Yasmani Grandal was permitted to play in some Spring Training games, but has otherwise been out of game action all season due to a 50-game suspension that he’s been serving. (Image Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports)

Yasmani Grandal received a 50-game suspension by Major League Baseball in early November for a violation to the league’s performance enhancing drug policy. Grandal’s violation was triggered by high levels of testosterone during a routine test conducted by the league. He was reinstated Tuesday and will make his return to the San Diego Padres’ active roster. John Baker has been optioned to Triple-A in order to make room for Grandal.

Grandal’s arrival to the Padres lineup last season left an immediate impact. He hit .297/.394/.469 in 226 PA over the season’s second half, adding 8 HR and 36 RBI in 60 games. He walked almost as frequently as he struck out, a sign of maturity in his presence at the plate for the now 24 year old. It was am impressive debut campaign.

November’s announcement of Grandal’s suspension – and the reasoning behind it – suddenly called into question the validity of all he’d done the year prior. Grandal instantly went from “franchise fixture” to “just as bad as the steroid users”. As if that weren’t bad enough, Grandal’s name came up again in late January when the Miami New Times first revealed information surrounding the performance enhancing drug violations tied to the BioGenesis Clinic. Grandal’s association with BioGenesis tied all the way back to his time at the University of Miami.

The Padres organization has stood behind Grandal, despite that fact that the catcher has yet to fully explain how he failed the test in the first place. He issued an apology to teammates early in Spring Training, but there hasn’t been much said publicly about the situation by player or team. He’ll need to regain the trust and support of the fanbase because of the move, but that could easily be done simply by performing on the field and at the plate. There’s still reason to believe that he’ll develop into a solid MLB regular despite this indiscretion.

Baker saw just 46 PA on the year, backing up Nick Hundley, and hit .150/.261/.150 in 16 games.

(Image Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports)

Right-handed pitcher Cesar Carrillo has received a 100 game suspension from Major League Baseball thanks to his link to the Biogenesis clinic. The Detroit Tigers minor leaguer is the first player tied to the Miami-based clinic to be suspended after ties linking the clinic to performance enhancing drug use first became public in late January.

Major League Baseball announced the suspension late Friday evening, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports.

MLB suspends Cesar Carrillo, found in the Biogenesis documents and a close friend of Ryan Braun’s, for 100 games.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) March 15, 2013

The official announcement merely stated that Carrillo was suspended for violating the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. No other details were made available, which MLB is able to do because he’s just a minor leaguer. Had Carrillo been on a Major League roster the league would have been forced to provide additional information regarding the suspension due to the strength of the Player’s Union. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports adds that sources say that the league’s decision was based solely on the Biogenesis report.

Major League Baseball is still investigating the clinic and attempting to gain access to the records obtained by the Miami New Times. To date the newspaper has refused to turn them over.

Carrillo, who’ll turn 29 in late April, joined the Tigers on a minor league contract last June after spending the bulk of the 2011 season pitching in the independent Atlantic League after being released in late April (on his birthday, no less) by the Houston Astros. He threw 52.0 innings between Detroit’s High-A and Double-A affiliates, totaling a 3-6 record and 6.23 ERA in 12 games (10 starts). He was slated to return to Double-A to begin the 2013 season.

A number of former players from the University of Miami – including Ryan Braun, Yasmani Grandal, and Gio Gonzalez – have appeared in the clinic’s records according to various reports. Carrillo and Braun not only played together for the Hurricanes, but were roommates for three seasons.

(Image Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports)

Singleton, 21, released a statement through his agents to apologize for his actions:

I was informed today that I have tested positive for marijuana. As a result, I am being suspended for the first 50 games of the 2013 season. I accept the penalty and take full responsibility for my actions. I apologize to my parents, the Houston Astros, and Jeff Luhnow.

The Astros have been nothing but supportive of me and good to me in my short time with the organization. My hope is to use this as a learning experience and spend the rest of my career proving to myself and the baseball community that this was a lapse in judgment, and is not in any way indicative of my character or my dedication to baseball or my team.

The left-handed first baseman has been considered among the game’s top prospects, checking in at #39 and #34 on Baseball America’s Top 100 rankings each of the past two seasons, and is expected to rank highly once again when this year’s list is released. He spent this past season with Houston’s Double-A affiliate, batting .284/.396/.497 with 21 HR and 79 RBI over 555 plate appearances in 131 games. A former 8th Round selection in the 2009 Draft (by the Philadelphia Phillies), Singleton holds a career line of .291/.394/.470 across four minor league seasons.

Houston acquired Singleton (along with Jarred Cosart and two others) from the Phillies at the July trade deadline in 2011 in return for Hunter Pence.

After signing for $1.8 Million out of Duke University, Stroman began his professional career with Toronto’s Class-A affiliate, the Vancouver Canadians. There he posted a 1-0 record and 3.18 ERA over 7 appearances out of the bullpen. The Blue Jays then bumped him up to Double-A New Hampshire, where he was 3-0 with a 3.38 ERA in 8 more games. In all, he struck out 23 and walked 9 in his first 19.1 innings of work in the minor leagues.

There was an off chance the Blue Jays could summon him to the Major Leagues this September, though the chances of such a move were never high. Stroman will now miss the final seven games of New Hampshire’s season and will have to sit through the first 43 games of the 2013 season, putting his return to the mound in mid-May at the earliest. It’s a harsh penalty for Stroman, who many believed could be a factor come next Spring Training for the Jays. But give the kid some credit, as he is owning up to his mistakes.

Despite taking precautions to avoid violating the Minor League testing program, I unknowingly ingested a banned stimulant that was in an over-the-counter supplement. Nonetheless, I accept full responsibility and I want to apologize to the Toronto Blue Jays organization, my family, my teammates, and Blue Jays fans everywhere. I look forward to putting this behind me and rejoining my teammates.

The Toronto Blue Jays, like most other organizations hold seminars each year at Spring Training to teach their minor league players what to look for in supplements they can purchase at local stores. It’s an effort to educate the players on as many aspects of the performance enhancing drug testing program as possible. Having just joined the organization after signing in July, Stroman would not have had the benefit of such a program. Even still, he’s accepting the responsibility for carefully checking what it is that he is ingesting.

To no surprise, the Blue Jays organization was not exactly pleased with the news. But Assistant GM Tony LaCava, per quotes passed along by Chisholm, is viewing the situation as best he can:

My natural reaction is disappointment. Obviously, you never expect something like this to happen. That being said, it’s a stiff penalty for him to pay. He unknowingly took a product that was over the counter that had a stimulant in it, and the burden is on the player, so he’s obviously going to pay the price. To his credit, he’s standing up to it. He acknowledges that it was his responsibility, he made a mistake, he ingested it and he’s accountable for that. The 50 games is the price he’s going to have to pay.

Baseball has been flush with suspensions in recent weeks, first starting with Melky Cabrera’s failed drug test and then followed by that of Bartolo Colon. The Tampa Bay Rays have also seen four minor league players suspended in recent weeks, one for performance enhancing drugs and three others for drugs of abuse. There isn’t much of a silver lining for Stroman here, but the incident comes early enough in his career that he should get at least a fair chance to prove himself once he’s eligible to return.

Cabrera, who will not appeal the suspension, issued a statement through the MLBPA:

My positive test was the result of my use of a substance I should not have used. I accept my suspension under the Joint Drug Program and will try to move on with my life. I am deeply sorry for my mistake and I apologize to my teammates, to the San Francisco Giants organization, and to the fans for letting them down.

Melky Cabrera's enjoyed a career year in 2012 but it will end prematurely thanks to a positive test for performance enhancing drugs. (Image credit: Cary Edmondson - US Presswire)

The Giants had acquired Cabrera this past offseason from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for left-handers Jonathan Sanchez and Ryan Verdugo. Through 113 games this year, Cabrera was hitting a career high .346/.390/.516 with 11 HR and 60 RBI in 501 plate appearances. The first time All Star was leading the National League in runs scored and hits entering today’s games.

Cabrera, who turned 28 just a few days ago, was set to become a free agent this winter and was expected to be one of the most sought after outfielders on the open market. He and the Giants had recently agreed to table extension talks until after the season, but the news of this suspension will likely end up costing him millions of dollars.

The Giants, who have 46 games remaining on their 2012 schedule, issued a statement of their own shortly after the suspension was announced (as passed along by Around the Foghorn):

We were extremely disappointed to learn of the suspension of Melky Cabrera for violating Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention & Treatment Program. We fully support Major League Baseball’s policy and its efforts to eliminate performance enhancing drugs from our game. Per the protocol outlined by Major League Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement, the Giants will not comment further on this matter.

For the Giants, this is ultimately a huge blow for a team still in the hunt for a playoff berth. The Giants currently sit tied with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the NL West lead and will face Stephen Strasburg and the NL-best Washington Nationals tonight.