Jeremy Jeffress Suspended 100 Games

Over the last few years the Milwaukee Brewers have begun to develop into a threat in the National League. They're now a team that is a legitimate contender to win their division and possibly even the NL pennant, and a lot of the credit should go to the organization's ability to develop young talent. They've produced players like Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and Yovani Gallardo as part of a solid young core for the organization, and they have more players waiting for their shot in the minors.

One of those players is pitcher Jeremy Jeffress, who some consider to be the best pitching prospect in the team's farm system. The 2006 first-round pick (18th overall) has run into some trouble in his career, however, particularly with marijuana. Jeffress has already been suspended once for testing positive for "a drug of abuse," which he later admitted was weed, and it looks like he just can't give the ganja up.

He's tested positive for "a drug of abuse" yet again, and now he's going to miss the next 100 games.

Jeffress, who was 2-1 with a 2.18 ERA for Class A Brevard County since being sent down from AA Huntsville, will not be able to pitch until 2010. His agent, Josh Kusnick, told the Milwaukee paper and reporter Tom Haudricourt that his client will enter a rehab program.

"All I'll say is it was not a performance-enhancing drug. We all know the issue Jeremy has had in the past. He obviously has a very sensitive issue he has to overcome," Kusnick told the Milwaukee paper.

"This is all about Jeremy now. This is a problem that goes beyond his career. It's more important to get the person fixed. He wants to have a healthy and productive life, much less baseball."

Jeffress' agent also said that Jeremy will enter a rehab program to help him overcome what seems to be a marijuana addiction.

For Jeffress' sake I hope he realizes while serving this suspension that playing baseball will do a lot more for him in life than hitting the bong can ever do. After all, he only has one strike left. Another positive test and he's banned from professional baseball for life.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

6-29-2009 @ 12:05PM

kevin said...

a hudred games for pot ,come are you kidding me thats bullshit manny take hermon drugs get 50 game & that was an induction he was doing steriods .this kid should have gotten a 20 gane suspension at most .compared to all the other shit that goes on in baseball this kid is a saint .

6-29-2009 @ 12:41PM

Hyatt said...

Makes sence if it wasn't his 3rd offense.

6-29-2009 @ 1:04PM

James said...

I always wondered why he couldn't stop giggling every time he walked a batter.

6-29-2009 @ 6:21PM

chirodan01 said...

kevin, He is no saint, MLB rules: 50 games for the 1st offense and 100 for the second for ANY BANNED SUBSTANCE, no different than roids, coke, andro it does not matter. Every player knows what is on the banned list. If you violate the policy and get caught you are just a moron!

strannge2 said...

#1dumb. #2DUMB # 3 realdumb,and your OUT,BUMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!

6-29-2009 @ 12:31PM

Tom Fornelli said...

Brah, just because your dealer says it's not addictive doesn't mean it's proven, man.

http://www.marijuanaaddiction.info/

6-29-2009 @ 1:24PM

billyp01 said...

part of being a baseball player is being a good role model to the people who pay good money to come out and support you. your working your way to a multi million dollar contract and you cant put down the pipe until the offseason at least? sounds like an addiction to me..

6-29-2009 @ 4:54PM

Did anyone ask him if he wanted to be a role model or was that shit throw his way cause he make more money than most people for playing a game . cause as a parent the only person who needs to be a role model to my kids is me & only me. beside why would i want to live a life that would be a lie, just cause somebody who had the fun of making thier kids can't handle the responsiablity themselves.ENOUGH WITH THIS ROLE MODEL BULLSHIT.

6-29-2009 @ 5:26PM

kevin,
being a role model comes with the territory, every pro athelete knows that going in. im sure your kids look up to other people besides you whether you know it or not, its all a part of growing up. now if you would rather smoke a little weed so you feel like your not living your life as a "lie", instead of chasing your life long dream of becoming a pro baseball player, than maybe your kids should be looking else where for a role model..

6-29-2009 @ 1:47PM

dragon52493 said...

Wow, Tom, you REALLY should research before pulling up one of those propaganda sites with no scientific research to back it up. I do admit that marijuana can be psychologically addicting which means that if you do it everyday because you can it will become a habit, and it WILL be hard to quit as any habit is i.e, biting your finger nails (even though biting your finger nails doesn't make you nearly as happy). The real drugs cocaine, heroin, hell even prescribed drugs like xanax give you a physical addiction, which means that your body literally NEEDS the drug and you experience extreme negative effects on your body. All you experience if you smoke marijuana everyday and then just stop is a slight craving that goes away in a week tops. This SERIOUSLY should be at MOST a 20 game suspension, does baseball REALLY think that him smoking a joint is going to effect his baseball skills positively? (if anything it will make him lazy and decrease his skills!) http://www.rense.com/general69/mj.htm

There's a lot of propaganda out there because its illegal, but seriously try to find the facts, TOM. (So it must be evil, right?!)

6-29-2009 @ 2:11PM

So if you agree it's addicting then what are you arguing with me over?

And why the hell has this turned into a "dangers of pot" discussion?

6-29-2009 @ 11:03PM

smallbizanalyst5 said...

Dragon, a well written post and I agree that he should get at most a 20 game suspension.

The rationale for banning all drugs was to keep MLB pure. but, I think the rules might be more effective, if the commissioner broke these drugs down into performance enhancing, recreational or hardcore damaging categories, and accordingly set suspension criteria based on this classification.

I have been a recreational pot smoker for over 30 years now and enjoy it.

6-29-2009 @ 1:48PM

culiebye4life said...

im just not surprised

6-29-2009 @ 2:34PM

I was just making a point that this does not merit a 100 game suspension, nor should he be suspended for life for another positive test. I just see absoloutely no reason for this. Who cares if he smokes some pot and then pitches a game?

6-29-2009 @ 7:34PM

jimbo13134579 said...

Rules are rules and I am sorry you dont feel that rules are important. You probably dont wear a seat belt either do you? I does not matter whether or not we agree with the rule its there and has to be followed or you pay the penalty. 100 games for the second offense, lifetime for the third. I dont see why that is so hard to understand if you take your personal feelings out of the equation. The boy has a problem and I certainly hope he gets help so he can get over it.

6-29-2009 @ 3:11PM

whiskyworm said...

This is a disgusting act of prejudice! It seems to me the freedom to legislate consumption control oriented laws supercedes the most basic of freedoms, freedom to consume. Capitalism and consumerism go hand in hand. He should play in California and get a 'medical card' for anxiety. It is hard to not have anxiety when you enjoy something others feel entitled to restrict.

6-29-2009 @ 3:47PM

sharffj said...

another ball player UP IN SMOKE

6-29-2009 @ 3:49PM

sports scores, said...

If was playing in the NBA it would be legal.

6-29-2009 @ 4:13PM

Ellen said...

most of u seem to forget that this was his 2nd offense and the rules r set. minor league baseball did not just decide that this player should get 100 days and someone else get less. these r the rules and if u don't like them then petition to have them changed.

6-29-2009 @ 4:17PM

jzz3skys said...

Here's what I don't get about this blog. Tom uses an awkward phrase twice in quotation marks, "drug of abuse" without attribution, although it's clearly from some MLB rule or regulation. My question is whether this rule is part of an old tried-and-true prohibition against marijuana or is it part of the recent rules that have grown out of the steroid scandal? Because that's the way poster #1 reacted to it and not without some justification in my opinion. To a cynic like me it can be interpreted as Bud Selig throwing more meat to feed the hysteria, while we all know that he's not about to rule on the legitimacy or integrity of any records or statistics that folks like A-Rod or Manny should amass while under the influence of performance-enhancing drugs.

Tom, he's not agreeing with you. I think what he's getting at is that anything, including practicing the piano and posting on sports blogs can be addictive/compulsive behaviors. They may also lead to some interesting double-binds if, for example, an individual's compulsive piano practicing prevents him from earning a living as a sports blogger (or vice versa) and therefore "working against that person's own best interest," to quote the "addiction" site you linked.

Marijuana is not physically addictive like tobacco and alcohol and none of the three are performance-enhancing in sports (and "my dealer" didn't brainwash me into believing that). In fact, they're all depressants and marijuana is a mild hallucinogen, and therefore, performance-reducing. So if a player shows up to practice high on something or even with a habitual hangover a team has every right to have an interest in correcting that behavior or suspending him.

One important distinction is that marijuana is illegal (at least in the US) and alcohol isn't, and as we know from the Floyd Landis case, you can drink alcohol the night before the final stage of the Tour de France and not worry about it while I'm guessing that marijuana use that recent would be detectable and therefore disqualify a competitor.