Byrd suspended 50 games after testing positive with Tamoxifen

Outfielder Marlon Byrd, who admitted to working with the person whose center caused a federal investigation of steroids use and distribution among players, has came up positive for performance-enhancing drugs.

The league commented that the free agent has received a 50-game suspension after testing positive for Tamoxifen. He will be put on the restricted list and will remain there till Aug. 20. Sportsbook

Byrd issued a declaration thru the MLB Players Association.

“I made an inexcusable error,” the declaration related. “Many years ago, I had surgery for a condition that was non-public and unrelated to baseball. Last winter, I suffered a reoccurrence of that condition and I was provided with a medicine that ended in my positive test. Though that medicine is on the forbidden list, I completely didn’t use it for performance-enhancement reasons.

Byrd started the season with the Cubs and was dealt to the Red Sox on April 21. He was delegated for assignment by Boston on June 9 and released 4 days later.

Red Sox GM Ben Cherington was asked if Byrd had failed any drug tests while with Boston. He revealed: “Not to my knowledge.”

Red Sox boss Bobby Valentine was surprised as well.

“He played here and he played well,” Valentine recounted. “I had no indication or I do not believe any person did.”

While with the Cubs in spring training, Byrd admitted that he was the only player in baseball who still worked with Victor Conte. Conte’s Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative was at the center of the steroid scandal surrounding Barry Bonds, amongst others.

Byrd, however, maintained that he wasn’t breaking any rules. He did say that Commissioner Bud Selig had asked if he would sever ties with Conte.

“[The pressure from MLB] does trouble me sometimes,” Byrd declared in spring training. “But I believe there should be force on everyone.

“I’m always going to watch what I’m taking. I am not going to point out I have got a bull’s-eye on my back, but I suspect plenty of folks are waiting for me to get my first positive test and miss 50 games. They’d like that simply so they can say, ‘We told you so.’ I’m sure that won’t occur. I know I am clean. I know the supplements I take are clean. I’m going to make sure of that.”

Byrd is a vocation .278 hitter with 82 homers and 445 RBIs over 11 seasons with the Phillies, Nationals, Rangers, Cubs and Red Sox.

He hit .210 in 47 games with the 2 teams this year, though he hit .270 with a homer and 7 RBIs in 34 games with Boston. The Red Sox picked him up when they’d a shortage in the outfield after a rash of injuries.

“It’s just unfortunate that it’s another notch in baseball’s belt so far as the drug policy and steroids have to do with the game” Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. “It’s unfortunate those things keep happening.”

Byrd came 4th in the NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2003 with the Phillies and was a NL All-Star with the Cubs in 2010.