MLB Suspends Miguel Tejada For 105 Games After Testing Positive For Amphetamine Use

Kansas City Royals infielder Miguel Tejada has been slapped with a 105-game suspension after testing positive for amphetamine, a violation of Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program, according to the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball.

Tejada, 39, will begin serving the suspension immediately. He was placed on the 60-day disabled list this week with a strained calf. He was batting .288 with three home runs and 20 RBIs in 53 games.

As Yahoo Sports reported, the 2002 American League most valuable player will sit out the last 41 games this season and the first 64 games of next season.

This is the third time Tejada has tested postitive for amphetamine in his career. According to ESPN, Tejada was subject to a 25-game ban for the second positive test and an 80-game suspension for a third. Both the second and third positive tests occurred this season. Tejada would receive a lifetime ban from MLB should he test positive a fourth time. Yahoo Sports said Tejada tested positive for Adderall.

“I apologize to my teammates, the Royals organization and to the Kansas City fans,” Tejada said in a statement released by the Major League Baseball Players Association. “I have a medical condition that requires medication to treat. I took that medication while re-applying for a Therapeutic Use Exemption. Under the requirements of the Joint Drug Program, I made a mistake in doing so.”

Tejada has battled allegations of steroid use, in addition to amphetamine. In 2009, he pled guilty to lying to the U.S. Congress during its 2005 investigation into the use of performance-enhancing drugs in MLB. He was sentenced to one year of probation.

According to ESPN, Tejada has acknowledged buying human growth hormone while playing for the Oakland Athletics, but he maintained he threw away the drugs before using them.

In 2007, Tejada was named in the Mitchell Report on the use of performance-enhancing drugs in MLB, joining the likes of Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Eric Gagne, Jason Giambi and Andy Pettitte, among a host of others.

As ESPN pointed out, Tejada’s 105-game ban is third-longest non-lifetime suspension ever imposed by MLB, behind Alex Rodriguez’s 211-game suspension this season and Steve Howe’s 119-game suspension in 1992.

During Tejada’s 16-year career, he has played for the Oakland A’s, Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants and Kansas City Royals.