Former Padres OF Abraham Almonte Suspended for PED Use

The Padres were criticized last season for not making many moves at the July 31st trade deadline. One move they did make was trading Abraham Almonte to Cleveland for reliever Marc Rzepcynski. While adding Rzepcynski didn’t do much for the Padres, holding onto Almonte might’ve done more damage. He was suspended Friday for 80 PED after failing a PED test.

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Almonte was both a disappointment in San Diego and never really given a chance. He came over in 2014 in the trade that sent Chris Denorfia to Seattle and in 32 games hit .265 and 2 home runs. As the Padres redid their outfield for 2015, he wasn’t given much of a chance to do much more at the major league level. He played in just 31 games before being traded in late July.

For Cleveland, he gave them excitement about what he could do after coming up from the minor leagues. He played a solid centerfield for the Indians after the departure of Michael Bourne and hit 5 home runs and 20 RBI.

Now that revitalized performance and certainly his future is put in question with this positive test. Manager Terry Francona had this to say about Almonte: “He paid attention to detail so well. I mean that in a complimentary way. It was just a really nice acquisition for us at a time when guys are leaving and some young kids are coming. He did a really good job of solidifying that.”

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In response to the Almonte suspension, the Indians signed another former Padre Will Venable to a minor league deal. Venable struggled in 37 games for the Rangers after being traded from the Padres. He hit just .182 and in fact managed just 12 hits. This after being the Padres Team MVP in 2014.

Almonte tested positive for Boldenone and his next suspension will cost him an entire season. After that, he would be banned for life according to the Joint Drug Agreement of which Mets pitcher Jennry Mejia fell victim to after a third failed test this off-season.