Braves' Prospect Jordan Schafer Suspended For HGH Use

by faketeams on Apr 8, 2008 8:12 PM EDT in Baseball

In the off-season, I traded Dodgers' closer Takashi Saito for Lastings Milledge and the #2 pick in an NL-Only minor league draft. That #2 pick turned out to be Atlanta Braves CF Jordan Schafer. He was selected ahead of San Diego padres' 2B Matt Antonelli and Milwaukee Brewers' LF Matt LaPorta.

Today news breaks that Schafer has been suspended 50 games for "the use of Human Growth Hormone." After a poor 2006 where he hit .240, he broke through as one of the game's top minor leaguers in 2007.

Enough information has been put into the public's use that claim HGH does not improve performance. How that "evidence" will get a fair shake following Schafer's revelations is hard to see.

I know I have a vested interest in hoping that evidence is incorrect. If so, then Schafer's timetable for arrival in Atlanta is barely altered. If not, then...

What I am more curious to learn is how Schafer was caught given their is no test for HGH. That is the bigger question.

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HGH is on the list

All drugs or substances on Schedule II of the Code of Federal Regulations' Schedule of Controlled Substances are considered drugs of abuse covered by the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program adopted in the spring of 2006 between MLB Players Association and the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball. Human Growth Hormone is #45 on the list. The actual .pdf of the legal document is available for download from MLB.com.

The larger question looms why would you trade 39 saves for a "so-called" 5-Tooler that never hit more than double digit HR's or steal double digit bags in the minors, and a single-A clown that hit .240? Schafer stole 50 in HS, but hey that's HS!

Maybe you had three closers?

by boogeyman on Apr 9, 2008 8:58 AM EDT reply actions