Salome Suspended for 50 games; Update - Only Five Games Remain

[monty57]

I'm disappointed, but it's hard to say I'm surprised. It seems that Bud's drug plan for years now has been to heavily test the minor leaguers (who aren't "protected" by the union). Theoretically, if they're good enough to make it to the majors without steroids, they're less likely to start taking steroids once they get to the majors. Therefore, once the Steroid Generation (Bonds, Giambi, Sosa, Sheffield, etc) has retired, most of the next generation will be clean. I'm very glad that baseball is finally doing something to stop performance enhancing drugs, but I'm sure there are still a lot of players trying to do whatever they can to make it to the big leagues. I just hope that this is indeed a wake up call to both Angel and the rest of the Brewers' organization that it's not worth the risk.

 

If he cleans up his act,losing 50 games is like him missing that time via injury,except for the stigma attached to taking whatever he did.

 

I understand what you're saying, but as far as development goes, it's better than suffering an injury. He'll still be able to go out everyday and practice with the Brewers' staff in Arizona, so even though he's not seeing games, he will still be developing as a player. When you're injured, that's hard to do. Also, while he will have a stigma attached to him, he won't have lingering effects of an injury that could hamper him for the rest of his career. What could hurt his progression is that he'll likely have to find a job to pay the bills, limiting his time available to practice. However, having to do "real work" might be the kick in the butt he'll need to try even harder.

 

As far as his standing in the organization, I had assumed (although I'm not nearly as in touch with this as many of you) that Lou would be in the running to be Estrada's back-up next year, but Angel was still at least a year off. I figured that once Estrada left after next season, Angel would then fight for a spot on the Brewers. This obviously doesn't help his chances, but it's still feasible that he'll be on that track.

[igor67]

For the record I did e-mail Goldstein about Salome and he said Angel was having a good but not great year with the bat. I'm inclined to think that his injury in one way or another did play a part. I'm also not that surprised by his high school picture that I half to invent retroactive steroid use. I too have seen workout warriors in high school. Do 100 pushups and situps every night and you too can have a very nice flex picture.

[coach32sm]

Well guys, here it goes.

I was in Europe coaching but came home to coach the Regionals for the NY 9, the team I coach after the HS season. We won the regionals by the way, with several GW guys on the team and are going to Mississippi for the National Championship (NABF).

Firstly, speaking without Angel's permission or not even speaking to him yet as I just got back into the States and was away for the time I was here, coaching.

I probably shouldn't talk about Angel's personal life without speaking to him first, but... as you know we have one of the top programs in the Nation at GW and I PREACH about all the right and wrongs, not only in baseball but in life, most of my kids anyone of you would want as a brother, son, friend. I have and have had some golden players, Angel, right on top. All the things I have written about Angel and his character are true and just touch the surface. Just watch him as he shows up in the winter to one of our workouts, how he is just one of the boys but goes right to work helping everybody before he does his own work.

As far as the suspention, I do know that Angel is the hardest worker you will ever see and takes pride in his body that he busts his butt to achieve. He is legendary for his work ethic and proud of it. He has great genes as his father was a pro boxer. He would NEVER take ANYTHING to help in that regard, but knowing Angel as I do, and we speak all the time (not since this though) let me try to draw a light.

Angel takes medication for a condition that is nothing big deal, MLB knows about it and ok's his pre*****ion.

Angel was found taking amphetamines not Steroids "juice" he doesn't need either and wouldn't harm his chiseled body either. The medication he takes can act like an amphetimine, but I do know that is tested in a lab, will not show up as an amphetimine, so it is all confusing. Whether he took something on a day he didnt have his medication or some crazy thing like that I don't know, but he did not take steroids and does not need amphetimines so I like you want to find out how it happened. As you know there are many products that contain things that seem harmless but in fact are banned. I also know that MANY ballplayers are looking for "the edge", Angel has tge edge on everybody, plus he just became a father, a very proud father and would never do anything to harm his family. I will wait to find out what hapened, but without trying to sound like a typical parent, there has to be an explaination, because as I said, he doesnt take or need steriods and Amphetimines are rediculous and not needed for Angel. Many kids cant handle playing everyday and need something to boost there energy level, but from HS Angel and all GW players prepare for the grind by going like madmen so this stuff won't and can't happen.

Don't judge Angel until we find out the facts, but the facts now are..

He does take legal, prescribed medication that can act like amphetimines

He is a great kid who loves the game

He is a proud papa

He doesn't need anything to boost his body or game

He took an extra month at the start of the season to make sure he was 100% healthy he works too hard on his body to take shortcuts

He has always been on every level a role model teammate, there have been many stories written about him since joining the Brewers about that, he helps everybody

He wants to play MLB and will bust his as to get there but will not take any favors or shrtcuts

The suspention was for Amphetimines not Steroids

Angel is an Angel, if you met him you would agree.

Wait for the facts. If he was suspended by MLB then they have the evidence but we need to find out the details. He is not the kind of kid to say "I didnt know what I was taking!" so who knows. Time will tell

Leaving for the Nationals soon then back to Europe so I hope to have some insight soon. Angel is your future behind the plate, this will all be behind soon so support him, he's not a kid who has a drug or drinking problem, just a problem that needs to be cleared up.

Talk to you soon.

"COACH"

 

(fixed font size -TC)

[MTBrew]

Angel was hands down the most dominant player I've seen come thru Helena. Not only was he a monster at the plate but played excellent inspired defensive baseball behind the plate.

By all accounts he was a great teammate, including spending some of his bonus money to buy a car here and taking the latin players under his wing - helping them out with rides, shopping going out in town, etc. The kid has good character.

As was mentioned, he was coming off an ankle injury. I know that the players were tested more than once while in Helena, so I believe that he was clean while here. If he took something in response to recovering from his injury, I can understand that, however naive and foolish. 50 games is harsh but those are the rules. I don't think the organization will dump him. Its been a number of years since Palmisano was thru here but Angel was a much better prospect. LuCroy is the only guy currently that has the same upside.

[pogokat]

Thanks for the insight coach...your input is always unmatched..

[Team Canada]

As always, thanks for the insight coach. We all certainly can hope it was something like you suggest, which would be much more palatable.

[DrWood]

I doubt it could be anything like amphetamine. that would be a banned "stimulant", not "performance enhancer".

Either: 1) there was a lab error, but I think they double check positives; 2) he took some inadequately-labelled supplements that had the banned substance; 3) he didn't know the substance was banned; 4) he was stupid.

 

coach, is he on ritalin?

[DHonks]

If it was amphetamines, he probably poppped some greenies before a game. As for prescription drugs, it sounds like he's diagnosed as ADD or ADHD (can't remember which one required Aderol, but I've seen a number of AFL guys on it, and they claimed it helps them focus for games..so you can bet there might be some sharing of medication, or illegally filled prescriptions floating around). With greenies, they were so common in baseball that I'd imagine it's possible that he took some a few times and thought things would be alright, but then got tested. I've heard that some guys would pop a couple greenies before games, also opening up the capsules and pouring the stuff into their coffee (ah yes, coffee and soda...the drinks of choice for professional baseball players)

[Team Canada]

I doubt it could be anything like amphetamine. that would be a banned "stimulant", not "performance enhancer".

 

I don't know whether that's true or not. I would venture that "performance enhancer" covers just about everything, including stimulants.

[RyDogg66]

greenies stimulate your system and therefore enhance your performance = performance enhancer. It is possible that is what it was.

[kaycee2001]

Hey guys...The drug violation was not what you think. He is prescribed Ritalin for his ADHD and they found Adderall (another ADHD medication) in his system. It had nithing to do with steroids.

[Team Canada]

If that's the case this becomes a huge "don't care" for me.

[And That]

If that's the case this becomes a huge "don't care" for me.

 

It becomes more of a "why are they suspending him then?" for me. If he's taking something to treat a condition, why should he be punished for it? Can the Brewers challenge this?

[LouisEly]

WOAH CONTNNU

 

It took me a second to get it... classic.

 

If you don't get it, go to the original post in the WOAH SOLVDD thread.

[igor67]

Perhaps the Brewers could, but are instead letting this serve a variety of functions for example reminding Salome that regardless of exemptions he still needs to be careful about what he puts in his body. and the rest of the minor leaguers.

[greeg35]

Quote:

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Perhaps the Brewers could, but are instead letting this serve a variety of functions for example reminding Salome that regardless of exemptions he still needs to be careful about what he puts in his body. and the rest of the minor leaguers.

---

 

That would be a bad idea. The threat of suspension would be enough to scare others without wasting 50 games of Salome's development you would think. More likely the league will use him as another example to other prospects throughout the minor leagues that there cannot be any mistakes about what you put in your body...no excuses.

 

Salome is my favorite brewer prospect. Met him once and he was a great guy even to a joe schmo like me. I hope it was a misunderstanding of some sort.

[Bernman23]

Aderall is essentially prescription grade speed. I have a buddy (R.I.P.) who was prescribed adderall for ADD. He ended up only taking them occasionally because it only became a hindrance once in a while. So he had a surplus of pills and he began selling them to another friend of mine who was already a meth head. This guy was a pretty hardcore meth head, but the adderall alone ended up virtually satisfying his cravings at the time. Therefore, if it acts like speed in the body, I'd imagine it could test as speed in a lab. If he was taking adderall for ADD, that's probably was it was. The legitimacy of the prescription of that drug for a condition which makes you hyper is another issue. It's designed to over-stimulate you into calming down, which is pretty ironic, and that action can't be natural for your brain. Even though it's prescribed, it's exponentially more harmful and addictive than weed. For his sake, rather than the Brewer's sake; I'd rather he was smoking weed. He should be reinstated if the claim by his coaches and other insiders are true.

 

His ranking as a prospect was too high in the first place. You can never take Helena numbers too seriously. He doesn't walk much, so he's not taking advantage of being short. I don't know how much his power will progress at his height, or develop; considering that you have taller pitchers at the major league level throwing with downward torque, making it tough for him to elevate the ball. But he's a catcher, so maybe his weaknesses will be masked somewhat by the expectations for the position. Either way, he's not a difference maker prospect to be top 3 in the system, unless it's a testament to its current state, or we want to rationalize how he's better than he is because catcher is our biggest need. If you want to rationalize, use Lucroy. He's better IMO.

 

I got the Woah Contnnd thing, thanks Ely.

[biedergb]

Angel was on pace to lead the team in RBIs and was 10th in the league in RBIs despite missing the first few weeks (about 15-20 games) while recovering from his broken ankle. It would be nice to have a catcher who is capable of getting some hits with men on base.

Also -- Angel has been scouted as having a cannon arm, and generally good and toolsy (but raw) defensively. Anyway, he is a legit top 5 prospect in our system now. Maybe not in recent years (with the like of Fielder, Weeks, Hardy, Hart, Braun, Gallardo).

[coach32sm]

Hey guys,

I Hope some of the mess is cleared up for you guys now and I hope this is all behind us all. MLB will not recind once they tested,even with an appeal, so Angel will have to suffer his 50 games.

What I don't understand is how this should effect his status as a prospect as I'm reading from a lot of you guys. Angel is a top 3 prospect in the Brewers organization, forget his size forget the bull, he has done all he had to do on the field since he was drafted to show that he can handle any level. As far as taller pitchers etc.Angel will move up as they (current minor leaguers) and they also wil be in the show about the same time. If you can hit, you can hit and he can. He is a rare 5 tool catcher. Iproject him to be the next "Pudge" sme kind of numbers 300-310 BA 100-110 RBI 20-25 HR. He is anRBI machime. He doesnt walk much but he doesnt strike out either. He rarely sees a fastball and as the pitchers get better on the next level so will he,. Angel has been said to need on his defense, but he receives very well, frames, calls a great game and has an unmatched arm. He needs to block a little better but as the pitchers find the plate more on the next level he will also get better. He works like a dog and takes pride in his work, he will be a stud behind the plate.

When he got hurt last year it didnt change his status as a prospect, this shouldn't either, he's the real deal and he IS A STUD. Give him a chance to prove how good he is. He is the best prospect you have now, Gallardo is in the bigs and Inman was traded. He would have seen some AA at the end of the year so he will probably start there in '08 and see some AAA, maybe even a call up in Sept '08.

angel will be in Arizone working his butt off for the remainder of the year and then play in Hawaii where he was slated last year before the injury. He will be on a mission so watch him and keep him in your hearts as a top prospect as he is.

Angel didn't cheat and doesnt, he just did something stupid that never should have happened, and was not done to get an edge, he doesn't need it or even want it, and he is a stud, all natural, beast. I have watched him do 1000 situps, pull ups and chin ups many times. He never touched a weight until recently.

Salome is your #1 prospect, treat him like he is on the DL and will be back in the fall to put up great numbers and his past behind.

I have read people here say that they have met him and he is a great guy, he is, he's an unusual, humble, sincere, young man. He would and has given his shirt off his back for a friend, make him your friend and support him, he's not Bonds, McGwire, Sheffield, Palmiero, or any of those guys looking for the edge anyway they can. Angels edge is his dedication and devotion to his craft and love of the game, some I have preached and will continue forever. We come from a very low socio-economic community in Washington Heights with many strikes against us (the players at GW) and have come out great. Many pro ball players, ucesful businessmen, doctors and even a lawyer. A book will be out about our team next year, and there is a Documentary about us, which was just put into the Baseball Hall of Fame, and another one in the works. We are a special group and many of our kids look up to Angel because of his devotion to the program and community.

Again Angel was and still is a top guy for the Brewers. You don't have to excuse him but give him a chance and don't throw him on the bottom of the heap,he deserves more. And when he get to Milwaukee, you wil have a franchise player, and a classy, family guy. Don't lose him, support him

Talk to you guys soon. Leaving for the NABF in Mississippi in a few days (wish we had Angel behind the plate- our next big star, Jean CArlos Rodriguez also a catcher will not join us as he will be playing in the NorthEast Pro Showcase in Lakeland Fl and then the Area Code Games in Long Beach Ca- Go see him if you can, he's bigger than Salome but similar with less power but and electric bat and arm)

Have a good forgiving day

"COACH"http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/embarassed.gif

[pogokat]

Thanks agaain for the input coach...andd i'll admit to possibly overrreacting earlier, but this is still a big deal whether we like it or not...losing almost half a season is not good for Angel'ss development..

[True CryM]

50 games for Adderall? Even though it's a "banned substance", it hardly warrants the full suspension, IMO. I've been on Adderall before, and it really doesn't do much other than help you concentrate. And if he was using this as a substitute for his ADD, there needs to be an honest appeal made.

[wvpowerblkwel]

Well put coach!!!! I got to know Angel while he was here in Charleston last year, and unless it was some kind of bonehead mistake or misunderstanding, I just didn't see this kid doing anything like this at all! HE IS FIRST CLASS! Treated all my family especially my five year old left handed catching prospect as you would family! He gave my boy a catcher's mitt with Angel Salome stitched in the leather because of their friendship. That was before he became a father. I only knew him for a season,a but from character standpoint, he's what I want my child to emulate if he were in that spot. I don't care what the infraction, until you personally know the person, hold off on your hangman's noose! Here's to hoping to visit for a week or two here in WV on his way back to the top! HE is a class act, and a heckuva prospect!

[BillScottCanRake]

From Jim Powell's chat today:

 

Q: Keith of Appleton - Hello Jim, With it coming to light that Angel Salome was suspended not for steroids but for taking an unauthorized medication, Adderol, for his ADHD instead of his prescribed ritilin, do the Brewers have any recourse to challenge the suspension? It seems like losing the development time (rest of the season) is pretty harsh considering the meds are so similar.

 

A: Jim Powell - The Brewers cannot comment on the suspension beyond expressing disappointment and have not officially released information about what the substance was which triggered the suspension. Salome already appealed and lost before the suspension was announced. It is a done deal.

 

www.jsonline.com/story/in...?id=639029

[coach32sm]

Angel did not appeal.

He was going to since he did nothing, but regardless of how it happened, MLB does not care, and never reverses their decision. If you are found positive, there are no excuses, period. Angel knew he was not going to have his suspntion reversed so instead of prolonging it until next year he took it now. He will now have to make sure he is careful in everything he does.

He will be in Arizona and I assure you he will be busteing his hump and then will play in Hawaii, so he is still the same Angel Salome, just not there helpin Brevard win it. He will come back next year mentallly stronger and hungrier. He is still your number one prospect. When Rodgers was hurt and hardly pitched he was still a top prospect because he was a "PROSPECT" a projection, well treat Salome like he is injured, he will come back next year better and a year removed from the ankle injury as well.

"Coach"http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[gregmag]

This is a huge freaking relief, and I'm incredibly happy for Salome, given the alternatives. Plus, if he has to lose time at work, at least he gets to spend it with his new baby.

 

The new part that could be tough for him now, though, is that the whole world knows he has ADHD and takes meds for it. For some people, that feels like a shameful secret, even though it shouldn't be.

 

So -- because we've been discussing it here -- I just want to say that I hope Angel knows that half the world takes some kind of medication for a psychological or neurological condition, and although it sucks to lose a measure of your privacy, nobody whose opinion matters cares.

 

I can't wait to have him back, and I hope he has fun with his baby in the meantime.

 

Greg.