Major League Baseball

Royals' Tejada suspended 105 games

Published Aug. 17, 2013 1:00 a.m. ET

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Ken Rosenthal

This one isn’t related to Biogenesis, but Major League Baseball announced the suspension Saturday of a former MVP — and a player who has been linked to performance-enhancing drugs numerous times in the past.

Baseball issued a 105-game suspension to Kansas City Royals infielder Miguel Tejada for using amphetamines. Tejada’s season already was over — the Royals moved him to the 60-day disabled list on Wednesday because of his strained left calf. Now, his career might be over, too.

A source confirms that Tejada had three positive tests, two recently, as reported by Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports.

There is no penalty for the first positive test. The suspension encompasses 25 games for the second and 80 for the third.

Tejada is not appealing and will begin serving the ban immediately.

“I apologize to my teammates, the Royals organization and to the Kansas City fans," Tejada said in a statement released Saturday on his behalf by the Major League Baseball Players Association. "I have a medical condition that requires medication to treat. I took that medication while re-applying for a Therapeutic Use Exemption. Under the requirements of the Joint Drug Program, I made a mistake in doing so.”

MLB's medical staff occasionally grants therapeutic-use exemptions that allow players to use drugs such as Adderall to treat ADD and other disorders. However, Tejada no longer had the proper authorization to use the drug and the positive tests warranted a suspension.

It's the third-longest non-lifetime ban handed down by MLB behind Alex Rodriguez's 211-game suspension, which is currently under appeal, and reliever Steve Howe's 119-day penalty in 1992.

Tejada, 39, won the 2002 American League Most Valuable Player Award with the Oakland Athletics. While this is his first violation of baseball’s Joint Drug Agreement, his name repeatedly has surfaced in connection with PEDs.

Rafael Palmeiro, Tejada’s former teammate with the Baltimore Orioles, said he believed that he tested positive because of a vial of B-12 that Tejada had given him. Tejada also was named in baseball’s Mitchell Report in 2007 and pleaded guilty to charges that he lied to Congress about his knowledge of PED use in baseball in 2009.

Tejada, a six-time All-Star, batted .288 with a .695 OPS for the Royals this season, with three home runs in 156 at-bats. He is a career .285 hitter with 307 home runs and .791 OPS.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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