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Yordano Ventura's toxicology report won't be released to public
Toxicology reports on Kansas City Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura will only be released to his family and attorneys, according to the Kansas City Star.
Ventura, 25, died in a car accident in the Dominican Republic in late January. A toxicology report was performed at the time, and Royals officials were told it would take three weeks before they had the results.
Those results will remain private, because toxicology reports are not considered public documents in the Dominican Republic, according to the Star.
On Thursday, Tessie Sanchez, a spokeswoman for the Dominican attorney general’s office, said the toxicology report is not a public document.
“Autopsies are performed by law to any person who has died violently,” Sanchez wrote in Spanish in a text message to a reporter with The Star. “But it (the report) is only given to the public ministry and to relatives.”
The results of the report are important to both the Royals and Ventura’s family. If it is determined that Ventura was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident, the Royals would not have to pay the remaining $20 million on Ventura’s contract to his estate.
That’s due to a clause in Ventura’s contract that discouraged him from engaging in potentially hazardous situations. That type of provision in a contract is common, and not something specific to Ventura’s deal.
Ventura’s situation differs greatly from Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez. A toxicology report on Fernandez was released, and revealed the pitcher had both alcohol and cocaine in his system at the time of his fatal boat crash. Fernandez’s estate is being sued by the families of the two men who died in the crash due to the results of the toxicology report.
In 2015, Ventura agreed to a five-year, $23 million extension with the Royals. He’s still owed $20.25 million on the remainder of the deal.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
