First-rounder Roe suspended 50 games
Roe, one of the Rockies' first-round picks in 2005, was suspended 50 games after testing positive for an amphetamine. Former Cubs prospect Smaily Borges also received a 50-game suspension after refusing to take a drug test.
Both free agents will begin serving their bans upon signing with an MLB organization.
Roe was the No. 32 overall pick in the '05 Draft, going in the Compensation A Round after Colorado took Troy Tulowitzki at No. 7. He was traded to the Seattle Mariners for José López in December 2010 but was designated for assignment by Seattle on June 29, 2011, to create 40-man roster space for catcher Jose Yepez. The Stubenville, Ohio, native spent the entire 2011 season at Triple-A Tacoma, going 0-7 with a 6.59 ERA in 33 games, including 10 starts, and 99 2/3 innings.
Borges defected from Cuba in 2010 to sign with the Cubs, where he's spent the last three seasons with stops in the Domincan Summer League, Class A Advanced Daytona and, in 2011, Class A Peoria. The outfielder, who turns 28 on Friday, was a player/coach on the Chiefs' roster for 2011, the first time in team history that an Opening Day roster had utilized such a position.
The 6-foot-3 outfielder hit .233 with three homers and 15 RBIs in 36 Midwest League games last season through Aug. 15 before he was released in December.
"I am so happy my dream has come true," Borges told MLB.com in April 2010 after participating in Cubs Spring Training. He escaped Cuba when he boarded a freighter to the Dominican Republic. "I am playing baseball in America."
The suspensions are the fifth and sixth this week to be handed out -- veterans Daryle Ward and Dustin Richardson was suspended 50 games apiece on Wednesday, and Mike Hart and Steven Shell received the same bans Tuesday. Major League Baseball has suspended eight Minor Leaguers in 2012 after handing out 69 bans in 2011.
Danny Wild is an editor for MLB.com.