Major League Baseball is set to file a lawsuit today against Tony Bosch, the former head of Coral Gables anti-aging clinic Biogenesis, alleging he damaged the sport by providing performance-enhancing drugs to baseball players, the New York Times reports. The suit follows a Miami New Times investigation into Biogenesis that suggested Bosch's clinic had ties to stars including Alex Rodriguez and Nelson Cruz.
The purpose of the suit, sources tell the Times, is to obtain clinic records (some of which New Times declined to turn over to the league two weeks ago) that could provide enough evidence to suspend players.
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Update: Major League Baseball has sent a copy of the complaint to Riptide. The suit names Bosch as well as a number of former business partners, including Carlos Acevedo and Ricardo Martinez. Juan Nunez, a link between the agents who represent many of the players tied to Biogenesis, is also named. Click through for the full complaint.
MLB investigators have been combing South Florida and interviewing sources connected to Biogenesis since New Times' story was published in January, but unlike law enforcement agents, they lack subpoena power to obtain records or to force people to talk.
The lawsuit could give them a way around that problem. Assuming a judge lets the innovative argument go forward, baseball could subpoena Biogenesis's records or force Bosch and others into depositions.
The Times says that it's not clear how many people will be named in the suit but that Bosch and Juan Nunez, who is linked to the agents who represented many of the players tied to the clinic, will be targeted.
Riptide has contacted an MLB spokesman for comment on the report, but we haven't heard back; we'll update the post when we do.
Update: In addition to Bosch and his former partners -- Acevedo and Martinez -- and Nunez, the suit named Marcelo Albir, a former University of Miami baseball player, and Paulo da Silveira, a "self-professed chemist" who allegedly provided drugs to Biogenesis.
MLB cites the Biogenesis documents posted by New Times, Yahoo, and others online in exhibits attached to the complaint and argues that the defendants have damaged baseball through "the costs of investigation, loss of goodwill, loss of revenue and profits, and injury to its reputation."
Here's the complaint in full:
