ajc: Agent: Aybar dealing with ‘drinking and drugs’ (RR)

Agent Valdez is Coming…and the news ain’t good.

Suspended Braves infielder Willy Aybar is in Boston, struggling with substance abuse and trying to get his life and baseball career back in order, his agent told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The agent, Luis Valdez, said the distraught player was dealing with ‘drinking and drugs’ and that he drove alone from Atlanta to Boston to be with his brother, Francis Aybar, who lives there.

Minutes later, Valdez backpedaled a bit and said he didn’t know if Aybar, 24, was involved in anything other than alcohol.

The agent said Aybar was too shy and embarrassed to reach out to anyone with the team. The Braves suspended him for three days after he failed to show up for injury-rehabilitation sessions Saturday and Sunday, then suspended him indefinitely on Wednesday when he failed to show up for a meeting with manager Bobby Cox.