Braves' Jurickson Profar gets 80-game PED ban, calls it 'most difficult day' of his career

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Atlanta Braves outfielder Jurickson Profar has been suspended for 80 games without pay for performance-enhancing drug use.

Major League Baseball announced Monday that Profar tested positive for Chorionic Gonadotrophin (hCG) in violation of the league’s joint drug prevention and treatment program. According to the Cleveland Clinic, hCG is a hormone that helps in the production of testosterone.

The suspension of Profar is effective immediately. Barring postponed games, Profar would be eligible to return June 29 against Philadelphia and would lose $5,806,440 of his $12 million salary. He is also ineligible for the postseason.

Profar called it the “most difficult day of my baseball career” and said he would never knowingly cheat.

“This is especially painful for me because anyone who knows me and has seen me play knows I am deeply passionate about the game,” he said in a statement. “There is nothing I love more than competing with my teammates and being a fan favorite. I want to apologize to the entire Braves organization, my teammates and the fans.

“It is because of my deep love and respect for this game that I would never knowingly do anything to cheat it. I have been tested my entire career, including eight times last season alone, and have never tested positive. I would never willingly take a banned substance, but I take full responsibility and accept MLB’s decision.”

The Braves arrived in Los Angeles after getting swept in their weekend series in San Diego. Profar was set to fly back to Atlanta on Monday night.

Braves manager Brian Snitker said he spoke to the club and to Profar earlier in the day, but he declined to disclose anything about their conversation.

“He hated it and we hate it for him,” Snitker said.

At the same time, Snitker said: “It’s an opportunity for somebody else to step in and do something really good.”

Profar's punishment is the second for the Braves. In April 2015, pitcher Andrew McKirahan was suspended for 80 games after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.

The team has been plagued by injuries in recent years, including losing four-time All-Star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. to a torn his right ACL last May for the second time in his career.

But Snitker expects his group to rally.

“They’ve been tasked with handling a lot of things the last few years, and they’re a really good group about doing it,” he said. “They’re going to keep fighting and working.”

The 32-year-old Profar was an All-Star and won a Silver Slugger last season when he batted .280 and set career highs with 24 homers and 85 RBIs for San Diego. He signed a three-year, $42 million contract with the Braves in the offseason.

Profar is the fourth player who has been suspended this year for violating the performance-enhancing substance policy, with the others coming under the minor league program and the program for minor leaguers assigned outside the United States and Canada.

Two players were suspended last year under the major league drug program.

Noelvi Marté, a 22-year-old infielder who was considered Cincinnati’s top prospect, missed the first 80 games following a positive test for boldenone.

Toronto infielder Orelvis Martínez was suspended for 80 games on June 23 following a positive test for the performance-enhancing drug clomiphene, an announcement made two days after his major league debut.

The Braves acquired outfielder Stuart Fairchild in a trade with Cincinnati on Monday for cash. The 29-year-old Fairchild hit .215 with eight homers and 30 RBIs with the Reds last year.

AP Sports Writer Josh Dubow in San Francisco contributed to this report.

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Atlanta Braves' Jurickson Profar acknowledges the crowd as he walks up to bat during the first inning of an opening-day baseball game against his former team, the San Diego Padres, Thursday, March 27, 2025, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

FILE - Atlanta Braves' Jurickson Profar acknowledges the crowd as he walks up to bat during the first inning of an opening-day baseball game against his former team, the San Diego Padres, March 27, 2025, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

Atlanta Braves' Ozzie Albies hits into a force out during the first inning of an opening-day baseball game against the San Diego Padres Thursday, March 27, 2025, in San Diego. Atlanta Braves' Jurickson Profar scored from third base on the play. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says his executive orders targeting law firms are being issued in the name of national security, with the White House asserting that the firms don't deserve access to sensitive U.S. government information.

But the firms fear the orders are being written so broadly as to potentially weaken national security by calling into question the status of security clearances of lawyers who, in addition to their legal practice, serve as military reservists and require their clearances to report to duty.

It's an example of the sweeping and sometimes unintended consequences of White House efforts to reshape civil society, with those affected in some instances not necessarily being the ones who were top of mind when the Trump administration announced the actions in the first place. Military veterans, for instance, have not been spared from Trump's ongoing slashing of the federal government.

Trump's law firm executive orders have generally targeted firms that have associations with prosecutors who previously investigated him or employ, or have employed, attorneys he perceives as political adversaries. The orders have consistently imposed the same consequences, including threatening the suspension of all active security clearances held by employees at the singled-out firms.

Security clearances are issued for government workers and contractors who require access to classified national security information as part of their job. The federal government has broad discretion over who does and who does not obtain a clearance.

It's unclear how many lawyers at the four firms who remain subject to executive orders — several others have averted them through settlements with the White House — hold security clearances either through their jobs or other work, or whether the Trump administration would move forward with plans to revoke the clearances of military reservists.

A White House spokesman, asked for comment, pointed to the provision of the order that says the clearances are to be suspended “pending a review of whether such clearances are consistent with the national interest.” The response seemed to suggest that clearances of reservists could potentially be spared.

In the meantime, though, the issue was raised during a court hearing Friday in which a lawyer representing WilmerHale, one of the targeted firms, noted that the firm has within its ranks military reservists who have security clearances. Another firm that's been subject to an executive order, Perkins Coie, also has said that it employs military reservists.

“I don’t think for a minute the government lawyer is going to come up here and tell you that they actually intended to suspend the reservists’ security clearances," Paul Clement, a prominent Washington appellate lawyer who is representing WilmerHale, told the judge. “But they’re painting with such a broad brush with this thing, they aren’t distinguishing sheep from goats at all.”

He said Friday that “two of those lawyers have to report for their reserve duty next week. Now, I can’t tell you for sure that they’re going to show up and they’re not going to be able to do their job because their security clearance has been suspended.”

A person familiar with the matter, who insisted on anonymity to describe non-public information, said about a half-dozen WilmerHale employees are reservists.

Several firms, including WilmerHale and Perkins Coie, have succeeded in winning court orders temporarily blocking enforcement of certain sections of the executive orders. The security clearance provisions, though, have remained in effect, a reflection of a president's expansive powers when ordering the suspension or revocation of clearances.

Dan Meyer, a lawyer who specializes in security clearances at the Tully Rinckey law firm — which is not among those targeted by the executive orders — said that he assumed the number of attorneys at major law firms is small and that it was possible military reservists might be able to keep their clearances, but it could conceivably require a lengthy adjudication.

“It may be that word will go quietly from the White House, ‘Don’t screw with any of these reservists at these law firms,’” Meyer said.

But, he added, “If the cat wants to claw the mouse, there’s an opportunity to do it.”

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday, March 31, 2025. (Pool via AP)