Manny Ramirez tests positive for drugs, suspended for 50 games

PHOTOGRAPHER: Los Angeles Times

Manny Ramirez has tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and will be suspended 50 games starting today, the Los Angeles Times has learned. Major League Baseball confirmed the suspension today.

The suspension will cost Ramirez $7.7 million, or roughly 31 percent of his $25-million salary. Players in violation of baseball’s drug policy are not paid during suspensions.

Ramirez is expected to attribute the test results to medication received from a doctor for a personal medical issue, according to a source familiar with the matter but not authorized to speak publicly.

The Dodgers informed triple-A outfielder Xavier Paul this morning that he was being promoted to Los Angeles.

With the suspension taking effect with tonight’s game against the Washington Nationals at Dodger Stadium, Ramirez will not be eligible to return to the team until July 3.

Ramirez would become the biggest star suspended under an oft-criticized major league testing program that started in 2003. He had been a model citizen since arriving in Los Angeles last August, following a stormy tenure with the Boston Red Sox.

This is the second drug scandal to rock baseball within four months. In a year in which baseball officials hoped their greatest concern would be the slumping economy, the two highest-paid players in the game have been revealed to have failed a drug test.

Alex Rodriguez, the game’s highest-paid player, acknowledged during a February news conference that he used steroids from 2001 to 2003. The admission followed a Sports Illustrated report that he failed a drug test in 2003, when players were not subject to suspension.

Ramirez did not appear in the clubhouse after the Dodgers’ 10-3 victory over the Washington Nationals Wednesday night. After the game, Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti and Manager Joe Torre said they were unaware of any failed test or pending suspension.