Hate Steroids? Get Serious.

I make no bones about baseball not being my first love, but for American sports none have occupied so many ugly emotions as baseball.  For some reason, the sport that has the least amount of contact contains the most drug users.  Since the Mitchell Report’s release in 2007, baseball has made fighting steroids a priority.

And yet nothing seems to have changed.  The biggest names in the game find their names on various distribution lists, prescription slips, and shipping labels.  While everyone focused on the lead-up to the Super Bowl last week, A-Rod’s name appeared in documents after a bust of a steroid operation in Central Florida.  Many likely remember A-Rod’s admission in 2009 that he had used steroids while playing for the Texas Rangers.  In that statement, Rodriguez effectively put the onus on himself and his cousin, claiming he did not use steroids at all after coming to New York.

Well, look at the new evidence from the disgraced clinic Biogenesis, and the prescribed diet for Rodriguez linked him to as many as 19 drugs using various methods of transmittal, whether it be pills, creams, or even lasanges.  Yeah, nineteen.  Other players mentioned in these lists are Gio Gonzalez, a Nationals pitcher who challenged for the Cy Young last season, and Nelson Cruz, a Rangers outfielder.  With the report late Tuesday that Ryan Braun, the Milwaukee Brewers MVP that successfully appealed a failed test last year, was also found on Biogenesis lists, the den of iniquity looks to be complete.

And this should come as no surprise to anyone.  Baseball has for too long used outdated and lenient steroids punishments.  With a first offense, a player loses 50 games.  Upon a second offense, 100 games.  With a third offense comes a lifetime ban from baseball.

Now baseball has made strides in recent weeks.  In mid-January baseball and the players’ union agreed to in-season testing for human growth hormone as well as new testing methods designed to expose testosterone.  Those are huge steps, especially since many of the substances mentioned in the Biogenesis papers are forms of growth hormone.  But what makes us believe baseball players won’t continue to lie their way through the next few years.  Braun maintained his innocence after a positive test, and A-Rod swore he hadn’t used since 2003, but here they are on manifests from a shady drug outfit.

The highest profile suspension last season, that of Melky Cabrera for testosterone (Cabrera also was on the Biogenesis list), similarly doesn’t inspire much confidence.  What was his reward?  A two year contract worth $16 million.  Not the universal stigma one would imagine, but a fistload of money.  He cheated, got caught, and eventually got rewarded financially.  Hardly the kind of incentive structure baseball should perpetuate in order to eliminate steroids.  If you want steroid usage out of baseball, why not ban these guys for the remainder of the season and the following season?

The more we hear, steroids sink larger players.  Cabrera won the All-Star Game MVP award last year, an honor not normally befitting a guy of his playing caliber.  A-Rod, always a lightning rod for attention, clearly lied to the public.  If Braun turns out to be involved directly (his name is not linked to any specific substance), we have no reason to trust baseball players until positive tests truly disappear.  Even then, the Lance Armstrong saga just proved the absence of a positive test does not imply no doping.

Given recent events and revelations, can we really say the Steroid Era has ended in baseball?  Will we ever view professions of innocence as legitimate?  If you want to answer “Yes” to these questions, push for larger sanctions in baseball for PED use.  Let’s not coddle these guys…they will only stop with proper penalties for using.  Clearly, the current system is not working.

Bit #1: The Caps should not fire Adam Oates

Many want to rush to judgment with Adam Oates, the beleaguered Caps head coach who currently presides over the worst team in the Eastern Conference.  To say this team can perform at a much higher level would be an understatement, but we must remember a few key facts before calling for his head.

First, no coach deserves to lose his job with only one week of preseason.  That’s not fair, especially for a guy with a “system” like Oates.  He needs time to implement that for a team consistently searching for a long-term solution behind the bench.  In addition, no coach can be expected to do well when his alleged starting goalie posts a 4.52 goals against average and a .862 save percentage.  The Caps will forever be associated with offense, so a steady backstop between the pipes creates more opportunities to score.  Braden Holtby has played poorly to say the least which will sink any team looking to make an impact.  Certainly, the offense has not been there either, but goalie situations look to be more foreboding in the long run.

That said, Oates will need to bring the Caps into the hunt soon or else the shortened season will be lost.  Amazingly, we are close to the quarter mark of the NHL season already, so the time for dallying past a while ago.

Bit #2: What’s Gotten Into the Raptors?

If you’re just now learning there’s an NBA franchise in Toronto, you haven’t missed anything.  But it seems the Toronto front office would like to bring some attention north of the border.  Last week, the Raptors traded for Rudy Gay, the top scorer on the Memphis Grizzlies, in an attempt to upgrade a team that hasn’t made the playoffs in four seasons.

Yesterday, reports out of Toronto claimed the Raptors and Bulls mulled a swap of Carolos Boozer and Andrea Bargnani, two guys known more for their disappointing performances than success.  While this trade likely won’t happen due to salary cap considerations, that Toronto wants to bring in recognizable veterans changes their typical MO.  If Bargnani, the 2006 overall first pick, can be dealt, look for GM Bryan Colangelo to potentially change destinations after this season.  Things don’t change this quickly without some pressure from ownership.