Ex-Brave Jordan Schafer arrested on felony marijuana charge (UPDATED)

Jordan Schafer has bigger problems now than raising his batting average. (AP photo)

Former Braves outfielder Jordan Schafer has bigger problems now than trying to raise his batting average. (AP photo)

(UPDATED: 1 p.m.)

The Braves traded Jordan Schafer to Houston despite believing he could still be a valuable part of their future because they were able to land a proven veteran, Michael Bourn, in return. But Schafer’s future just got a little more cloudy.

The Astros’ center fielder and former Braves’ top prospect was arrested early Tuesday in Tampa on a felony marijuana possession charge.

Schafer's arrest mugshot from Tampa police.

Schafer's booking mugshot in Tampa.

The St. Petersburg Times first reported Schafer was arrested at 1:59 a.m. at the address for The Cheesecake Factory restaurant. He was released from jail at 5:15 a.m. on $2,000 cash bond.

Schafer was found in possession of 25.9 grams of marijuana. In the state of Florida, more than 20 grams is considered a third-degree felony. According to the police report, officers conducted a traffic stop after smelling what seemed to be marijuana coming out of Schafer’s car, and upon pulling him over found him with a joint in his hand.

An email to a Times reporter from the Tampa Police Dept. indicated officers also found “three small Marijuana peanut butter cups which contained 247.8 milligrams of Marijuana, according to its packaging.”

Let me just say this about Schafer: I’ve always liked him personally, and he was well-liked in the Braves’ clubhouse this season. Veterans, most notably Chipper Jones, believed he had turned the corner in his life and career after originally seeming too cocky when he first came up from the minors a few years ago.

Schafer was suspended for 50 games in 2008 for being found in violation of major league baseball’s drug policy. But the circumstances of that suspension always were cloudy — he never was tested — and Schafer disputed that he took performance-enhancing drugs.

Schafer, who maintains a home in Haines City, Fla. (south of Orlando), also battled a lot of injury problems with the Braves. He hit .240 with 15 stolen bases in 52 games before being traded to Houston, where he hit .245 with seven stolen bases in 30 games.

He now has another obstacle to overcome.

By Jeff Schultz

Follow me on Twitter @JeffSchultzAJC; friend me at Facebook.com/JeffSchultzAJC

244 comments Add your comment

phil

October 4th, 2011
3:30 pm

Wow. I know that 90% of society is composed of those with barely enough sense to get up each day, but I wasn’t really expecting most of you to show up here and post your senseless drivel praising marijuana…..well, then again, I shouldn’t be surprised.

Lord, deliver us from this ignorance…

phil

October 4th, 2011
3:31 pm

JASon – of course, idiot.

Why shouldn’t we all sing the praises of a drug-smoking felon with a pea-sized brain…

Keep the brilliance coming…

Techsuxoffski

October 4th, 2011
3:33 pm

Whatever!! Go catch all of the thieves and rapists.

phil

October 4th, 2011
3:35 pm

More genius reaction from techsuxoffski!! Smoke up!

Randal Patrick McMurphy

October 4th, 2011
3:37 pm

Oh boy… gets pinched for smoking some grass… must be a REAL slow news day around the nation…

He now has another obstacle to overcome

October 4th, 2011
3:41 pm

No. He already had the obstacle it’s just now we all know about it.

phil

October 4th, 2011
3:41 pm

And now for more enlightenment from the REAL slow Randal Patrick McMurphy.

Do any of you dopeheads actually work?

Too tough

October 4th, 2011
3:44 pm

That is unfortunate.

reckingball

October 4th, 2011
4:01 pm

MJ should be legalize. I consider it a waste of my tax dollars, trying to enforce the unenforceable.
Tax IT.
He still would have qualified for a DUI. He should have waited until he got home.

Jimmy62

October 4th, 2011
4:02 pm

The only mistake here is that pot is illegal. It shouldn’t be.

And really HGH shouldn’t be either. Are we testing lawyers to make sure they aren’t taking ritalin to help them focus on preparations before arguing before the Supreme Court? Are we asking CEOs to be tested for cocaine to make sure they aren’t using it to stay up all night working on deals? Sports is about the peak of human performance, and why is HGH against the rules, but eating quality food when another guy is eating junk food isn’t against the rules? In both cases you are putting performance enhancing chemicals in your body. I’d like to see what humans can achieve so stop restricting them!

NO MORE WREN

October 4th, 2011
4:13 pm

While a lot of CF in baseball have hair like Bob Marley, Schafer smokes like tuff gong.

Brandt Hardin

October 4th, 2011
4:14 pm

Let’s keep celebrities and everyday citizens from crowding our courts and jails contributing to the money pit that is the War on Pot. Groups are organizing all over the country to speak their minds on reforming pot laws. I drew up a very cool poster for the cause which you can check out on my artist’s blog at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2011/01/vote-teapot-2011.html Drop in and let me know what you think!

duronimo

October 4th, 2011
4:15 pm

Wouldn’t habitual marijuana use would “blunt” one’s atheletic performance? Would it not slow down one’s progress and perhaps explain why he never panned out.

[...] ** Comment in Jeff Schultz’s sports blog.[4] [...]

John Galt

October 4th, 2011
4:18 pm

John Galt

October 4th, 2011
4:19 pm

MJ probably shouldn’t be illegal but it is and he knows it. Stupid is as stupid does.

Rawdog

October 4th, 2011
4:19 pm

This guy was a loser when he was with the Braves. Once a junkie always a junkie. He’s always been a Eminem wanna be. This is strike two for this clown. Houston will ship him to the Florida Penal Leagues. He and his veg-head haircut will fit right in.

doodoobailey

October 4th, 2011
4:20 pm

hahahahaha…..dude, you always keep the windows up until you get done. and never puff on it at the traffic light.

reckingball

October 4th, 2011
4:22 pm

“Don’t Smoke and Drive”

reckingball

October 4th, 2011
4:25 pm

Maybe he should have just eaten the peanut butter cups, until he got to the house.
I have never heard of anyone being pulled over for eating a peanut butter cup.
Silly Rabbit, pot is for grownups.

idiotsallaround

October 4th, 2011
4:31 pm

I’m not for legalizing any drugs. But even if pot were legal, it would still be against the law to drive while high, don’t ya think? Whiskey is legal, but there are laws about blood/alcohol content while driving…ya buncha potheads! Too bad for Jordan, I hoped he would do well. Maybe he’ll get it together now.

PLEASE

October 4th, 2011
4:38 pm

The drugs you use to get your Woody up will kill you alot faster then Marijuana.. Maybe you should go look at your DRUG cabinet and see whats really going in your body.. Will be ironic when Viagra causes Cancer.. its a PLANT… If someone wants to smoke. then let them.

dean

October 4th, 2011
4:38 pm

Oldie but a goodie: What’s a Libertarian? A Republican who smokes pot.

reckingball

October 4th, 2011
4:49 pm

idiot @4:31,,,,,,,,,,Why do you assume that all of the people in this country that are calling for the legalization of marijuana are potheads, or even use it? Remember, when you assume, you make an a– out of yourself.
Trying to enforce these stupid laws is absurd. It is illogical.
Resistance is futile.

reckingball

October 4th, 2011
4:50 pm

use your usual name.

Weather Channel Expert

October 4th, 2011
4:53 pm

I saw someone smoking that stuff on I-285 during a Friday rush hour – broad day light no tinted windows. I couldn’t blame them traffic was terrible.

Paddy

October 4th, 2011
4:54 pm

Ross……you are correct. Farting in an elevator in Fla is a felony. The sentence is terrible. You must go live at “The Villages” and play lawn bowling with Nancy Lopez! Many folks never recover!

Weather Channel Expert

October 4th, 2011
4:55 pm

He looks baked in that photo too. He better get his attorney on line 1 quickly.

Tax-paying citizen

October 4th, 2011
5:08 pm

Unmarked police cars should be illegal. Point-blank, period

mark

October 4th, 2011
5:19 pm

Who Cares!! what a waste of money. 800,000 arrest a year for possession. (almost 1/2 of all arrest) At a cosEvery 27 seconds, someone is arrest in the US for the same thing. It cost $2000 per an arrest, that is a lot of money. Watch Prohibition tonight (oct4)on PBS 8oclock to see how that prohibition ended. I have a hunch, the country was broke and nothing changed while booze was illict. Except for; violence (al capo =mexico), cartels- get rich, and the tax payers were stuck paying the tab.
70 years of prohibition, nothing has change and we are Broke!! We arrest a lot of good people, rich, poor, your neighbors, your co workers, your friends. Tax it, Regulate It.

jake

October 4th, 2011
5:22 pm

your a STUPID FUC

Ohmagawdyes Ohmagawd

October 4th, 2011
5:27 pm

“Your weed is in my chocolate!!!”

“Your chocolate is in my weed!!!”

AnotherJeff

October 4th, 2011
5:29 pm

KBB — Jason Heyward would be called a thug? Are you kidding me? That dude couldn’t pull off thuggishness if he tried. He’s so awkwardly the anti-thug it’s embarrassing. Schafer, on the other hand, has been a blatantly arrogant cheating red-eyed, over-tattoed THUG since day one. Some would argue that Heyward might have benefitted from a couple of bong hits this year.

Glen

October 4th, 2011
5:36 pm

I’d vote to legalize marijuana AND double the penalties for driving under the influence. Schafer is a moron and I’m another one glad he’s no longer a Brave.

As for “casting stones”….I’ll throw one! I knew the laws when I was that age and chose not to break them. Schafer demonstrated through his HGH use and now this incident that he doesn’t think the rules apply to him.

Instant Dawgma

October 4th, 2011
5:36 pm

What a stoner…….must be part of the ricky williams, throw it all away for pot mentality.
Don’t be breaking the law – when breaking the law….typical stoner.

PTC DAWG

October 4th, 2011
5:37 pm

Drug laws are DUMB.

PTC DAWG

October 4th, 2011
5:39 pm

But driving under the influence is a totally different thing…don’t confuse the two.

That said,

F the POPO.

chuck

October 4th, 2011
5:40 pm

A. Murray says he isn’t concerned about his three interceptions against M. State, and B. Walsh says he isn’t concerned about his three missed field goals against Ole Miss. Coach Richt says
B. Walsh is his guy and knows how he feels about him and need not worry about his job. Well, if I was his coach, he would have plenty to worry about. I would be looking for another kicker. He also missed one against M. State. Murray better shape up or he might be looking over his shoulder. Mr. Richt make a decision, do something. Don’t worry if your players get mad with you. Make some changes. I am a very conservative person, but M. Richt is so conservative he makes me look like a flaming liberal. Don’t play not to lose, play to win. Do something to your offense, make it a little harder for the other teams defense. Hell, I can watch the game and call the plays myself. Sometimes it gets just a little boring. So you know the other team knows waht you are going to run.

[...] ** Comment in Jeff Schultz’s sports blog. [...]

Instant Dawgma

October 4th, 2011
5:43 pm

Chuck, this is a blog about stoner schaeffer….Jeff just wrote the new one on UGA. Is that where you meant to post? Are you stoned? hehe

jch

October 4th, 2011
6:02 pm

Whether you want pot to be legal or not you’re overlooking the obvious DUI of a controlled substance which is no doubt part of what he’s facing. Glad he’s not the Braves problem – we have enough.

And, what the h*ll is a marijuana peanut butter cup????

ChopChamps95

October 4th, 2011
6:05 pm

Message to all those who still worship the ground Schafer walks (well, walked) on……….you guys still think he wasn’t lying in 2008? I really hope there’s a press conference the Astros and Schafer hold for this one, can’t wait to hear all the bull and the phony apology he comes up with this time.

HanksDaMan

October 4th, 2011
6:12 pm

A felony? For 25 grams of weed? No wonder our jails are bursting at the seams. Charge him w/ DWI or some sort of DUI. That’s ridiculous and a waste of police manpower and taxpayer money.
Oh yeah, it’s Florida. Home of the Cretans and old angry republicans.

The Mask

October 4th, 2011
6:12 pm

@jch
I agree, glad he’s not the Braves problem anymore although he wouldn’t be for much longer if he were still actually here. If he didn’t get it in the wake of the HGH thing, he’ll never get it now after this incident.

@Chop
I was kinda thinking the same thing. I lived in Mississippi back around the time he played for the AA team. The news showed a clip of his press conference. From what I saw it was the most fake “sorry” I’ve ever seen someone give over anything. His words and body language were more of “I’m sorry I got caught” not “I’m sorry I did something really stupid and let myself and others down in the process.” I actually felt embarrassed for him

CUTTYmoBEE

October 4th, 2011
6:13 pm

it’s funny how even the most disparaging comments are really not that bad…YOU PEOPLE kill me (LOL)!

JS

October 4th, 2011
6:16 pm

It’s weed. Who cares. Stop arresting people for it. It’s a waste of the governments time and my money.

JS

October 4th, 2011
6:17 pm

If he was driving under the influence, that is the only legitimate problem here.

jch

October 4th, 2011
6:19 pm

JS – should you be allowed to drive around with a bottle of Beam? Then why should you be allowed to drive while hitting a stubby? Like I said, it doesn’t matter if you’re for/against legalizing marijuana – he still earned the DUI fair and square and deserves whatever he gets for it.

jch

October 4th, 2011
6:21 pm

JS – and the fact that marijuana, like it or not, IS illegal… Minor details of course…

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