April 19, 2006
Take the Year Off
Angel Rocha, a minor league pitcher for the Diamondbacks received a 100 game suspension for violating baseball's drug policy. It was his second offense. Of the five minor league players suspended this year, four are pitchers.
I wonder if the penalty system is wrong for the minor leagues. If you're working your way up, the goal is to get a big payday in the majors. Since only a few make it, why not risk a 50-day suspension to get noticed? The thought process might be:
- My chances of making the majors are slim.
- I only have a 25% chance of getting caught if I take a PED.
- If I get caught, I just don't make the majors sooner.
- If it works, I get a big payday.
Maybe the penalty in the minors should be that the player can't be called up to the majors for two years. Taking the chance of going to the majors from slim to zero might be a better deterrent.
Posted by David Pinto at
08:22 AM
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Good point. Considering all that minor leaguers have to deal with, a 50 game suspension may not be such a big deal for a shot at the big leagues. Cutting off their road to the majors might be a more effective penalty than a comparatively short suspension.
The danger here is that many of these players are claiming that the second and even third positive is still for the original usage. While I think tough punishment is important, I think some consideration has to be made for how long some of these drugs stay in a person's system. Mike Morse and David Castillo both claim they got dinged three times for the same usage offense because it took that long to get out of their systems. MLB needs a better testing system to ensure that guys aren't being punished twice for the same offense, especially at the cost of 100 games.
David -
I like your concept, but I think there's a flaw in it. If I'm a 19-year old in A-ball, a 2-year prohibition on reaching the bigs isn't much of a deterrent. I'm probably not going to be in the majors when I'm 21 anyway.
Now, if I'm 24 and in AAA, it's a different story entirely. But the younger guys might just take a 2-year delay in their promotion as an age limit.
Very true, Mike. I suppose you could make it two years or until age 25, which ever is longer.
It strikes me, however, that a 19-year-old has more to lose than a 24-year-old. At 19, you can still be a star. If you're 24 and still in the minors, that chance goes way down.
How about a 50 days suspension from Minor league play AND a 50 day suspension from Major league play to be served at the start of being called up. This would essentially mean that if you got dinged in the Minor leagues, you would NEVER be called up to the majors... what team is going to call you up to eat a roster spot for 50 days?
If you really want to put an end to PED you have to make the penalty be effectively the end of ones career. This is how it works in other sports. Of course, some argue that it hasn't actually put an end to PED, it's just made the chemists richer.
Brad,
On the surface, that's a pretty good idea and sounds like a strong deterrent for PED. There are obvious edge cases to consider. For example, the kid at 20 who gets busted, spends three more years working his way up from A ball to AAA to the majors. Is it fair to him, if he's been clean for three years, to make him serve a 50 day suspension retroactive to three years prior? Maybe the penalty ought to be a 50 day suspension at the next highest level of play in addition to a 50 day suspension at the current level. At first blush, that would seem to work around the edge cases and accounts for varying ages and levels of experience.