According to a report from the Tribune, Geovany Soto tested positive for marijuana while playing for Team Puerto Rico during the WBC. The International Baseball Federation released the news on Thursday and Soto is expected to address the situation with the media.
Geovany Soto released a statement. He said he "was embarrassed" by his lapse of judgment. He said his behavior was inappropriate and said it was an isolated incident.
Geovany Soto was banned from international play for two years but the positive test will "not have any impact on his major league availability."
The Cubs said Soto has been tested regularly and "this was the only positive test."
"Geovany assured the organization this was an isolated incident and a misstep in judgment that will not be repeated. Though surprised and disappointed, the club supports Geovany as he takes responsibility for his actions and accepts the consequences."
Whenever somebody get caught its always an isolated incident.
oh please... its a li'l pot... lets not go Gestapo here
kinda explains the weight gain... someone had a few late night twinkie runs???
FWIW, Jason Stark says cubs are "kicking the tires" on bringing Dero back.
Please, please be true.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&page=rumblings090625
Baron i completely agree with you, this is definitely a cause in his weight problems, I highly (no pun intended)doubt this was the only time during his Major league career. So what did he buy it on the streets? Did he smoke with a friend/family member? Hid he smoke with with anybody on the WBC PR roster? Does he grow his own?
Ok, so let's get Dero back ....get Reed and ARAM back from DL, and bench Milty, Sori and Fuku - the 3 stooges.
How does this look to you ?
Reed CF
Riot SS
ARAM 3B
Hoffy RF
DLee 1B
Fox LF
Dero 2B
Soto C
I know, I know....I'm dreamin
But wouldn't that lineup look a helluva lot better than the garbage Lou keeps throwing out there ? (Although, thanks to the DH, we've been able to see more of Fox and Hoffy in last few days..thank God)
That lineup would look really great by me.
I'm not ready to give up on Bradley yet. His average has gone up every month and he's batting .329 in the 3 hole. He's a proven hitter and it takes time to get comfortable in Chicago. I think we're all glad Piniella didn't give up on Lee. Aramis is going to make a huge difference on this team. He's by far the best clutch hitter we got and I think his presence will make everyone that much better. I just wish we had a place for Jake Fox in this lineup. Too bad Soriano isn't good enough to play CF or 2B. Let's be honest we can't trade him and they're not going to bench him.
I'm gonna make a prediction. and I hate to say this, but I think everyone is going to be in for a huge letdown when ARAM comes back.
Everyone is expecting him to come ride in on the white horse and save us, but I will bet you that's not going to happen. He has already said the pain is his shoulder will probably not go away until the offseason....and don't think there's not a chance he couldn't re-injure it. Hope I'm wrong, but....
Point is - don't get your hopes up that much.
In the Jayson Stark article it mentions them looking around for a bat but they don't know which position to look at. Obviously second base is a big hole for this team and I could care less at this point about versatility. I think we should move on from Roberts and DeRosa and look for younger alternatives such as Rodriguez of the Angels, whose been mentioned before around here, or a guy like Lopez of the Mariners whose been around for awhile, was an all-star and who I think is going to have a bright future. I'd love to see the Cubs try to steal him from the M's.
I absolutely agree with that statement....while I love DeRo, and I think that article projected him for 30 hr, 110 RBI....we obviously need to get younger, and if you're going to give up talent to get a bat, then you can't give up much to get a 34 yr old....just my two cents. After all, the Indians barely gave up anything to get him in the first place, and they've had him the whole season. My oh my...Hendry is an idiot, and keeps looking worse every damn day.
I was thinking the same thing about DeRo the other day. I think everyone agrees that it was a bad move letting him go. But its water under the bridge. He was a good likable player. But he is not Ryne Sandberg. He will not be the savior of the team.
But i have to disagree with someone else on here. Aramis will be the savior. It might take him a week to get his timing back. He will make the whole line up better. We have seen this before. He gets injured every year.
My beef with it (aside from my avid dislike of drugs) is that Geo was expected to mature into a leader for this team.
Leaders shouldn't put themselves in this position.
So go ahead and tell me to get off my high-horse but this hurts how I look at Geo's credibility going forward
will geo be punished for this, 50 games? or becuase its non mlb testing hes fine?
No, MLB will not suspend him. He will not be able to play in International Games for 2 years.
Which means little considering the next WBC is after that time span.