass so Don’t go tossin’ your stones around“, and luckily for you life must have been great and your a “perfect person” but for the majority of us that live in reality a lot of us “need” something just to get thorough the grind of life regardless if it’s legal or not. btw i’m no exception i smoke, need my morning coffee and an ice cold “man soda” after work.
Addiction is addiction and it doesn’t matter how much or little money or education you have. Users enable one another.
Sports culture. See “greenies.”
He probably spent it all.
Think he’s in Sarasota working-out at the Orioles Minor League Complex.
And yet every pill that Skaggs took, he was a grown man with a family who made that decision on his own free will. Lesson learned: Keep your mouth shut and don’t say anything, thus you can never be punished.
Unless they already have evidence of you and your testimony won’t matter one bit. He knew they had the dirt on him and is why he went with the deal.
Will anyone notice?
Why wasn’t Harvey prosecuted? Anyone have any info on that?
I’m confident he was given immunity in exchange for his testimony.
Given full immunity in exchange for his testimony
Figured this was coming. I get it. It is the drug scene in one form or another. Guys who use know the other guys who use and Matt just gave Tyler what Tyler would’ve gotten from somebody else anyway.
That said, what Matt gave him was illegal. And with pain pills potentially fatal.
His careers in the toilet anyway
If the league really want to clean up things this would and should absolutely be a lifetime ban.
That wouldn’t clean anything up though. It just jettisons Harvey, which is fair enough. But drug addicts aint gonna go cold turkey cuz of it and young dudes are still gonna try the drug, deludedly thinking disaster won’t strike. I won’t change much.
You are absolutely right. Human behavior will always come to the forefront. People who use drugs will continue until something happens. My point really is that baseball, like all professional sports, hide things away until it’s way too late. I can imagine many people in baseball knew all about Harvey and all the others long before it got to Skaggs death.
I just think when you have the opportunity to throw the hammer on someone they should do it.
You’re right in that baseball at the very least needs to stop turning a blind eye. It’s a bigger problem than we likely realize.
It basically is a lifetime ban. It is a MLB ban. He would miss the first 60 days of being on a MLB 40 man roster. With his recent performance history, what team is going to put him on the roster for 60 days before seeing him pitch? A similar ban ended Manny Ramirez’ career.
Major League Baseball announced that Orioles minor league pitcher Matt Harvey has been suspended 60 games for “participating in the distribution of a prohibited Drug of Abuse in violation of Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.” The suspension retroactively begins on April 29, meaning Harvey will first be eligible to return in late June. He is not on the O’s 40-man roster.
Please read this first paragraph again before spouting more nonsense.
Thought he was just holding in his pee.
Remember Bryan Harvey?
Spitballin’ here… but a proposal for O’s fans: Grisham, Azocar, Lamet and Weathers for Ced Mullins.
Actually pretty fair according to BTV. Although I don’t see them being interested in Lamet because his club control is limited.
Remove Lamet, add $250k International money? I figured they’d like the control for ’23 for him and the Pads clear space on the 40.
BTV says Weathers and Grisham gets it done. They have Azocar at a 0.1 (which he is replaceable but I do think he should be higher than that) and then I just left Lamet out entirely because the only time a rebuilding team should ever be caught dead or alive trading for a player who is within 2 years of free agency is if the player in question has an underwater contract and the other team is attaching prospects which isn’t the case with Lamet.
Not a chance. For starters, to make that deal the O’s would have to move an additional three players off their 40-man roster, They will have to do that for any prospects they bring up this year (Rutchman and Rodriguez come to mind), and they like pretty much everyone they have,
Secondly, why would the O’s have interest in any of those guys? If you don’t want them, why would we want them?
Thirdly, the O’s aren’t trading Mullins without a spectacular overpay. If you want to target an O’s OF in a trade, it would be Santander, and with the O’s offense in a shambles at the moment that isn’t happening any time soon.
Yeah, well, maybe I was shooting for the moon but I’d settle for a meteor. I figured my offer was fair and Grish is an immediate Gold Glove-worthy replacement for Ced. Lamet is an enigma and I figured they’d settle on his potential and tradeable status if he does recoup some magic. If the O’s say no, then we can talk about a much less enticing offer for Santander or Hays. My intention on including Lamet and Azocar are essentially just clearing 40 Man space. The Pads could always try to sneak them through the DFA process but I doubt they “survive” it. The Pads would be happy to keep these guys, again, just figured it was a fair initial offer for the outfield upgrade they “require.” Enjoy your day, gentlemen!
Gwynning:
What if the Orioles offered Jordan Lyles, Kevin Smith and Zac Lowther for Machado or Tatis? Yeah, I don’t think so either.
P.S. Always liked Tony Gwynn as a hitter. What a shame that he died so young.
Hey Manny! My immediate retort would be that is a silly and highly inequitable offer. We would politely say no and probably not even entertain a counteroffer to such a ludicrous proposal. On the other hand, I stand by my initial proposal as being a fair starting point. Thanks for the kind words on Gwynnyrd Skynyrd though. I think we feel the same. RIP Coach Gwynn, Hall of Famer in life and ball. Cheers bud, and as a post-script I’ll apologize for mistaking you for another Manny the other day.
Yes, MannyBeingMVP expressly disclaims the imposter MannyIstheMVP. Though Machado is talented. My point was that none of the four Padres that you mentioned will fetch much.
What would be a fair trade for Mullins? I think it would take one of Abrams, Gore and Hassell as part of the deal. Then maybe one lesser major leaguer along with one of those three prospects. I still fully believe the Abrams is a future all-star, he is just a year or two from being ready.
Not sure why the Orioles would want Machado at this point. They are in the middle of a rebuild and he can opt out before they will be good again. After 2023, the Orioles can try to bring him back if he opts out. Or if he doesn’t, that means the Padres would be willing to let them have him for nothing.
No, Orioles would not really want Machado, it was just an example of how one-sided I thought the proposed trade for Mullins was.
Orioles would want Abrams, Gore or Hassell for Mullins. Maybe throw in Morejon as well for funsies.
The Padres seem pretty good as is, I think they should stand pat until closer to the trade deadline and see if their starting pitching gets injured again or not before making moves.
Gwynning: O’s response: “Only if you take a certain SP along with them…”. Hint, his name rhymes with Fat Blarvey.
It’s weird to listen to Gwynn Jr because he sounds exactly like his dad. I miss the Gwynn laugh, man. He was such a great player and person, by all accounts. Seems the good ones go way too young.
So he’s dealing or he’s a hookup but he’s not using? hmmm
Do you people only read the g@ddamn headlines?
Excuse me? Did you read past the g@ddamn headlines? No where in the write up does it say he used, it says he’s suspended for distribution. I was pointing out in a cheakish way that it’s unlikely he was only distrubiting and it seem highly likely he was using as well and I find it odd he never tripped a test. Which then makes me wonder if MLB even tests for opioids.
I thought all of this was emplied by the very few words I used because I also thought it was kind of obvious.
What is wrong with you people that post on here? Are you all just the lost group left over from that toxic reply board ESPN used to run? This is slowly becoming one of the least desirable sites to have any type of conversation on because of people like you.
The article says that “a number of playeds admitted to getting drugs from Kay, but Harvey also gave a Percocet to Skaggs”. In other words he (Harvey) both got drugs from Kay and gave some to Skaggs. Not attacking your reading comprehension but it seems clear he was a user too.
The quote is very ambiguous, by the way it’s written it would be fair to also assume that both Kay and Harvey were supplying Skaggs with fentinal and Harvey was also providing him with Percocet, although this isn’t actualy the way I read it I’m just pointing out that it would be a fair interpretation.
I assume Harvey is using and Kay was providing him with fentinal and someone else was providing him with Percocet and he in turn provided Skaggs with Percocet.
My greater point is why isn’t MLB testing for these very dangerous drugs yet they tested for weed until 2020.
@geebs i’m sure they are but like the players that still abuse “greenies” they can either go to the team doc or find a doc that would prescribe them to you you get a pass on that type of drug because you can show i failed for x because i’m prescribed y.
My bad. That actually wasn’t meant for you. Not sure why it posted like that. It was meant for the all of the people that obviously didn’t read anything but the headline.
He’ll be a ranger next season. They like guys like that… Josh Hamilton, Matt bush
Difference is, those guys were potentially good
Not necessarily. Hamilton had 1 season underhis belt and bush had none and was converting from SS to pitcher. They had youth was about it
Still galaxies better potential than present day Harvey, who offers none
So Trevor gets 3 years for consensual sex and Matt gets suspended for 60 games for something that led to someone dying. Manturd wins again
Possibly, the Orioles signing Harvey is not about filling short term needs? Per Elias’s qoute here, looks like by signing Harvey, the O’s are stating they are willing to give players who have made a mistake(s) a second chance? With little financial investment here, are they setting a precedent? IE. because they have logic in place, they won’t look as bad to their fans and MLB fans in general when they pursue someone like a Trevor Bauer?
Big brain move. I like the thinking
They look bad to me. I don’t like having criminals on a team that represents my city. There are plenty of clean players out there that garbage doesn’t need to be on the field. You and I wouldn’t get a second chance if we were accused of such things, especially if we were working a job making millions.
I, while working as a pharmacist, ever was accused of using or dealing ANY type of drug, it would be the end of my career. I would never work in another pharmacy ever again.
I thought he was long gone from Baseball
It’s never too late for Matt Harvey to master a knuckler. Lol
Unfortunately, a death in opiate addiction is becoming as common as cancer. I think there is a commonality with pitchers and arm pain. I would think that a pitcher trying anything to hold on to their career could take something to try and get a few more miles. I do know that it’s not a good idea as it usually leads to more damage. Still playing rec ball myself at 35, and just see the struggles with pitchers and arm pain. Just thinking there might be a thought around it. Condolences to the Skaggs family.
it’s just not baseball tbh it’s any job that’s physically demanding on the body, i’m in construction (union carpenter here) and i can tell you first hand that the amount of any type of pain relief drug is rampant in my field legal or not, and most of that is because my field take a big toll on your body and we’re not in a position of a sports star and have millions in the bank. for the lot of us either work and get paid or not then multiply that by 20 to 30 years, for the lot of us in construction it’s not a difficult choice especially if we have families to provide for
The janitors the delete posts here are awful. Just close the comments section if you want to spin a narrative.
Shouldn’t someone who distributes drugs get a bigger suspension than someone who knowingly or unknowingly used a banned substance?
Maybe this explains why he thought he was Batman.
Incels really mad about the Bauer thing.
They thought he had shown them the path to their only hope.
Be careful, soon people will think they’re normal too.
The take that the pain killers are freely passed around, like a Frisbee is a false flag.
Anybody who has ever had a legit reason for being on percocets or even Lortab would not let one go, they are needed for pain management.
Now if you said they were sold. As in a monetary deal or possibly drug for different drug (which is more likely. In this situation) then your statement holds a bit more weight.
They are using drugs but aren’t the meth-head walking down the street swatting at imaginary tinker bells.
Harvey however could be,why else would one have an east coast supplier?
Lifetime ban is my vote for Harvey!
How about those Minnesota Twins?
Bro, did you see a Chappy tonight? Ugh, why does he throw the slider repeatedly? He keeps getting hammered when he throws it. Yet, he never throws his completely untouchable splitter – I don’t get it.
He almost blew another save…again.
Judge is the best player in baseball right now.
The bad news is that he is playing really well.
The good news is that it is going to make Cashman’s position much harder to maintain. I thought the offer was fair, but if Judge hits 50 HRs, the Yankee fans will go berserk if he isn’t extended.
It looks like his command of his fastball is lacking, so he resorts to the slider. It’s not a bad pitch in moderation, but when he keeps throwing it he eventually leaves it up to get hit hard. I don’t know why he bailed on the splitter. Maybe he’s lost the feel for that one too.
I don’t think Boone should be thinking of Chapman as his closer anymore. He should use Holmes, Loaisiga and Chapman interchangeably in accordance with the situation and matchups. In a one-run game, I don’t trust Chapman. Michael King is clearly the best reliever on the staff, but they need him for more innings.
A deal for no criminal prosecution. A player’s death. 60 games? How’s about banned? This wasn’t just some PED thing. A kid died. They banned the hit leader for gambling. C’mon.
The Orioles should be ashamed of themselves and I am embarrassed that they represent my home city and my state. They should’ve never signed him and now that the inevitable has happened they should drop him off the team. You can’t spin this around and make it a feel good situation.
Elias, you’ve lost all respect. Orioles, you have lost all respect.
Slap on the wrist and just buys time before the Orioles have to decide on whether or not to call him up