KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Those players suspended Monday in the Biogenesis investigation for taking performance-enhancing drugs won't get any sympathy from Royals union representative Aaron Crow.
"If all the allegations are true, then I'm glad they got caught and suspended," Crow told FOXSportsKansasCity.com. "Cleaning up the game is one of the most important things we're trying to deal with.
"It shocks me that people try to get away with it. I guess some people think the risk is worth it. It's just unfortunate that it still goes on and hopefully this will help make it go away."
One Royals player familiar with such PED investigations is Miguel Tejada.
Tejada was embroiled in the steroid controversy connected to Rafael Palmeiro back in 2005.
Tejada was named in the Mitchell Report as part of the investigation into Palmeiro, who was suspended for steroid use but who claimed Tejada supplied him with a substance that made him test positive for steroids. Tejada said he simply gave Palmeiro a vial of B-12, but Tejada later was investigated for perjury because his testimony to Congress contradicted information in the Mitchell Report.
Tejada eventually received one year of probation.
Monday's suspensions didn't seem to affect Tejada much.
"I don't pay attention to it very much," he said. "Whatever Major League Baseball got to do, they got to do."
But Tejada did say going through investigations and possible suspensions were obviously difficult for him.
"After you go through that situation, you just got to thank God," he said, "and you ask God to help you not get into that kind of trouble again. That's all."
Former Royals union rep Luke Hochevar, like Crow, didn't appear to have too much concern for those suspended.
"It's really not for me to comment on each individual case," Hochevar said. "But the rules are put in place and MLB has shown that if you break them, you'll pay that price."
Asked why players might even try to skirt the rules these days, Hochevar said, "I think, too, that at some point you don't know if something will be outlawed. Maybe these guys didn't know that when they were taking this stuff that two years later it would become (banned)."
Royals manager Ned Yost, whose team had won 11 of 12 entering Monday night's game against the Twins, said the suspensions didn't have any affect on him.
"Not much. It's just one guy (Jhonny Peralta of Detroit) in the division," Yost said.
Asked if Monday represented a dark day in baseball, Yost responded, "Well, it's sunny here."
You can follow Jeffrey Flanagan on Twitter at @jflanagankc or email him at jeffreyflanagan6@gmail.com
