Jurickson Profar's 162-game suspension reminds Brewers fans of former failed trade

Lost in the insanity of Jurickson Profar getting caught using performance-enhancing drugs for the second time in a year is the fact that Major League Baseball hasn't had a repeat offender since Milwaukee Brewers reliever J.C. Mejia in 2023.

The punishment for first-time offenders is an 80-game suspension, which Profar served last year. Anyone caught using PEDs again after that is slapped with a full-season ban (162 games) and is rendered ineligible for the postseason and any sanctioned international tournaments (like the World Baseball Classic). It's only the sixth time a repeat offender has been caught since that punishment scale was put in place back in 2014.

Mejia was the last one hit with such a prolific suspension, and it effectively ended his career; he hasn't pitched for an MLB organization since his second offense, spending the last two years pitching in various Mexican and independent leagues.

J.C. Mejia's suspension is a cautionary tale for any PED users in baseball

Despite partaking in performance-enhancing drugs on multiple occasions, Mejia never found any sustained success at the major-league level. He ended his career with an 8.32 ERA, including an 8.56 mark with the Brewers across 11 appearances between 2022-23.

Somehow, that wasn't the worst part of his tenure in Milwaukee. The Brewers gave up a player to be named later in an offseason trade with the Guardians to secure Mejia's services after a wobbly rookie season. That PTBNL wound up being catching prospect David Fry, who earned an All-Star nod in 2024 while posting an .804 OPS in 122 games.

It's safe to say the front office would like that one back if they could take it.

Alas, Mejia was out of baseball before Fry really ever got going, and the right-handed reliever never had a chance to make good on his promise out of the bullpen. It's unknown if the same fate awaits Profar, but his multiple infractions do call into question the validity of his breakout 2024 campaign. At the very least, he'll lose out on the $15 million salary the Braves owed him.

And, in a more general sense, it's promising that baseball's strict punishments have seemingly curbed the rampant PED use in the sport in recent years. While you never want to see players get suspended, it's important to protect the competitive integrity of the game. Hopefully, the fates of Mejia and Profar will inform future players of the risks of cheating.