Major League Baseball

Mariners minor leaguer Powell draws 80-game drug suspension

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 8:44 p.m. ET

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NEW YORK (AP) Seattle Mariners minor league outfielder Boog Powell has been suspended 80 games for violating Major League Baseball's drug agreement after testing positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance.

The commissioner's office made the announcement Thursday. It was Powell's second penalty for a banned substance.

The 23-year-old Powell, not related to the former Baltimore slugger in the 1960s and 1970s, was on Seattle's 40-man roster. He hasn't played in the majors.

Powell was hitting .270 with 27 RBIs and 10 stolen bases in 64 games at Triple-A Tacoma, playing center field.

He tested positive for dehydrochlormethyltestosterone, an anabolic steroid used to increase speed and strength. He was banned 50 games in 2014 after a positive test for an amphetamine.

In a statement, Powell says he accepts the penalty but does not know how the substance could have been in his system.

''I ... will not rest until there is a full explanation for this result which will vindicate me. Until that happens, however, I realize that accountability rests solely with me on this matter,'' Powell said.

There have been 12 players suspended this year under the big league drug program.

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