According to Mike Piazza, his soon-to-be-released autobiography includes the admission of using Androstenedione.

By now you probably have heard that a urine sample taken from Ryan Braun contained unusually high levels of testosterone — enough that a second test was performed that indicated the testosterone in his system was synthetic; ergo, Braun technically tested positive for PEDs.

Nothing else positive can come from this news.

According to a press release put out by the Kansas City Royals, former Mets farmhand Adam Bostick has been suspended for 50 games after a second positive test for a drug of abuse in violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

Bostick was on the roster of the Royals’ AAA Omaha club.

The exact drug was not mentioned, and it’s quite possible he was using something other than steroids. Cheating is cheating, but I believe there are different levels. For example, taking something that significantly and semi-permanently changes strength, speed, and/or vision (like steroids and HGH) is different from taking something that offers a temporary enhancement (i.e., amphetamines). That said, it would be nice to know if the drug were made public — it’s not necessarily fair that someone who took greenies to stay awake after a long bus ride gets lumped into the same category as a guy who did a d-bol cycle that created the strength needed to become a homerun hitter.

Hat tip to isuzudude for the story.

MetsmerizedOnline hears from scouts around the league that Francisco Rodriguez could be the latest Met hiding an injury. The same article also displays some frighteningly awful numbers from K-Rod since the All-Star break.

Also on MMO, Joe D wonders if the Mets were duped in the Billy Wagner deal — and predicts dark days ahead.

Andy Martino of the Philadelphia Inquirer says we still don’t know if MLB players are clean — and invokes the name of Albert Pujols.

In somewhat related news, the courts have decided that federal agents were wrong to seize the infamous drug list and samples of 104 Major League Baseball players who allegedly tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003. Hard to take a stance on this one. On the one hand, the players’ rights of privacy were infringed upon. On the other hand, the wrongly-obtained evidence did show that many broke the law by taking illegal drugs and drugs without a prescription. As a result of this decision, Barry Bonds remains “innocent” and Victor Conte looks like a whistleblowing civil rights activist, rather than the fly-by-night drug-peddling shyster depicted by Game of Shadows. It’s up to you to decide who’s right and who’s wrong.

Back to the Mets, Metsgrrrl Caryn Rose has a primer for the team on how to be more fan-friendly.

But he sure can hit.

A big hullabaloo focused on Raul Ibanez’ caustic response to the suggestion that he’s on PEDs has permeated all sports media today. I resisted for hours, then finally chose to investigate the whole story. In the end, I believe Raul Ibanez when he says he did not ever take steroids. However, he needs to convince me that he knows how to read.

For the record, it’s not entirely Raul’s fault for all the excitement. Rather, it should be pinned on John Gonzalez, who obviously knows how to read — he’s a journalist for the Philadelphia Inquirer — but apparently does too much “skimming” and not enough “perusing”.

Because if you “peruse” the blog post in question, it turns out that the 42-year-old typing in his mother’s basement (actually, I don’t think he’s that old, but that’s how the classy Ibanez refers to bloggers) actually wrote a several-pointed defense AGAINST the possibility that Raul Ibanez is on PEDs. Read it yourself, and you will agree that Jerod Morris’ article does much more defending than accusing.

Other responses to this ridiculous situation:

RaysIndex calls out Jon Heyman as a hypocrite when it comes to PEDs speculation.

Joe Posnanski, a friend of Ibanez, writes a balanced piece on the debacle. As always, Posnanski “gets it”, and in this post, offers the most plausible reason for Raul’s hot start.

Geoff Baker writes a soapbox-style article about journalism vs. blogging that is so long-winded it wouldn’t fit on Faith on Fear. Ironically, this “journalist” did not do that “journalisy” thing called fact-checking — from his article, it’s clear he did not read Morris’ post. (And for the record, Geoff, the REAL difference between journalists and basement bloggers is that we “BBs” interact with our readership, while you sit perched on a pedestal in your soundproof booth and spout out one-way conversations … you know, like a fascist dictator.)

Big League Stew on Yahoo Canada gives a blow-by-blow account of the controversy.

As it turns out, the drug that Manny Ramirez tested positive for was a SEXUAL enhancer, not unlike Viagra.

According to Yahoo’s Tim Brown and Steve Henson:

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the substance is supposed to boost sex drive. It is not Viagra, but a substance that treats the cause rather providing a temporary boost in sexual performance, the source said.

According to Manny’s official statement:

“Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was okay to give me. Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility. I have been advised not to say anything more for now. I do want to say one other thing; I’ve taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons.”

So there you have it — Manny was indeed trying to hit more homeruns, but in the bedroom rather than the ballfield.

According to four independent sources, SI is reporting that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003.

The results of that year’s survey testing of 1,198 players were meant to be anonymous under the agreement between the commissioner’s office and the players association. Rodriguez’s testing information was found, however, after federal agents, armed with search warrants, seized the ’03 test results from Comprehensive Drug Testing, Inc., of Long Beach, Calif., one of two labs used by MLB in connection with that year’s survey testing.

A-Rod was approached by reporters at a Miami gym, and he did not deny the accusations:

“You’ll have to talk to the union,” said Rodriguez, the Yankees’ third baseman since his trade to New York in February 2004. When asked if there was an explanation for his positive test, he said, “I’m not saying anything.”

Reportedly, Rodriguez tested positive for both testosterone and a steroid known as Primobolan.

Mets minor leaguer Kyle Suire has been suspended by Major League Baseball for 50 games for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

Suire was found to have metabolites of Stanozolol in his system. Stanozolol is the same steroid that Olympic sprinter Ben Johnson had in his system in 1988, when he won a Gold Medal which was later rescinded.

Suire, an infielder for the Kingsport Mets and the Brooklyn Cyclones last season, hit .297 with 9 HRs in 182 ABs, posting a .918 OPS for Kingsport. The 5’11” second baseman is the second Mets minor leaguer to be suspended for PEDs this month. AAA pitcher Junior Guerra was disciplined two weeks ago for using Nandrolone.

Is this a concern? Of course, though the incidents are clearly independent of each other; Guerra — a converted catcher — was not in the Mets’ system last year, and in fact has not played in organized ball since 2006 when he was in the Braves’ system. Still, it’s disconcerting that PEDs have infiltrated the Mets’ low-A ball team. We can hope that Suire was indulging on his own … but no one can know for sure.