Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
January 06, 2009
Was the Original System so Bad?

The J.C. Romero case shows why I liked the original system of punishing players for using PEDs. The first time caught was a private reprimand.

My feeling is that, if Romero did in fact break the rules, he deserves to be punished. Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. feels the same way, as his recent statement seemingly backed major league baseball as opposed to his own supposedly wronged player. Ouch. This case, however, features some extenuating circumstances, as Romero did buy the product prior to its banning.

And, on top of that, while newer bottles display a warning that the supplement may cause positive drug tests, the bottle presented by J.C. in his hearing did not. It really feels like he is getting jobbed here, or made an example of. Perhaps he should never have bought the supplement, but if it was legal at the time of the purchase, and the purchase date can be proven, 50-games seems very excessive. Then again, the MLBPA did issue a revised list that apparently did show OXO-6 as banned.

I'm a bit torn here. This seems like an excessive punishment given the case presented by Romero, but it really seems like he could have exercised a bit more caution. Then again, he did speak to several different sources that cleared the supplement as safe. Either the Phillies training staff needs to be re-evaluated or Romero is receiving unfair treatment. After all, he spoke with just about everyone on his team whose job is to ensure this does not happen, and yet it did happen.

Under the original set of penalties, we wouldn't even know about it, and the issue would be properly taken care of. Romero would know if he used something like this again, he would be suspended, and he would be a lot more careful about the supplements he purchased. The original system gave the players a chance to make a mistake and not have their names dragged through the mud. It was fair. Too many people wanted heads to roll, however, and now the Phillies are without a good reliever for 50 games.


Posted by David Pinto at 11:21 PM | Cheating | TrackBack (0)
Comments

David, I appreciate your point. However, I feel that we hold our athletes to a higher standard. If I miss a new regulation at work, there are serious consequences.
Players, even those who make the league minimum, earn an amount of money that makes it inexcusable when they make mistakes like this. Professional athletes are responsible for what they put in their bodies.
If we hold them to the highest standard of our society (which we do), and vilify them when they fail (ditto), we can expect them to be held accountable for their digestive tracts.

Posted by: Dylan at January 7, 2009 12:25 AM

Dylan:

The bigger issue is what do we do with the company that is selling tainted products over the counter, mostly to young adults?

The whole PED/supplement issue has been presented to us as a health crisis. But the same Congress that lectured us about higher standards (for others, not themselves) caused this mess by gutting the FDA in 1994 by passing DSHEA.

Romero was screwed - he went to the medical professionals at his office and was given an OK - he didn't hide the use and asked for clarification. Why does he deserve a penalty when there was no intent to defraud or obfuscate and his own organization dropped the ball?

Posted by: Bob Tufts at January 7, 2009 10:38 AM

Wasn't Romero in the Mitchell report as a likely doper? He had a pretty good career, had a horrible year in Boston after the new testing system was put into place, and then went on to have a couple good years in other places after being waived by Boston.
Obviously this is speculation on my part, but I'm not surprised he got busted. To me, some random guy on the internet, it's completely believable to me that Romero was juicing, quit when the new system went into place, got cut by Boston for being ineffective, and then started looking to find ways to beat the system so he could juice again.

In short, his resurgence the last couple years was more surprising than the news he tested positive.

Posted by: AC at January 7, 2009 12:09 PM
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