Rays prospect Sale suspended 50 games

NEW YORK -- Rays prospect Josh Sale was suspended for 50 games on Tuesday after testing positive for a banned drug of abuse, marking the third time the former first-round pick has been suspended since 2012.

The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball said Sale, 23, was suspended without pay after a second positive test for a drug of abuse in violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. The ban is effective immediately.

Sale, drafted 17th overall in 2010, was handed a 50-game suspension in August 2012 after he tested positive for methamphetamine and an amphetamine. He missed the entire 2013 season after the Rays suspended him indefinitely for conduct detrimental to organization last May.

Sale's troubled career brought a variety of reactions from those in the Rays system.

"[He has] nobody to blame but himself at this point," Rays manager Joe Maddon told The Tampa Bay Times.

"You control your own destiny, and he hasn't made many good decisions," Rays outfielder Kevin Kiermaier told the newspaper. "For him, third offense, anyone who feels bad for him, I don't know why. It's just foolishness."

Mitch Lukevics, the Rays' director of Minor League operations, said the organization was "very disappointed" by the news.

"He will follow all guidelines that MLB's Minor League drug program has laid out and will work closely with our Employee Assistance Program to determine a way forward," he added.

Sale was batting .238 with four homers, 46 RBIs and a .313 on-base percentage in 90 games for Class A Advanced Charlotte. The left fielder, who debuted with Rookie-level Princeton in 2011, had 22 extra-base hits and 34 runs scored in 323 at-bats. In 2012, he hit .264 with 10 homers, 44 RBIs and seven stolen bases in 74 games with Class A Bowling Green.

Sale spoke before this season about his struggles off the field, saying he believed he'd turned a corner.

"I was able to grow up. That's what was really needed to be worked on," he told the Tampa Tribune in January. "Just me as a person, doing what I could to better myself, because nobody's bigger than the game; the game's bigger than everybody. Making myself a better person off the field will greater my chances to produce well on the field."

Charlotte manager Jared Sandberg said Sale apologized to his teammates on Tuesday after news of the suspension made its way through the clubhouse.

"It's extremely tough. You start to see a kid hopefully start to turn a corner on the baseball field, but he was obviously still struggling with off-the-field issues," Sandberg told SunCoast Sports.. "'Life is bigger than baseball' is what [Lukevics] said. And it's so true. That's the message I delivered to the team today when I told them the news that Josh was being suspended. He also spoke to the team and apologized and told the team to learn from his mistakes. It's sad because we all thought he was turning the corner."

Sandberg said his players were silent upon hearing the news.

"Nobody spoke," he said. "They all just sat back and listened to what he had to say and his message about accepting responsibility. Again, just telling them to learn from his mistakes."

Sandberg, the nephew of Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg, said the team informed Sale of the suspension on Monday afternoon, a day before it was announced by Major League Baseball.

"With him not appealing the suspension and taking responsibility, the suspension was able to start [Tuesday] for 50 games," Sandberg said. "So I talked to him before the game, then after the game -- it was 5:20 p.m. when we gave him the news [Monday], so I was able to gather my thoughts and talk to him after the game. Just kind of bring some clarity to it from my standpoint. I asked him if there was anything I could have done, reaching out to him or anything like that. And he said no. It was all on him."

Sandberg also was candid about the gravity of the situation and how a third suspension could derail Sale's baseball career, at least with the Rays.

"There's so much embarrassment that goes into these suspensions over the course of the last couple of years," he told SunCoast Sports. "And we've given second chances, but off the top of my head, I can't remember a third chance. So I don't know what the organization is going to do."

With only 19 games left on the Stone Crabs' schedule, Sale will begin next season on the restricted list.

"I think he's going to have to go through some steps to prove to them again that he can be a model citizen and a role model for the young kids," Sandberg added. "Represent the Rays in the ways that we would all like the players to represent us. And then it's the baseball evaluation part: did he do enough this year to garner somebody saying, 'Look, this guy can play. Let's give him a third chance.'"

Sale is the 44th player to be suspended this year for violating the Minor League drug program.