BRADY HENDERSON

Report: Mariners’ Jesus Montero named in records of clinic linked to performance-enhancing drugs

Feb 6, 2013, 8:28 AM | Updated: Feb 7, 2013, 11:07 am

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Mariners catcher Jesus Montero claims he has “no idea” why he’s been linked to the South Florida anti-aging clinic that is under investigation by the MLB for purportedly supplying performance-enhancing drugs to players.

According to a report from the New York Daily News, Montero’s name is in the records of Biogenesis of America LLC, the now-closed clinic run out of Coral Gables, Fla. by Anthony Bosch. The report makes no mention of Montero obtaining or using PEDs, nor does it include any information about when Montero might have been involved with the clinic.

Montero denies any involvement with Biogenesis or Bosch, telling Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times Wednesday morning that he doesn’t know how his name could have ended up in the clinic’s records. Montero said he had never heard of Bosch until Wednesday.

“I have no clue what happened,” Montero told Baker. “I feel like I’m caught in the middle of something and I don’t know why.”

The New York Daily News report comes more than a week after the Miami New Times, citing records obtained from a former Biogenesis employee, reported that the clinic provided PEDs to several prominent baseball players and other professional athletes. Montero was not mentioned in that report.

Baker told 710 ESPN Seattle Wednesday that before the report was published the Miami New Times notified the Mariners and other teams of players whose names were found in the clinic’s records. That might explain why, according to Baker, Montero seemed prepared when the two spoke Wednesday for about 10 minutes at the team’s spring training complex in Peoria, Ariz.

“He seemed very composed, he seemed as relaxed as you could be under the circumstances, and he answered every question that I asked him,” Baker said. “And I asked him a lot of questions about how his name – and why he thought his name – would end up on a list of a clinic in South Florida when he played for the New York Yankees and the Seattle Mariners [and] he’s never lived in Florida, and all those kinds of questions.

“He kept saying he doesn’t know, he has no idea. I asked him if he’d ever ordered supplements through a teammate or gotten recommendations from his agents about where to go for supplements or from a third party about where to go for supplements, and he kept saying no to every question.”

Montero is represented by ACES, a Brooklyn-based sports agency that represents other players who have been linked to Biogenesis and Bosch in recent reports. The agency’s owners, Seth and Sam Levinson, released a statement Wednesday denying that anyone at their agency had any knowledge of or involvement with Bosch or Biogenesis until his name surfaced in reports recently.

The Mariners released a statement Wednesday saying the club has been in contact with the MLB regarding the report.

“The Seattle Mariners strongly support Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, and are disappointed any time we hear of any players potentially involved with banned substances,” the statement reads, in part.

The Mariners’ statement said the club will decline further comment until the league’s investigation is complete

ACES has been under investigation since last summer when one of its client, outfielder Melky Cabrera, was suspended 50 games after testing positive for elevated levels of testosterone.

According to the Miami New Times report, some of the agency’s clients bought banned substances from Biogenesis. Those players include Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, Nationals pitcher Gio Gonzalez and Rangers outfielder Nelson Cruz. Those three have separately denied the allegations.

Montero, 23, hit .260 with 15 home runs and 62 RBIs as a rookie last season. The Mariners are expecting Montero to be their full-time catcher this season.

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