There are plenty of questions in the wake of Wednesday\u2019s announcement that Melky Cabrera would be suspended for 50 games for testing positive for testosterone. For the Giants and their fans, the questions are of the \u201chow could this happen?\u201d and \u201cwhat do we do now?\u201d variety.<\/p>\n
In Phoenix, or Los Angeles, the question being asked tonight is, \u201cWhy do they get to keep those wins?\u201d<\/p>\n
I understand that the answer is obvious, that there is no provision in the PED rules that would require a team to forfeit games played by a person who tests positive, but shouldn\u2019t there be? Is it fair to the Dodgers and Diamondbacks that the Giants got 117 games of an enhanced player?<\/p>\n
And if you\u2019re loading up the \u201ctestosterone didn\u2019t really help Melky\u201d defense, don\u2019t waste my time. If Melky thought he was capable of the season he\u2019s having this year, and the one he had last year, without PED\u2019s, he wouldn\u2019t have used them. I trust his judgment on the matter, and think it\u2019s ridiculous to try to make the case that his drug use didn\u2019t have an impact on his play.<\/p>\n
Cabrera was 18-for-39 this season against Arizona, with 2 homers, 6 RBI and 8 runs scored. The Giants have won four games against the D-Backs, and in those games he was 11-for-17 and scored four runs. If Arizona had won two of those games, they\u2019d trail the Giants by 1.5 games rather than 5.5.\u00a0 In the four games the Giants have won over the Dodgers, Cabrera was 5-for-15 with 3 runs scored.<\/p>\n
According to CSN Bay Area\u2019s Andy Baggerly, the failed test is said to have happened around the All-Star Break. That means Cabrera has played more than a month\u2019s worth of games while he was appealing his suspension. Is that fair? Baseball has a pretty good idea that a player has an illegal edge over his opponents, and yet he gets to keep playing while they make sure?<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a strong current of opinion that Cabrera\u2019s suspension is proof that baseball finally has a PED policy that works, and to a degree that\u2019s true. A player who was trying to game the system was caught, and now he pays a penalty. In Cabrera\u2019s case, the penalty is actually bigger than usual, because of his status as a free agent next season. It\u2019s impossible to calculate how much money this escapade has cost him.<\/p>\n
But while the policy punishes the guilty player, there\u2019s no sanction against the team which benefited, either knowingly or not, from his presence in the lineup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There are plenty of questions in the wake of Wednesday\u2019s announcement that Melky Cabrera would be suspended for 50 games for testing positive for testosterone. For the Giants and their fans, the questions are of the \u201chow could this happen?\u201d … Continue reading