New York, NY (My Sportsbook) - MLB announced that 38 minor league players were suspended for violating "Major League Baseball's Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program" against performance-enhancing substances (steroids and steroid precursors).

The suspensions are effective with the first game of the season. Eight members of the Seattle Mariners' organization, including Damian Moss and Ryan Christianson, and seven players from the Cubs' organization were among the violators.

Oakland's David Castillo received a 60-game suspension for violating the policy for a third time, while all other players were issued 15-game suspensions for a first-time offense.

The results stemmed from 925 tests that were conducted at the minor league camps in Arizona during spring training and includes one positive test from off-season testing.

Also suspended for 15 games were Elvis Avendano (Oakland), Lizahio Baez (Texas), Oscar Bernard (Cubs), David Cash (Cubs), Troy Cate (Seattle), Robinson Chirinos (Cubs), William Collazo (Angels), Francisco Cordova (Angels), Renee Cortez (Seattle), Matthew Craig (Cubs), Jason Diangelo (Colorado), Jose Espinal (White Sox), Omar Falcon (Seattle), Paul Frisella (St. Louis), Jesus Guzman (Seattle), Justin Hatcher (Texas), Javier Herrera (Oakland), William Hogan (Seattle), Kervin Jacobo (San Diego), Ryan Leahy (Angels), Baltazar Lopez (Angels), Luis Perez (Oakland), Nathan Sevier (San Diego), Carlos Vazquez (Cubs) and Neil Wilson (Colorado).

Ten of the players suspended were released and include Willy Espinal (Texas), Alexander Francisco (Angels), Clay Hensley (San Diego), Robert Machado (Texas), Jesus Medrano (Cubs), Jacobo Meque (San Diego), Kevin Reinking (Cubs), Christopher Russ (Texas), Mayobanex Santana (Oakland) and Darwin Soto (Seattle).

On Sunday, Tampa Bay outfielder Alex Sanchez became the first major league player to be hit with a suspension under baseball's new drug policy. Major League Baseball released a statement saying that Sanchez was suspended for 10 days, effective April 4, for violating the league's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. However, the league did not release what drug Sanchez was suspended for using.