Coming out of the midway point of the 2013 MLB season, both players and fans alike are waiting anxiously to see what comes to fruition from the infamous Biogenesis Scandal.
For those of you that have been living under a rock or just don’t follow sports, a list was released late last year from Biogenesis, a Miami based clinic that was being probed last year for supplying PED’s. On it, the names of over 20 MLB players, some of them major names and some of them shocking to learn about.
The Milwaukee Brewer’s Ryan Braun, after swearing up and down to friend and business partner Aaron Rodgers that he was not using PED’s, was the first player to go down on July 22 with a 65 game suspension. The MLB had such irrefutable evidence that when they showed him what they had, he decided to throw in the towel and cut a deal with no intention for appeal.
Typically the MLB’s policy is a 50 game suspension on the first offense, which this would have been Braun’s. So why take a deal for 65 games?
This deal signifies that the MLB had enough on Braun to give him at least the 100 game suspension(2nd offense) or even possibly lifetime(3rd offense). Over the next 6 months, whatever comes down the track for these players, there will more than likely be very few players to fight it- unless of course you’re A-Rod.
Yes, New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez, Mr. PED User himself, also had his own special place on that list. Unlike Braun, A-Rod has made no plans to come quietly. He has tried to fight the charges and has gone so far as to tamper with the investigation.
Why fight it though if you’re clearly guilty? Either A-Rod feels he deserves better or he is simply delusional. If the MLB doesn’t do something serious about him it will be a black eye on the organization. Repeat offenders like A-Rod cannot walk. All they will do is set a precedent of allowing PED’s.
A-Rod has continuously found a way to make himself out to be a victim anytime he has put himself in a rut. At least Braun stepped up and said, “I messed up” rather than trying to make a dog and pony show of everything.
However the MLB decides to handle A-Rod will set the tone for the rest of the trials and punishments to be given out from this scandal. This is a list of players that includes previous offender Melky Cabrera of the Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers’ shortstop Jhohnny Peralta and Nelson Cruz of the Texas Rangers.
Will Churchill is a contributor for The Pit. If you have and questions or opinions email him at wgchurchilljr@yahoo.com.
