The Atlanta Braves are without left fielder Jurickson Profar for 80 regular-season games and the entire postseason after he tested positive for PEDs.
USA Today’s Bob Nightengale had that suspension on his mind during his column on Sunday. He expressed his curiosity for how much the Braves feel swindled right now.
“Atlanta, who spent most of their money on outfielder Jurickson Profar this winter with a three-year, $42 million contract, now have to wonder if they were scammed,” Nightengale wrote.
Profar will go without pay for the entirety of his suspension – losing $5,806,440 of his $12 million salary. However, there are still two and a half years for which the Braves will be on the hook for his salary.
Since Profar, in theory, would come back from his suspension and play cleanly, Nightengale said only then will we find out how much PEDs played a role in Profar’s All-Star season.
“The question now is how will he look when he returns. He hit .280 with a career-high 24 homers and an .839 OPS last season with the Padres, but was it simply a byproduct of PEDs?” Nightengale wrote.
Nightengale isn’t the first to imply the Braves were left in the dark about a potential suspension. Former Montreal Expos and Florida/Miami Marlins general manager and podcast host Dave Samson said last week that teams are left in the dark on the results of PED testing. This leaves them prone to signing players who are facing potential punishment.
“When you are tested, you submit, and then there’s silence,” Samson said. “The league and the union know that this free agent has tested positive, and [the team doesn’t] get to know it.”
Samson said the decisions following the testing typically come after the player has signed a contract. He added that it’s unfair that Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos got to go through negotiations not knowing. It’s heavily implied here that Profar knew as negotiations went on.
The narrative over the offseason was that Profar’s All-Star season was because of adjustments he made to his swing. It still could have played a factor even if PEDs prove to have played a role.
He is elligible to return to June 29. That’ll be the first chance to find out. In 16 plate apperances before his suspension, Profar batted .200 with a .450 OPS.
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