Byrd confirms Victor Conte is consultant

Rangers outfielder Marlon Byrd confirmed a Yahoo Sports report that said he is using supplements provided by BALCO founder Victor Conte, who supplied banned performance-enhancing drugs to several athletes and is linked to all-time home-run leader Barry Bonds. The relationship started 18 months ago, according to the report, and Byrd said he trusts Conte unconditionally. Byrd stressed that he only uses supplements that are approved by the National Sanitation Foundation, which is the organization that provides major-league baseball with a list of approved and banned substances. "2008, no positive tests," Byrd said. "I'm tired of going in GNC and taking chances. That's not fair to us. Everything is approved by MLB. Everything has to be NSF-approved for us to take. Everything I take, he sends to MLB." General manager Jon Daniels said the Rangers' stance is to use only NSF-approved supplements. "We provided and recommend NSF-approved products, and...