Nelson Cruz Involved In PED Scandal

Oh boy

Nelson Cruz hoisting his ALCS MVP Award in 2011

A story is up on Miami’s New Times site which speaks in-depth (7 pages in total) of what is being described as the “East Coast version of Balco”. Among the list of players confirmed to be involved in the scandal are Alex Rodriguez, Melky Cabrera, 2012 NL Cy Young Award candidate, Gio Gonzalez, and none other than the Rangers’ right fielder over the last several seasons, Nelson Cruz.

Here is the paragraph-long excerpt on Cruz:

"But there are also several prominent professionals in Bosch’s records who have never before been linked to steroid use. According to his July 2012 client sheet, Bosch sold $4,000 of product to Nelson Cruz, whom he nicknames “Mohamad.” Cruz, the power-hitting Dominican outfielder for the Texas Rangers, has whacked 130 bombs in his eight-year career without any links to performance-enhancing drugs. Until now. Bosch writes in his 2012 book: “Need to call him, go Thur to Texas, take meds from April 5-May 5, will owe him troches and… and will infuse them in May.”"

What’s surprising is the first statement: to my knowledge Nelson Cruz has never been linked to PED’s of any kind at any point in his career. He used to carry the label of performing like a “AAAA” player, someone who destroys Triple-A pitching but can’t hit a lick in the pros, so it makes one wonder just how long these alleged drugs have been pumping through his system. But since 2009 or so, Cruz has been a fixture in the Rangers’ everyday lineup.

I’ll post something more comprehensive in a later report, because as of now we’re unaware of the potential ramifications that are to come of this. For now, we’ll just let the article speak for itself, and break down the specifics when the moment is more appropriate.