Yankees minor leaguer Wilking Rodriguez suspended 80 games for PEDs

By Craig CalcaterraApr 15, 2015, 4:35 PM EST
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From the blotter:

The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball announced today that New York Yankees Minor League right-handed pitcher Wilking Rodriguez has received an 80-game suspension without pay after testing positive for Furosemide, a performance-enhancing substance in violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

Furosemide is a diuretic which, I’ll assume anyway, is used to mask or flush other stuff out of the system. Unless peeing a lot is a performance enhancing thing. I dunno. Athletes are weird. A guy peeing while on the mound would certainly throw the other team off guard and maybe give him an advantage.

Rodriguez, who pitched for a nanosecond for the Royals last season, plays for Scranton. Or he will, maybe, after he sits out 80 games.

Marlins designate Derek Dietrich for assignment

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By Bill BaerNov 20, 2018, 9:35 PM EST
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The Marlins designated utilityman Derek Dietrich for assignment, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports. This comes amid a flurry of moves on Tuesday night as teams prepare their rosters ahead of the Rule 5 draft next month.

Dietrich, 29, is coming off another strong season in which he hit .265/.330/.421 with 16 home runs, 45 RBI, and 72 runs scored in 551 plate appearances. He played all over the diamond, spending most of his time in left field and at first base. Dietrich also played some second base, third base, and right field.

Dietrich is entering his third of four years of arbitration eligibility. He earned $2.9 million this past season and MLB Trade Rumors projects him to earn $4.8 million in 2019. Cutting Dietrich represents a bit more than 4 million in savings for the rebuilding and perennially small-market Marlins. Dietrich should draw some interest, so the Marlins could end up trading him rather soon.

Wonder how J.T. Realmuto, now the longest-tenured Marlin, is feeling right about now.