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Moss, Machado among suspended

SEATTLE -- Seattle's Damian Moss and Ryan Christianson were
among 38 players suspended Monday for violating baseball's minor
league steroids policy, a group that included eight players from
the Mariners' organization.

"We're obviously very disappointed and not happy about it at
all," Seattle general manager Bill Bavasi said after the Mariners
beat Minnesota 5-1. "On the other side of the coin, we're like
everybody else. We want this cleaned up."

Oakland's David Castillo was suspended for 60 games, the penalty
for a third violation. All the others were suspended for 15 games,
the ban given to first offenders. A fourth violation would yield a one-year suspension. There is a lifetime ban for players who test positive a fifth time.

"I think you'll see more announcements," Bavasi said. "That's
a guess on my part. They tested, they got results. I think this is
going to go on through the year and hopefully the numbers are going
to drop."

Seven of the 38 positives came from the Chicago Cubs
organization, five each from the Los Angeles Angels, Oakland and
Texas, and four from San Diego. There were two from Colorado, and
one each from St. Louis and the Chicago White Sox.

"The release speaks for itself," Oakland assistant general
manager David Forst said. "The program is in place and it's
working."

The commissioner's office said one suspension was the result of
offseason testing and the rest stemmed from 925 tests conducted
during spring training.

Last year, about 1.7 percent of the minor league tests for
steroids were positive, baseball spokesman Pat Courtney said.
Courtney did not know whether some teams had more players than
others tested during spring training.

"We're all concerned about the same thing, and that is getting
to the day where we test and have no positive tests," Bavasi said.

On Sunday, Tampa Bay outfielder Alex Sanchez was suspended for
10 days, becoming the first major league player penalized under the
sport's toughened testing rules. Players with minor league
contracts, who are not covered by a collective bargaining
agreement, are tested for more banned substances. Amphetamines are
on the minor league banned list but are not covered by the major
league policy.

Ten of the players suspended have been released.

Also suspended for 15 games were Elvis Avendano (Oakland),
Lizahio Baez (Texas), Oscar Bernard (Cubs), David Cash (Cubs), Troy
Cate (Seattle), Robinson Chirinos (Cubs), Ryan Christianson
(Seattle), William Collazo (Angels), Renee Cortez (Seattle),
Matthew Craig (Cubs), Jason Diangelo (Colorado), Jose Espinal
(Chicago White Sox), Omar Falcon (Seattle), Paul Frisella (St.
Louis), Jesus Guzman (Seattle), Justin Hatcher (Texas),
Javier Herrera (Oakland), William Hogan (Seattle), Kevin Jacobo (San
Diego), Ryan Leahy (Angels), Baltazar Lopez (Angels), Luis Perez
(Oakland), Nathan Sevier (San Diego), Carlos Vazquez (Cubs) and
Neil Wilson (Colorado).

The released players who were suspended were Willy Espinal
(Texas), Alexander Francisco (Angels), Clay Hensley (San Diego),
Robert Machado (Texas), Jesus Medrano (Cubs), Jacobo Meque (San
Diego), Kevin Reinking (Cubs), Christopher Russ (Texas), Mayobanex
Santana (Oakland) and Darwin Soto (Seattle).

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