San Francisco Giants' Melky Cabrera launched fake website in ruse

[JonLP24]

San Francisco Giants star outfielder Melky Cabrera mounted a campaign to avoid his 50-game suspension that included a fake website featuring a fictitious product in an effort that was quickly uncovered by MLB investigators, the New York Daily News has reported.

Citing an anonymous source close to the case and an associate who told the newspaper he was "accepting responsibility for what everyone else already knows" concerning the fake site, the Daily News reported famed investigator Jeff Novitzky and agents from MLB's investigative arm have begun looking more closely at Cabrera and the scheme purportedly hatched in July as they seek the source of the synthetic testosterone found in his urine.

"There was a product they said caused this positive," the source told the Daily News. "Baseball figured out the ruse pretty quickly."

<snip>

The purpose was to fool MLB and the players' union, while presenting them with the website and resulting phony product information, into believing Cabrera had ordered a supplement fraudulently spiked with testosterone, therefore causing the positive drug test, the report says.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8282185/san-francisco-giants-melky-cabrera-launched-fake-website-ruse-report-says

[bluedigger]

1. I don't think we'll see Melky on the field again for a loooong time.

[Auggie]

7. Maybe in Japan?

[bluedigger]

8. Good point.

[Iggo]

2. That's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

And I know I've said that before. It's just that people keep surprising me.

Seriously, though. Him and who else thought this stupid plan had a chance in hell of succeeding?

[Onceuponalife]

3. I think tougher sanctions are in order here

A longer suspension, maybe? Or even a perma ban from baseball. I mean, deliberate fraud against major league baseball? This goes beyond anything Bonds or Manny or anyone else has pulled. The San Francisco Giants have been permanently stained by this debacle. Where are all the Giants defenders with their platitudes and excuses?

[bluedigger]

4. No further sanctions are anticipated.

Paraphrasing what I heard on Sportscenter tonight from a "well placed source".

I really can't believe they wouldn't bring the banhammer down on Melky for willfully deceiving MLB's investigation.

[joeybee12]

9. Yeah...one would think this would warrant additional punishment...

Wonder if it's because there's no precedent for it and MLB doesn't want a nasty battle with the players' union?

[bluedigger]

11. That actually makes some sense.

"baseball had referred the case to federal investigators" http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/2012/08/20/cabrera-associate-attempted-fabricate-defense/k6zDO1RguvQHuBc951oX2J/story.html

I think they want criminal prosecution of some sort.

[joeybee12]

12. Auggie posted below about the FBI investigating...

Sounds like MLB is taking that route.

[Renew Deal]

5. What a nut

[KamaAina]

6. "The clear" was so last decade.

It's all about "the fake".

[Auggie]

10. The Feds are investigating, according to the San Francisco Chronicle

From today, 8-20-12

The Melky Cabrera drug saga took a bizarre turn Sunday when it was reported that he tried to trick Major League Baseball in a plot that backfired and prompted another federal investigation into the sport's link to performance-enhancing drugs.

A confidant of Cabrera's purchased a website as part of a scheme to fabricate evidence so the Giants' left fielder could try to duck out of his 50-game drug suspension, according to an account first reported by the New York Daily News.

But the cover-up bid crumbled, and now the matter is being investigated by federal authorities, including Jeff Novitzky, an investigative agent for the Food and Drug Administration - and the "steroid cop" and lead investigator in the Barry Bonds BALCO scandal.

SNIP

MLB did not comment on the Daily News report, and an FDA spokeswoman did not return messages seeking comment. However, an official familiar with the probe who requested anonymity told The Chronicle on Sunday that the Daily News account was accurate.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/giants/shea/article/Melky-Cabrera-testosterone-plot-thickens-3799981.php

[joeybee12]

13. I can only assume Melky is really, really stupid....

Geesh!

[TZ]

14. yeah see, I'm kinda in this field here

and what he did with making up a "substance" and making a website about it is a HUGE NO-NO. If anyone I knew did that, be out a job, $$$ and in jail. FDA doesn't fool around here.