Cabrera Hatched Fake Site to Dodge Doping Penalty

It looks like Melky Cabrera didn't just meekly go along with his 50-game suspension for banned substances. A source tells the New York Daily News that Cabrera launched a bizarre scheme to create a fake website for a fake topical cream, which he then claimed inadvertently boosted his testosterone level. A "paid associate" of Cabrera's agents named Juan Nunez allegedly paid $10,000 to set up the site and to alter existing sites with phony ads for the cream.

But MLB investigators "figured out the ruse pretty quickly," the source said. The scheme backfired spectacularly, ruining any chance of him getting off Ryan Braun-style, and drawing the attention of FDA criminal investigator Jeff Novitzky—who was made famous by the BALCO case. Cabrera's agents, Seth and Sam Levinson, insist they had nothing to do with the fake website, saying Nunez was hired to help obtain and deal with Spanish-speaking Dominican clients like Cabrera. (More MLB stories.)