BALTIMORE, March 30 (UPI) -- The Baltimore Orioles released outfielder Jay Gibbons Sunday after seven seasons with the American League club.
Gibbons' status in Baltimore was not helped by a delayed decision by baseball's front office on his recent admission that he purchased performance-enhancing drugs through an online pharmacy.
"The decision was essentially down to two players and we made a baseball decision," Andy MacPhail, Baltimore's president of baseball operations, said on the team's Web site. "I just didn't see where this was going to be productive, or in anyone's best interests going forward the way we're stacked up now."
The team called Gibbons a one-dimensional slugger.
He was trying to come back from shoulder surgery in 2007. A variety of injuries had limited him since he played in 160 games in 2003.
Gibbons has a career .260 batting average with 121 home runs and 405 RBI in 779 games.
The move will cost Baltimore nearly $12 million for two seasons.
