The Minnesota Twins have spent the last couple years trying to build up their pitching rotation. One of their most recent acquisitions in that department is Ervin Santana, who they signed to a four-year $54 million deal on December 13, 2014. Maybe 13 was an unlucky number for Santana, because he got caught cheating.
Santana has been suspended 80 games by Major League Baseball for using the synthetic anabolic steroid Stanozolol.
MLB announced Ervin Santana #Twins has been susp. 80-games for using steroid stanozolol.He will not be paid his $13.5m salary during susp
— Jim Bowden⚾️🏈 (@JimBowdenGM) April 3, 2015
It’s a pretty big blow for a player who was set to make $13.5 million this season and felt like a lock to make 30 starts in the Twins’ rotation. Sanatana was having a great spring too, with a 1.89 ERA over 19 innings pitched.
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Santana was hoping to headline a Twins rotation that received solid returns from Phil Hughes in 2014 after he left the New York Yankees to sign with Minnesota. Hughes went 16-10 with a 3.52 ERA and 186 strikeouts. He was joined last season in the rotation by yet another 2013 free agent offseason acquisition, Ricky Nolasco.
Nolasco struggled mightily after playing well in his contract 2013 year. In 2014, he went 6-12 with a 5.38 ERA and was hit hard all season with a BAA of .316.
For 2015, continued consistency from Hughes and Santana and a bounce back season from Nolasco would have brought about a solid 1-2-3 punch to the Twins’ rotation. Right-hander Kyle Gibson, Minnesota’s first round pick from the 2009 amateur draft, seems also to be a positive contributor for 2015 after having logged over 200 big league innings pitched through 2013-14. His spring ERA currently sits at 2.75.
Now, Gibson, Hughes and Nolasco will all have to pick up the slack in the first half of the season for the Twins. Tommy Milone was likely set to be named the fifth starter, but he’ll be bumped up to the No. 4 spot now.
Probable replacements for Santana will be the very ordinary Mike Pelfrey or possibly later down the road, prospect Alex Meyer. People know what Pelfrey brings to the table, but Meyer is the No. 3 ranked Twins prospect. Last season he posted a 3.52 ERA in 27 Triple-A starts. His impressive K/9 of 10.6 shows he should have some success making hitters miss at the next level. Meyer has seen limited work in spring training, throwing 5.2 innings of work allowing only four hits, one earned run and has struck out six.
Stanozolol is a PED much more common amongst the inner circles of wrestlers and football players. It is commonly sold under the name Winstrol and is typically used by people looking to cut body fat while increasing muscle mass.
Former Olympic Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson as well as Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds are a few of the more publicized athletes who have been convicted or suspected of using Stanozolol. As Jose Canseco noted in his book Juiced, it was a popular substance in the steroid era of MLB when position players looked to add to their future home run output totals.
Seeing a pitcher test positive for it in 2015 is a bit unexpected, but nonetheless still proof that baseball players face pressure to exceed and that PED use is very much still part of the game. The Twins’ Ervin Santana has created a storyline about himself for all the wrong reasons before Opening Day has even arrived. And apparently, Santana’s problems in 2015 are not limited to just his steroid use.