MLB suspends A's Laureano 80 games for positive drug test

Major League Baseball slapped Oakland Athletics outfielder Ramon Laureano with an 80-game ban on Friday after he tested positive for steroids.

Laureano, 27, tested positive for the anabolic steroid Nandrolone and his suspension is effective immediately, officials said. He will also give up his salary for the length of the ban.

Laureano, of the Dominican Republic, released a statement through the players union denying he used steroids and saying he was "shocked" to learn he failed a test.

"Anyone who truly knows me as a person knows how much I love the game and that I would never intentionally do something like this," he said.

This was Laureano's first suspension since August 2020 when he banned six games for charging the Houston Astros' bench to go after their hitting coach, Alex Cintron.

Laureano appealed and managed to get the ban reduced to four games.

Laureano, who plays right field, was batting .246 with 14 home runs and 39 runs batted in over 88 games this season.

In his fourth season with the A's, Laureano is a career .263 hitter with 49 home runs and 150 RBIs.

The A's are in second place in the American League West division with a 61-48 record.

© 2021 AFP