Max Kepler just torched his own free agency with an 80-game PED suspension

Max Kepler just got popped. MLB announced Friday that the free agent outfielder has been suspended 80 games after testing positive for Epitrenbolone, a banned performance-enhancing substance.

If you were wondering why Max Kepler was still sitting on the market, here’s your answer. If some team was thinking about taking a flier on him, now they get to sign him and immediately eat half a season. Fantastic plan. We’ll see how that works out.

Max Kepler suspended 80-games after testing positive for PEDS

NEWS: Former Phillies OF Max Kepler has received an 80-game suspension after testing positive for Epitrenbolone, a performance enhancing drug. pic.twitter.com/AF2tTbmIRA

— Phillies Tailgate (@PhilsTailgate) January 9, 2026

Max Kepler spent 2025 with the Phillies on a one-year, $10 million deal. He played 127 games and hit .216/.300/.391 with 18 homers and 52 RBI. PEDs or not, those numbers aren’t exactly screaming “pay me” anyways.

To make matters worse, Max Kepler’s suspension won’t start until he signs a MLB contract. He can sit there as a free agent and pretend this is fine. The second he signs, the penalty starts, and he is unavailable for the first chunk of the season.

Epitrenbolone is a synthetic anabolic steroid, and Kepler will turn 33 next month, which makes this whole thing look even worse.

If you are a fringe free agent coming off a mediocre season, the one thing you cannot do is hand MLB a reason to bury you. Max Kepler did exactly that.

So good luck to his agent selling the pitch: “Yeah, he is 33, he hit .216 last year, and also he is suspended for PEDs. But hear me out.”

Nobody is hearing you out, brother.

We already lived through the Max Kepler Experience here in Philadelphia. Now you better pray that someone in Major League Baseball will do the paperwork.

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