A newspaper is reporting San Francisco Giants All-Star Melky Cabrera tried to avoid a 50-game drug suspension by creating a fake website and product to support his claim that he inadvertently took the illegal substance.
The New York Daily News reported Sunday that Major League Baseball investigators quickly uncovered the scheme during the fact-finding phase of the case in July. The incident has drawn the attention of federal investigators. Cabrera was suspended Wednesday.
In their search for the source of the drug that caused elevated levels of testosterone in Cabrera's sample, investigators are looking into Juan Nunez, who is alleged to have paid for the website. Nunez is a consultant for Cabrera's agents, Sam and Seth Levinson.
Nunez told the newspaper the Levinsons had no knowledge of the website scheme.
San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy would not discuss the allegations against Cabrera before the Giants played the Padres in San Diego. He didn't defend his player's actions, either.
"You can be world-class parents and your kids can go south or have some issues. We can't follow guys 24/7, and it comes down to choices. (Cabrera) is a grown man, he's a veteran," Bochy said. "These are unfortunate things and we'll continue to work at cleaning out baseball."
