MLB bans three over false date, drugs

Major League Baseball suspended three players on Thursday after two tested positive for steroids and a third provided a false date of birth in his contract.

Jairo Beras, a 6-foot-5, 178-pound outfielder from the Dominican Republic will be suspended until July 1, 2013, for providing a false date of birth in connection with his registration with Major League Baseball as a prospect, although his contract with the Texas Rangers will be approved.

Beras signed with Texas for $4.5 million in February, but the legality of his contract has been in question after concerns arose that he was not 17-years-old, the current minimum age for teams to sign international free agents. Beras reportedly informed clubs that he was 17, and Texas spent its entire international signing budget to acquire him. Major League Baseball ruled Thursday that the outfielder was 16 when he signed but had provided a false age in documents to the Rangers.

The right-handed outfielder will be permitted to participate in workouts and practices during his suspension but will not be permitted to participate in official games. Beras will not receive his salary under his Minor League contract for the duration of his suspension.

"If he was 16 trying to be 17 to manipulate a loophole, he should be suspended," an international scouting director told Baseball America in February after the contract was signed. "There's no way this contract should be approved."

According to MLB.com, "The scouting report on Beras is he is a high-level hitting prospect who could develop significant power."

Beras is currently working out at the Rangers' academy in the Dominican Republic and that is likely where he will serve out the suspension, according to MLB.com.

Elsewhere, in two violations of the Minor League drug program, Philadelphia Phillies Minor League left-hander Ranger Suarez and free agent righty Daniel Cordero have been suspended for 50 games without pay and after both tested positive for metabolites of Stanozolol, an anabolic steroid banned by MLB and Minor League Baseball.

Suarez, 16, has appeared in three games this season for the Phillies' Dominican Summer League affiliate, collecting two saves in five innings in his first season with Philadelphia. Cordero, 19, pitched in for games for the Atlanta Braves' Dominican Summer League affiliate, striking out 19 batters in 17 1/3 innings. His last appearance came on June 23, although it's unclear when he was released by the club.