raptorsfan29
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« on: June 07, 2006, 04:41:10 pm » |
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Grimsley released after feds' raid
Associated Press
Posted: 1 hour ago
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Pitcher Jason Grimsley was released by the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday, a day after federal agents searched his home as part of an investigation into steroid use by athletes.
General manager Josh Byrnes said Grimsley asked for his unconditional release in meetings with team officials Tuesday and Wednesday.
Thirteen federal agents searched Diamondbacks pitcher Jason Grimsley's house in Scottsdale, Ariz., for six hours Tuesday. (The Arizona Republic, Michael Chow / Associated Press)
"We accepted his request," Byrnes said. Byrnes would not discuss if Grimsley would be paid the remainder of his roughly $800,000 salary.
Diamondbacks pitcher Terry Mulholland said Grimsley addressed his teammates after Tuesday's loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. Arizona leads the NL West.
"He expressed to us that he had too much respect for to allow this to bring us down," Mulholland said. "He's that kind of guy."
Grimsley's locker in the calm clubhouse was empty when the room was opened to the media before the game with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Thirteen federal agents searched Grimsley's house in Scottsdale, Ariz., for six hours Tuesday, according to Internal Revenue Service Agent Mark Lessler, who would not say what they found.
In seeking a judge's permission for the search, investigators who cracked the BALCO steroid scandal here said Grimsley initially cooperated in the probe. He withdrew his assistance in April, but not before he allegedly made "extensive statements" about illegal drug use, "for the purpose of performance enhancement," according to the court documents.
IRS Agent Jeff Novitsky told the federal judge that investigators wanted to search the right-hander's house for "any and all records showing contact or relationship with any and all amateur or professional athletes, athletic coaches or athletic trainers" regarding illicit drug use and purchases.
According to Novitsky, Grimsley told him the names of other players he believed were using, but the names of those players were blacked out of the court records.
Grimsley began his big league career with Philadelphia in 1989 and has pitched for Cleveland, California, the New York Yankees, Kansas City, Baltimore and Arizona. He has a career record of 42-58 with a 4.77 ERA.
According to court documents, Grimsley failed a league drug test in 2003. Authorities said when he was cooperating, he admitted to using human growth hormone, amphetamines and steroids.
He added that amphetamine use was prevalent in pro baseball, and that it was placed in coffee in clubhouses, marked "leaded" or "unleaded," Novitsky wrote.
After the BALCO investigation, Major League Baseball toughened its testing program for performance-enhancing drugs and included testing for amphetamines for the first time this season.
Word of the Grimsley investigation comes nearly two months after an Illinois-based scientist prominent in the field of sports nutritional supplements pleaded guilty to supplying the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative with the performance-enhancing drug known as "the clear."
A federal grand jury in San Francisco is also investigating whether San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds lied under oath about using "the clear." A separate federal grand jury is probing who leaked Bonds' testimony from the BALCO investigation to the San Francisco Chronicle.
So far, the BALCO probe has netted guilty pleas from Illinois-based nutritional supplement scientist Patrick Arnold, BALCO president Victor Conte, Bonds' personal trainer Greg Anderson, BALCO vice president James Valente and track coach Remi Korchemny.
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