MELKY CABRERA & MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL'S DILEMMA

If Melky Cabrera won the National League batting title,knowing everything we know about how MLB handles these incidents, would you be annoyed?I would. I feel slighted by Melky Cabrera. This is a guy that was having a great season,and then after his MVP in the All-Star game, he was exposed for high levels of testosterone in his system. Then we find out that he may have even tried to cover it up with a fake website, read HERE. The whole thing is a mess.

Sure, Melky is the example here, but failed PEDs tests are happening way too much, don’t you think? I almost feel like players aren’t really concerned about the consequences, because it’s my belief that Major League Baseball’s policy on PED use isn’t as strong as it could be, and believe me, I’m not the only one who thinks this way. It’s my belief that the only way to truly cut down on PED use in MLB is to make the punishment stiffer. Sure, I would like a zero tolerance rule, but MLB will never do that, because everyone loves the long ball, including Major League Baseball. Don’t believe me? Look at the 90’s. I believe they turned a blind eye then and when they were accused of not doing enough, they figured out a way to “try” and fix it.

I tend to think that if Jose Canseco didn’t stir upthe entire steroid debate, I’m not so sure we’d be looking at any “strict” drug testing policy in baseball right now, OR, it wouldn’t be what it is currently. I almost feel like baseball’s behind on all of this, that’s my opinion of course.

Look, I believe the 50 game ban just doesn’t work. All a suspension of a player does is make that player go away for a while and we all forget about him. Then, they come back and play again, and many times it’s forgotten, almost like it’s business as usual. Teams still end up signing and playing these guys. It teaches nothing about personal responsibility to the player, the sport and to the kids who worship these athletes…. Think about it. There are 30 players that have been suspended for PEDs on the Major League level alone, 2 are repeat offenders. That's since they implemented the rule. Can you remember who they were? The only ones off the top of my head that I remember are Melky Cabrera, Manny Ramirez and Bartolo Colon and that’s because they’re recent. A 50 game suspension isn’t working.

Now I suggested a simple, inexpensive plan… a Public Service Announcement. In other words, when a player gets caught cheating, and failing (and in Melky and Bartolo’s case, admits it), they’re put in front of a camera and they record a message.That message says they failed the PEDs test. The fans who read BYB seemed to like it that idea. Major League Baseball will ignore it, as well as the rest of the Sports media. Who cares. I know my idea is smart and it shows my kid and millions of others that drugs are bad and guess what, they watch Melky Cabrera himself talk to them directly in a PSA, face to face, before a MLB game of the week or anywhere else they want to buy air time. What it shows kids is cheating is wrong. Here is that idea again:

“My name is Melky Cabrera, I was anAll-Star outfielder with the San Francisco Giants this season, but I tested positive for drugs and cheating. I amnow suspended for 50 games. What I did was wrong. Don’t be like me. I am not arole model. A role model works hard to achieve their goals.”

It's powerful. Secondly, let’s go even further; If a player is caught and fails a PEDs test,wipe their season clean. They didn’t exist that year. Hence, Melky would no longer be in the running for the NL batting title. I don’t care how much of a monster year they were having. Then, as least we start to take things away,rather than “punishing” players and allowing them to disappear like it’s the witness protection program. This is how it would look if my plan were in place:

(In Photo: Tweaked to reflect BYB's new MLB rule)
Sure, we can’t take everyone’s record away, but if they are caught for failing a test red-handed, maybe they need to suffer alittle more and lose those stats for the season. That’s a wake up call.

You’re asking me about Ryan Braun right now, right? Interesting. That’s a really hard one and itcrossed my mind, but the only thing I can suggest is maybe because Braun appealed and won, he skates because he went through the legal system. Notice HERE, Braun is also not on the failed PEDs list, I'm assuming because he appealed and won. Sure, an argument can be made that if a player gets caught, they too can appeal and win and I have no problem with that, at least we could have 3rd party involved, reviewing the information and making a determination on that person’s fate. Yeah, my idea isn’t perfect, but it will provide results, plus it can be quickly implemented and would be cheap to do.

Look, this whole thing is just mind boggling to me. It doesn’t seem like MLB really wants to clean up the sport. In fact, it almost seems like they’re masking it. Maybe I’m wrong, but I am just sick of all of it… that’s all.

So do you have an opinion? Want to comment? Do it, just keep it clean.

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