Miami Marlins

Indians' Marlon Byrd suspended 162 games after second positive PED test

Published Jun. 1, 2016 2:18 p.m. ET

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Byrd packed his belongings following a loss to Texas on Tuesday night, but he didn't tell the team about his suspension until he called manager Terry Francona on Wednesday morning. Later, he spoke to his teammates in Cleveland's clubhouse.

"Marlon stood up in front of everybody and took responsibility and apologized," Francona said. "And, basically, he told the guys that his career is over and this is not how he wanted it to end. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of criticism of the situation, but it doesn't take away that we care about him. We care about our team, but we also care about the individuals. So, that hurts.

"It feels like we got kicked in the stomach a little bit."

Indians president Chris Antonetti said the team did not act rashly in signing Byrd, knowing his checkered past.

"We spent a lot of time working through that," he said. "It had been three years at that point since he had the positive test. And he had been tested a lot of times. We did considerable work and due diligence on him as a teammate and a professional, and ultimately felt that it was worth the risk. To Marlon's credit, he actually came in and fit in very well with our team, got a long with the players, made a positive impact on the field and in the clubhouse. Obviously, this is unfortunate."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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