The San Francisco Giants Melky Cabrera was banned this week for 50 games for failing a testosterone test. (REUTERS)
The use of performance-enhancing drugs is rampant in baseball, BALCO founder Victor Conte told USA Today.
"I would say maybe as much as half of baseball (is using PEDs)," said Conte, whose supplements company was linked to sluggers Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi, among others, when it was raided by the FBI in 2003.
"I'm not going to name names. But I've talked to a lot of top players in Major League Baseball, and they tell me this is what they're doing. There is rampant use of synthetic testosterone."
Ryan Braun, the 2011 National League MVP, won an appeal after testing positive for high levels of testosterone when a panel ruled the handling of his test sample didn't meet protocol.
MLB vice-president Rob Manfred doubted Conte's statement, saying: "There is no way that Victor Conte would have information that would allow him to have any basis on that. He's just making that up. It's a guess. We use the very best, most sophisticated methodologies that are available."
