The Curious Case of Boog Powell

Mariners outfield prospect Boog Powell was suspended for PED use last month, his second positive test in two years. His future with the M’s is now in jeopardy.

Last November, new Mariners General Manager Jerry Dipoto made, at the time, a shocking trade. He dealt 2015 starting shortstop Brad Miller and starting first baseman Logan Morrison along with key bullpen arm Danny Farquhar to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for Nathan Karns, C.J. Riefenhauser, and young outfielder Boog Powell.

Boog Powell, whose real name is Herschel Mack Powell IV, appeared to be a perfect player for the new system that Dipoto has tried to institute in Seattle. Dipoto’s ‘control the zone’ approach demanded players with excellent plate discipline who could make pitchers pay for pounding the strike zone while laying off the junk. Powell was a prospect in the Oakland A’s organization before he came to Tampa and eventually Seattle. In 1,082 minor league games, he has hit .308 with an on-base percentage over .400. He was exactly the kind of prospect who could blossom into a useful role player in the Mariners’ lineup at the very least.

But there have been Performance Enhancing Drug issues surrounding Boog Powell before his most recent positive test for dehydrochlormethyltestosterone, an anabolic steroid, last month. In 2014, while playing for the Oakland organization, Boog Powell tested positive for an amphetamine. Powell is reportedly a good two-strike hitter as a result of his training in the A’s organization, but the next time he gets popped for a positive PED test, he’ll be facing a season-long suspension. He can’t keep fouling this off forever.

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I, like most MLB fans, believe there is a special place in Major League Baseball hell for PED users. But Boog Powell’s suspension reveals another side to PEDs and their diminished place in today’s game. Back in the good ol’ days, the late 90’s and early 2000’s, players like Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, and Sammy Sosa were bashing home runs and growing into new sizes of helmets every day. They unabashedly took steroids because all of their competitors did and to earn that next contract, to break that next record, and to help the team, many felt (presumably*) they had to juice. After the crackdown on PEDs, the game’s best players were largely innocent of PED use.

But the use of PEDs in baseball didn’t stop. Instead, players just trying to make the Major League roster are juicing so they can stay on the team. We saw this within the Mariners’ organization with guys like Ryan Franklin, the mediocre starter who felt he had to keep his edge with PEDs. Many people wondered why a fringe player like Franklin would resort to such a risk as PED use, but his motivations were obvious. In order to keep playing for the team, he had to boost his performance somehow, something that gets more difficult as you age. Franklin took the chance because the benefits ultimately outweighed the downsides in his mind. He ended up on the St. Louis Cardinals, and even had a successful season as the team’s closer before he retired following his suspension for PED use.

Mar 15, 2016; Tempe, AZ, USA; Seattle Mariners left fielder Boog Powell (40) makes the running catch for the out against the Los Angeles Angels rin the first inning during a spring training game at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports /

Boog Powell appeared to be a great fit for the Mariners’ new regime, but he was never a top-notch prospect. He was never the type of player that scouts drooled over and fantasy baseball nuts waited in anticipation for him to make his major league debut. He’s not a power hitter and even though he can steal bases in the minors, he doesn’t have the blazing speed of a surefire basestealer at the major league level. He just hasn’t had much of a chance at the major league level, period. At age 23, his biological and playing clocks are ticking.

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Boog Powell claimed in a statement released via his agent that he didn’t know how the substance got into his body: “While I realize this has become a common refrain among athletes faced with such discipline, the truth is I do not know how this substance could possibly have been in my system,” he stated. At least he understands we’ve heard all the excuses before. Powell’s suspensions, whether the result of bad luck with trainers or intentional juicing or both, might reveal something more concerning about his future with the Mariners and Major League Baseball in general.

Plenty of Major League regulars have been busted for PEDs since the heyday of steroids, but we’re seeing many minor league and ‘quad-A’ players getting suspensions as well. Boog Powell is by no means a Major League regular. So if he thinks that he needs chemical compounds most of us can’t pronounce to get to the big leagues, that reveals a major confidence problem. Ask Mike Zunino about confidence, and I’m sure he’ll tell you that all of the swing doctors, hitting coaches, scouts, and player development experts in the world won’t be able to help you if you don’t believe in yourself.

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Maybe Boog Powell’s suspensions were the result of bad planning and/or bad information or communication. Maybe he really didn’t know PEDs were in his system this time and when he comes back from his suspension he’ll tear it up and earn a spot with the Major League club at some point and help the Mariners. Or maybe he’s a talented prospect with confidence issues, just the kind of the player the Mariners don’t need. In rebuilding a decrepit minor league system, Jerry Dipoto has to look past a few warts here and there. Right now, it looks like Boog Powell’s wart might cost him his chance at the Show and the Mariners a potentially solid major leaguer. Time will tell.

*It’s hard to take any of these liars at their word for whether they took steroids or why.

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