Giants reliever Mota gets 100-game drug suspension

[El Supremo]

NEW YORK (AP) San Francisco Giants reliever Guillermo Mota was suspended for 100 games on Monday, becoming just the third major league player penalized twice for positive drug tests.

The commissioner's office said the 38-year-old right-hander tested positive for Clenbuterol. In November 2006, while with the New York Mets, Mota was suspended for the first 50 games of the next season.

''The Giants are disappointed to learn of Guillermo Mota's suspension,'' the team said in a statement.

(snip)

Outfielder Manny Ramirez and catcher Eliezer Alfonzo are the only previous players to twice test positive. No player has tested positive a third time, which would result in a lifetime ban.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/giants-reliever-mota-gets-100-202826379--mlb.html;_ylt=AsYttovHlZ84K5ya43ZwyvERvLYF

More bad news for the Gnats.

[Auggie]

1. Oh, man ...

this is going to hurt.

[madinmaryland]

2. Weren't you just saying that the Ginats needed relievers. Sorry, but Chris Davis is not available!!

He was throwing 91-92 mph fastballs!

[Jack Rabbit]

3. We'll give you Mota for Davis

He'll be available in September.

[madinmaryland]

5. He was the DH and struck out five times!! I guess he learned to pitch by his attempts

at hitting!!

[flvegan]

4. What a stupid drug to get busted for.

[Auggie]

6. Okay, this could be a good thing ...

Since Brian Wilson is out for the year and a F.A. in 2013, the Giants will have to start thinking what to do for a full-time closer. Re-sign a now questionable Wilson for a ton of money, or ...?

They have a prospect in AAA -- Heath Hembree. The dude had a good Spring and this could be the opportunity to try him in The Show.

According to the Bleacher Report:

Hembree features a fastball that sits in the mid-90 MPH range to go with a power slider. In 76.1 career minor league innings, Hembree has struck out 110 hitters, good for a ridiculous strike-out rate of 13.0 per nine innings pitched.

If the Giants replace Mota with Hembree, then this suspension could turn out to be a blessing in disguise. The Giants may ultimately decide that Hembree needs more seasoning in the minor leagues given his lack of experience.

However, there is no question that his stuff is big league-ready as he showed during his outstanding spring training with the Giants. Given the high attrition rate among major league relievers, it makes a lot of sense to throw Hembree into the fire now and find out if the Giants have their closer of the future.

LINK: (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1175422-san-francisco-giants-reliever-guillermo-mota-suspended-100-games-for-drug-use)

I've been thinking about this since Wilson went down and totally concur. Let's roll.