Twins' Rosario suspended 50 games

Twins prospect Eddie Rosario was suspended by Major League Baseball on Saturday following a second positive test for a drug abuse in violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

The 22-year-old second baseman will miss the first 50 games of the upcoming season.

Rosario is ranked as the No. 5 prospect in a deep Twins farm system and No. 63 overall by MLB.com. The left-handed hitter put up a .302/.350/.460 slash line with 32 doubles, eight triples, 10 homers and 73 RBIs in 122 games between Class A Advanced Fort Myers and Double-A New Britain last season. He went on to bat .238 with a .537 OPS in 20 Arizona Fall League games and is hitting .173 average in 30 games for Mayaguez in the Puerto Rican Winter League.

The Puerto Rico native was selected by the Twins in the fourth round of the 2010 Draft. He broke onto the scene in a big way the following year, slashing .337/.397/.670 with 21 homers and 60 RBIs in 67 games as an outfielder for Rookie-level Elizabethton en route to being named Appalachian League Player of the Year.

Rosario moved to second base in 2012 and put up nice numbers (.296/.345/.490) for Class A Beloit but was forced to miss six weeks after being struck in the face by a line drive.

Rosario faces a 100-game suspension if he tests positive for a third time. Sport Live PR first broke the news of the suspension back in November, but other issues had to be ironed out before MLB announced it officially Saturday. The Puerto Rican website quoted Mayaguez general manager Frankie Thon, who said the suspension was triggered by pills Rosario had taken to help an injured arm.

In a statement issued through his agent to TwinCities.com, Rosario said, "I want to apologize to (general manager) Terry Ryan and the entire Minnesota Twins organization, my fans, teammates and family. I made a mistake and I have no one but myself to blame. I must accept responsibility for my actions and serve my suspension."

"I intend to learn from this mistake and continue development in both professional and personal growth. I look forward to returning to the field in May and will do my best to put this unfortunate incident behind me."