DRUG SCANDAL: A-Rod, Braun to be suspended for 100 games, 18 more players suspected, No Red Sox on list

Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun will soon be suspended for 100-games by Commissioner Bud Selig and 18 other players will receive shorter sentences, according to sources from ESPN’s “Outside The Lines.” No Red Sox player is currently under scrutiny.

Apr 13, 2013; Bronx, NY, USA; Injured New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez (13) sits in the dugout during the third inning of a MLB game against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Tony Bosch, founder of the defunct Biogenesis of America, has flipped and made a bargain with MLB’s investigators, providing proof of use of banned substances by at least 20 players.

Bosch will meet this Friday in NYC with MLB representatives to testify and hand over incriminating documents; MLB has had a list of 20 players for about a month and, if Bosch provides the ammunition, player suspensions will begin within the next two weeks.

To bolster its case, MLB is also seeking the cooperation of two other former Bosch associates who have spoken to MLB investigators, as well as Juan Carlos Nunez, a registered agent who worked for longtime agents Seth and Sam Levinson; Nunez is alleged to have served as a middle man between Bosch and numerous players.

>>>>>UPDATE<<<<<

Anthony Bosch—the center of one of the biggest performance-enhancing drug scandals in MLB history—agreed to cooperate with the league only after New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez refused to help him out financially, according to a New York Daily Newsreport by Teri Thompson, Bill Madden, Christian Red and Michael O’Keeffe.

As noted in the report, it was only after Rodriguez rebuffed Bosch’s request—believed to be in the “hundreds of thousands”—that Bosch decided to cooperate with MLB investigations.

The league was worried Bosch would turn to its players for financial support if it didn’t lock him into testifying in the case. As quoted in the report, an unnamed source believes Bosch’s testimony is the only thing that will yield damning evidence against the players in question.

“They were afraid someone else would pay him,” the source said. “Bosch is the only guy that can provide them with what they need.”

[http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1663576-anthony-bosch-reportedly-cooperated-with-mlb-after-alex-rodriguez-refused-to-pay?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=mlb]

“Slips of paper listing their names, a sworn affidavit from Bosch admitting that they were customers — heck, I’m not a lawyer, but I’d take my chances tearing baseball’s case apart.

And that assumes baseball’s “deal” with Bosch is legally proper, a point that already is being questioned.”

[http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/tony-bosch-biogenesis-ryan-braun-alex-rodriguez-will-word-be-enough-to-bring-suspensions-060413]

Players who are under investigation include:

MORE: [http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/9301536/major-league-baseball-suspend-20-players-including-alex-rodriguez-ryan-braun-part-miami-investigation]

Compete player profiles here: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1662338-complete-profiles-for-players-linked-to-mlb-ped-scandal

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