New York, NY (Betting Express) - Philadelphia Phillies relief pitcher J.C. Romero and New York Yankees pitcher Sergio Mitre have each been suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball after testing positive for a banned substance.

Romero, who went 4-4 with a 2.75 earned run average and one save in 81 regular season games last year, was suspended after an appeal process, in which an arbitrator ruled Romero was guilty of negligence. He'll lose $1.25 million in salary in the 50-game suspension.

According to a report from the Philadelphia Inquirer, the 33-year-old Romero purchased an over-the-counter supplement at a GNC store in July and checked it with his nutritionist. His nutritionist said he saw nothing on the product's label that is included on MLB's banned substance list and gave Romero the green light to begin taking it.

Then on August 26, Romero gave a urine sample for a routine drug test and on September 19 he submitted another sample. Four days later Romero was told his August 26 sample tested positive for a banned substance.

According to the report, MLB offered Romero a deal, to be suspended immediately for 25 games or face a longer suspension in 2009 after moving through the arbitration process. Romero declined the deal and told the Inquirer that he "knew in my heart I wasn't guilty."

Mitre, apparently, also unknowingly took a banned substance in an over-the- counter supplement.

"We strongly disagree with the Commissioner's discipline and with the arbitrator's decision," said the Major League Baseball Players Association in a statement.

"Mitre and Romero both legally purchased nutritional supplements from national chain stores in the United States. Nothing on the labels of those supplements indicated that they contained a trace amount of a substance prohibited under Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Neither player intentionally ingested this prohibited substance, but the arbitrator nevertheless found, wrongly in our view, that the players' conduct violated the program's 'no fault or negligence' standard.

"The union respects the arbitration process and treats the decision as final. In our view, though, the resulting discipline imposed upon Mitre and Romero is unfair."

Despite the positive test, Romero went on to win two games in the World Series, including the clinching Game 5 against the Tampa Bay Rays.

In fact, Romero reportedly had his two-day arbitration hearing in Tampa, before the first two games of the World Series. He went to the hearings in the morning before reporting to Tropicana Field.

Mitre is currently with the Yankees' Triple-A team in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.