Anthony Bosch, the founder of Biogenesis that led to a scandal involving several Major League Baseball players being suspended, reportedly told federal investigators that agent Scott Boras tried to alter medical records to prevent former All-Star Manny Ramirez from being suspended.
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Friday, Nov. 14
Boras Denies Bosch Allegations
Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan has Scott Boras’ response to Bosch’s claims:
Bosch Claims Boras Hid Ramirez PED Use
According to Gus Garcia-Roberts of Newsday, Bosch claims that Boras set all of this up after Ramirez’s first positive drug test in 2009 when he was playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers:
Bosch said Boras arranged the meeting after Ramirez tested positive for banned substances in 2009. Boras, according to Bosch, came up with an explanation for the failed test that involved Ramirez accidentally using an elderly uncle’s testosterone cream because he thought it was aftershave.
The report says that Bosch brought forward these claims when he was “being debriefed by the Drug Enforcement Agency.” It also states that MLB Players’ Association records show Ramirez got a prescription from Dr. Pedro Bosch, father of Anthony, and he was given hCG that resulted in his first suspension.
When Bosch met with federal agents, he told them that Boras called for the meeting at Dr. Pedro Bosch’s office after Ramirez failed the drug test. Bosch’s father was present at the meeting to act as a witness and because he had a medical license.
Bosch also claims in the article that Boras “told him that the MLBPA needed him to produce a patient chart for Ramirez. Bosch responded that he didn’t keep records on his patients, so he fabricated a file for the union’s use” and the uber-agent wanted hCG included on the chart to avoid a suspension.
Ramirez became one of the highest-profile players to be suspended under MLB’s joint drug agreement. He said after his first suspension that the failed drug test as the result of a medication given to him by a doctor for a condition that wound up being on MLB’s banned list, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was OK 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.
Before retiring in 2011, Ramirez signed with Tampa Bay and played in five games. It was announced afterward that the former All-Star had failed another drug test and would have faced a 100-game suspension if he kept playing.
In a March interview with Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, Ramirez took responsibility for his actions and acknowledged a need to move forward:
When you make a mistake in life, no matter what you do, you’re going to pay the price. That’s what happened to all of the players that did it. I’m not going to judge people. Everybody is human. Everybody makes mistakes. …
You’re going to feel guilty about what you did. But you did it. You move on. And you learn from it.
While Ramirez is still playing baseball, spending last year with the Chicago Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate in Iowa, he would face a suspension in the event he ever makes it back to the big leagues.
Boras has become one of the most powerful and high-profile agents in all of sports, negotiating record deals for Alex Rodriguez. He’s going to play another huge role in free agency this offseason, representing Max Scherzer.
Garcia-Roberts also notes that neither Dr. Pedro Bosch, nor Boras responded to Newsday inquiries about these claims.
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