I’ve been hearing the possibility of 100-game suspensions, at least for A-Rod.
I know that they don’t have to follow the law or the constitution when handing out league punishment. But I guess it’s because of my background that I don’t like it. What amounts to millions of dollars of fines based on the word of one slimy character and no positive drug tests. I hope they have more to go on as proof than that. (Yes I know, documents. From the slimy character)
I would imagine that the inevitable appeal by the Players’ Union will focus on exactly this issue. And I agree with you. And I think Braun, in particular, could make the case that MLB was biased against him because of their previous interactions and solicited (false) testimony from said slimy character (and they most certainly did solicit testimony from him, going so far as to offer a good word in any possible criminal case he may face and ceasing their own lawsuit against him).
It looks shady all around. And of course, I don’t give a crap about who is or isn’t doing steroids, so to me it’s just a waste of time and energy.
It sounds like Bosch isn’t just talking, but also supplying all kinds of corroborating records/paperwork.
While I strongly believe Bosch is telling the truth, I don’t expect anyone to start serving suspensions any time soon.
The Players’ Union will fight this tooth and nail, which means that even IF the commissioner wins, it’s likely to be next season before anyone starts serving out any 100 game suspensions.
I hope the Yankees had the foresight to be able to void A-Rod’s contract if something like this came up. I’d much rather finish in last place without him than win the World Series with him.
Wondering who the other 18 are. They only Tiger I’ve seen in the rumor mill so far is Peralta.
At least a few were identified in other reporting. The biggest name I remember is Nelson Cruz. A prospect in the Padres system (Grandal) was suspended already because the system works differently for non-major leaguers. And yes, the dispute over this is going to last months. I suppose the best outcome for the Yankees is that A-Rod decides to never show his face again and just quits.
I’ll play the world’s tiniest violin for him as soon as someone FedExes it to me.
If they had, they’d have tried it by now. They may still, once the suspension is in place, citing fraud or misrepresentation or something, then the lawyers will gnaw on it a bit, then there’ll be a settlement.
AIUI, a suspension is not served concurrently with DL time, so he’d be out the bulk of a season even *after *getting in game shape and being reactivated. Which ain’t happenin’, the dude’s done.
The suspensions are absurd, anyway. They’re penalizing guys for getting caught, not for using. How many players in that era were dumb enough to penalize themselves by *not *using PED’s, anyway? It’s time to recognize reality, let it go, issue a blanket amnesty, and get it in the past.
I’m pretty sure that’s wrong. But the suspensions won’t be enforced, if they’re enforceable, for a while yet.
Isn’t that true of every penalty for everything ever?
This is about stuff that happened recently, not years ago.
The point was about the effectiveness and accuracy of the process for identifying PED users. It’s been so erratic in this case that getting caught is more a matter of chance than of guilt.
So what? Did they all suddenly stop using the day Canseco’s book came out?
What’s the basis for that view? How is it erratic? Some people fail tests and get caught. These guys got caught a different way.
What? The point is that testing has improved, so users are more likely to get caught and others are more likely to be deterred.
You are far more confident than I, for some reason, that most or all of the users have now *been *caught, and that most or all who have not were not users. I think there is far more reason to believe that PED’s were endemic, that virtually *all *players used them in a desperate effort to keep in the game, making enforcement largely random.
And that makes these suspensions more or less appropriate how?
I’m not sure where you’re getting this. I never made any predictions about how many people are getting caught or are getting away with it.
I have no idea what you’re talking about. You made a comment about players “in that era,” I said that this isn’t about stuff that happened “in that era,” and you started making rhetorical comments about Jose Canseco. What is your point?
I’m sick of the the "everyone was doing it, so lets just stick our head in the sand and ignore it"argument. There were some players NOT doing it, and still succeeding. If their stock rises, for no other reason than others who cheated have their stock falling, then so be it.
Cheaters should never get a pass. In my opinion, Henry Aaron is still the homerun king with 755.
And get off of my damn lawn. 
I liked Craig Calcaterra’s take. He is not a fan of MLB’s process.
I think that is very well said.
I think it’s typical blame the authority figure in charge of enforcing the rules instead of blaming the players who are violating them. It’s the same kind of thinking that got Braun off on his first bust.
Not being a fan of MLB or the MLBPA, I really couldn’t give a flying fig how they work this out, but let’s not pretend that the PED issues in baseball are solely MLB’s fault. Of course we’d love it if the players who were cheating used dealers who were completely reliable and never, ever would tell a lie, but, by and large, those aren’t the kind of people who are going to be giving PED’s to pro ballplayers.
It’s a mess, for sure. But it’s a mess made by both the MLB and the MLBPA.
That explains why they were supposedly shopping him so hard this past offseason.