Tony Bosch to surrender to authorities today, will plead guilty to drug distribution conspiracy - MLB

Tony Bosch, the founder and honcho of Biogenesis and the man who was the star witness in the enforcement action which led to Alex Rodriguez’s year-long suspension, surrendered to the Drug Enforcement Agency this morning. He will eventually plead guilty to a conspiracy to distribute steroids.T.J. Quinn of ESPN was the first to report on the matter.

Eight others, including Yuri Sucart, the cousin of Alex Rodriguez and former supplier of performance enhancing drugs to Rodriguez, were arrested as well. A full report on the arrests can be read here.

Quinn reports that the charges against Bosch and the others will not be limited to their interaction with major league baseball players. Rather, they will include charges that steroids were distributed to minors as well, both in this country and in the Dominican Republic. However, baseball’s involvement will not end here, as it was reported later in the day that at least two and possibly more baseball players have been identified as Biogenesis clients to the DEA and that their names will, eventually, be released. That should lead to more suspensions by Major League Baseball.

As was widely reported last year, Major League Baseball got Bosch to cooperate with its investigation of Rodriguez by striking a deal with him. That deal, detailed in the recently-released book about the Biogenesis case, “Blood Sport,” was reached over drinks at a Miami dive bar. It includes a promise from Major League Baseball that it would vouch for Bosch to any law enforcement agency which might threaten him with arrest. The agreement reads as follows:

“MLB will inform such agencies of the value and importance of Bosch’s cooperation in its efforts to achieve the important public policy goal of eradicating performance enhancing substances from professional baseball, and request that such agencies consider his cooperation with baseball.”

So someone at MLB now gets to send a letter or make a phone call to the DEA, I suppose, explaining that they should go easier on Bosch on charges that he sold drugs to kids because he helped nail Alex Rodriguez.

CARSON CITY, Nev. — The Nevada Senate adjourned Thursday without voting on a financing bill for a proposed $1.5 billion Las Vegas Strip stadium for the Oakland Athletics, extending the special legislative session into the next week amid negotiations over whether to contribute $380 million in public funding to the project.

The measure can still be amended by lawmakers, and if it passes the Senate it would still need approval from the Assembly before going to the desk of Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo, who has expressed support for it. Both the state Senate and Assembly are adjourned until Monday.

In a hearing that began Wednesday and stretched into the early morning hours Thursday, lawmakers peppered tourism officials and a representative from a firm partnering with the ball club with questions about the feasibility and benefits of financing such a deal.

Public funds for the stadium would mainly come from $180 million in transferable tax credits and $120 million in county bonds. Backers have pledged that the creation of a special tax district around the proposed stadium would generate enough money to pay off those bonds and interest. The plan would not directly raise taxes.

The A’s would not owe property taxes for the publicly owned stadium. Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, would also contribute $25 million in credit toward infrastructure costs.

A’s representatives and some tourism officials say a deal would further grow Las Vegas’ developing sports scene and act as an economic engine, but a growing chorus of economists and some lawmakers warn that the project would bring minimal benefits for the hefty public price tag.