MLB investigating South Florida region for PEDs

Major League Baseball is targeting wellness clinics and individuals in South Florida for what continues to be a breeding ground for performance-enhancing drugs that are still making its way into the game, reports ESPN.com.

A region that stretches 50 miles from Boca Raton to Miami seems to be the target area of the investigations, according to the report. Investigators are hoping to show that some of the clinics are still prescribing drugs to players that are not using them for their intended purpose.

One of those clinics being looked at is operated by Anthony Bosch. Bosch's father, Dr. Pedro Publio Bosch, a Coral Gables physician, was linked to former player Manny Ramirez and it was the elder Bosch who wrote a prescription for a substance that led to Ramirez's 50-game suspension in 2009.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is working with MLB, which declined comment Saturday, but it is unclear whether subpoenas have been issued, and sources close to the investigation said a direct link to players has yet to be found. The investigation is tedious because of the involvement of potentially multiple agencies, plus the fly-by-night nature of questionable clinics, which have been known to shut down and reopen under new names as a means of staying ahead of the law.