The Texas Rangers have heard nothing from the league in the wake of Ryan Braun's 65-game suspension about the possible punishment that right fielder Nelson Cruz may face for his ties to the Biogenesis PED clinic, reports Todd Wills of ESPN Dallas.
Rangers in the dark on possible Nelson Cruz suspension
Texas CEO Nolan Ryan says the club has no new information about its All-Star outfielder and a possible PED suspension.
Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports
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Team CEO Nolan Ryan said that the team has “no insight” into what the commissioner’s office plans to do in the coming days/weeks/months regarding their All-Star outfielder, and that they have heard nothing new since the league laid the hammer down on Braun earlier this week.
On the Prevailing Roid Rage...
Everyone has a #hottake about steroids and how they've ruined America's pastime. Most of them are steaming nonsense. But do you know who can be that disgusted? GM Jon Daniels said that the team would fully cooperate with the league if they were asked to, but they’ve been in the dark from the start so their plan is to just “sit back and wait for the best.” Daniels added that the team has given thought to the possibility that Cruz will be suspended this season, but that he doesn’t want to “jump to any conclusions” about what may happen.
Manager Ron Washington also chimed in on Cruz, praising him for the way he’s handled himself this season with the “Biogenesis cloud” hanging over him, per Wills:
“I don’t know what [Cruz is] going through because I’ve never been in that situation, but I think he’s handled it admirably,” Washington said.
“He’s been a pro, and he has been able to separate what he has done on his job, which is come to the ballpark and play baseball, and what he’s done out of here. He’s done a good job of separating.”
Nelson Cruz: good at separating things. Perhaps he has a future in recycling?
It's likely that the Rangers have a contingency plan at the ready should Cruz face a suspension sometime between now and October, though it's unclear at the moment what that would be. I personally like to imagine that their plan is to have Manny Ramirez play right field when/if Cruz goes down. One can dream.
The Rangers have fallen on (somewhat) hard times of late, but are still just three games back of Oakland in the AL West and are just a game and a half out of the second Wild Card spot.
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