Jordan Schafer entered 2009 as one of baseball's top prospects, and was the Braves' Opening Day center fielder. After a hot start, though, he struggled in the majors and ultimately spent all of 2010 in the minors. He rebounded somewhat this season, and earned significant playing time with Atlanta before being traded in late July to the Houston Astros in the deal that sent Michael Bourn to Atlanta.
Now, Schafer is in legal trouble. He was arrested early Tuesday in Tampa on charges of possessing marijuana. The bad news for Schafer is that this is a serious charge in Florida:
The report said he was in possession of 25 grams of marijuana. In Florida, possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana makes the crime a third-degree felony instead of a misdemeanor.
The article says that there was a "strong odor" of marijuana in the car and that Schafer "had a marijuana joint in his left hand". It also says that Schafer "declined to give police the name of his employer."
Every accused person in this country has the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, but this does not look good for Schafer. This Atlanta Journal-Constitution article shows a haggard-looking mugshot of Schafer, and reminds us:
Schafer was suspended for 50 games in 2008 for being found in violation of major league baseball’s drug policy. But the circumstances of that suspension always were cloudy — he never was tested — and Schafer disputed that he took performance-enhancing drugs.
There's been no comment from the Astros yet on this arrest.