Former Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino is going to be a free agent soon. Since the Dodgers are not going to re-sign Victorino, having agreed to take on the contract of the currently-injured Carl Crawford in a trade with the Boston Red Sox, Victorino needs a good agent. CBS Sports' Jon Heyman reports that Victorino's agency is currently under investigation by MLB and mired in controversy over performance-enhancing drugs and it appears that Victorino is looking for someone new:
Many of their other prominent ACES clients are believed to have been weighing whether to stay with the Brooklyn-based Seth and Sam Levinson. Baseball sources say the agency came into MLB's crosshairs when one of their employees, Juan Nunez, was said to have concocted a fake Internet ad in an effort to explain client Melky Cabrera's failed drug test.
Given Victorino's impending free agency, it would be wise to start fresh in the face of controversy and look for an agent. All clients of the agency could be looked at in a suspect way, as Heyman notes former clients have indicated that the agency was directly responsible for PED use:
MLB, which uncovered the Internet scam, also interviewed former ACES client Paul Lo Duca, who has said the Levinsons set him up to obtain PEDs from convicted drug dealer Kirk Radomski at a time Duca was looking to bolster his power numbers while with the Dodgers.
Heyman's piece names Phillies closer Jonathan Papelbon as a current client. Also a client is former Phillies third baseman Scott Rolen, also an impending free agent. Perhaps they all should separate themselves from the agency, lest they be thought of as PED users.
