Melky Cabrera Won’t be Awarded Batting Title Because of PED Suspension

Even if he finishes with the highest average, Melky Cabrera will not win the batting title.

The outfielder was suspended in August for 50 games for violating the MLB’s performance-enhancing drugs policy. He ended the season with a .346 batting average, but had enough at bats to qualify for the batting title.

Cabrera currently leads all National League players in average. The Pirates Andrew McCutchen is seven points back at .339, and not likely to catch the outfielder with so few games left.

However, Cabrera has decided that he doesn’t want to win an award in a season that he cheated. In a statement, the seven-year veteran said he had “no wish to win an award that would be tainted,” and that he “believe[d] it would be far better for someone more deserving to win.”

The announcement comes just one day after MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said that Cabrera would win the award if he finished the season in first.