Twins lose Jorge Polanco for 80-games after PED bust

Jorge Polanco, the Minnesota Twins starting shortstop, has been banned 80-games for steroid use.

The Minnesota Twins have had a stress free spring training so far. They have went out and made splashes this offseason to improve the club such as signing Logan Morrison and Lance Lynn. Furthermore, the club has set themselves up well for now and in the future. In the present, the team’s starting shortstop Polanco is suspended for 80 after testing positive for PEDs. This is a significant blow for Minnesota as they try to dethrone the Cleveland Indians.

Minnesota does have a possible replacement in Eduardo Escobar. He is a light hitting infielder with good defense. Minnesota will most likely stay in-house at the keystone. That is a good thing because the club can hold their chips until the trade deadline in the summer. With that said, the club is losing a productive bat with pop. The shortstop broke out in 2017, hitting .256 with 13 home runs and 74 RBI.

Polanco wasn’t a guy that looked to be juicing up, as he didn’t have spectacular numbers that came out of nowhere. So it was a surprise to see the shortstop as a culprit to taking steroids. There should be harsher penalties so it is abolished out of the game for good. It’s not like Polanco mashed 45 home runs, no one thought this was coming. This instance just goes to show that anyone can do it. Any player can do it, and why not? It’s only 80 games for your first offense.

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Apparently, Polanco didn’t know he didn’t know he consumed it, as he said ” to be clear, I did not intentionally consume this steroid” in part of his statement. Sure you did man, whatever you say. He obviously knew what was going in his body, there’s no way Polanco never knew about it. He did take full responsibility for his actions, which is a positive.

The Twins are going to lose a nice bat, but they won’t have their hands tied at the position because of their depth.