We haven't done one of these roundtables in quite awhile, but I figured all of the hubbub surrounding ESPN's report about the Biogenesis clinic, and MLB's plan to suspend 20+ players tied to the clinic would be a great way to bring it back.
I asked the TOC staff to respond to the below question, and got some really insightful comments from everyone.
What is your view on MLB’s mission to suspend 20+ players who were mentioned in Biogenesis records? Is MLB justified in trying to rid the game of PEDs by suspending players based on testimony from Anthony Bosch? Or are they overstepping their bounds by doling out suspensions based on flimsy records without any positive tests, as has been the typical practice?
Garrett Wilson: This is and always has been a witch hunt. Ever since Ryan Braun won his appeal, Bud Selig and company have been looking to score a major victory in the war on PEDs. This is their chance to go out and get a bunch of metaphorical heads to put on pikes to show the general public that they are doing all they can to rid baseball of the scourge of steroids. Forget about the fact that it appears MLB has no actual evidence but instead will likely be relying solely on the word of the least trustworthy doctor since Dr. Nick Riviera who is only rolling over now to get MLB to drop their lawsuit against him. That doesn't matter to MLB at all because they are going to burn some big names all for the sake of public image.
What it really will wind up being though is MLB cutting off their nose to spite their face because, barring Bosch producing physical evidence, these suspensions are going to be fought to the death. We aren't talking about appeals. There is a good chance that this ends up in a courtroom. There might even be some suspected players that dime out others in order to have their suspension reduced or dropped. Maybe that is what MLB really wants because it would create a divide in the players' union that the league could use to ratchet up their testing program even more. That would be a good thing in the long run, but MLB is going to be dragged through the mud along the way.
Scott Allen: My feeling on this issue is that there seems to be no legitimately good reason for any player to be tied to Biogenesis. Should there be punishment? Yes, absolutely because undoubtedly most if not all of these players are guilty to a certain degree. I'm just not convinced that the punishment needs to be a 50 game suspension without physical proof. What scares me most about this whole situation is that we are potentially reaching an age in which testing can no longer keep up with performance enhancers. Perhaps the time has come to begin penalizing teams as well as players as a way to minimize cheating.
Ian Casselberry: This smells so desperate from MLB. Unless Bud Selig has something we don't know about, and Tony Bosch's testimony gives it legitimacy, it looks like the case against these players is still pretty thin. Is there DNA evidence? Proof of payment? Phone records or anything else like that?
Ultimately, does this come down to Bosch's word versus that of the players? Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun haven't shown themselves to embody integrity, of course. But Bosch has already demonstrated that he's a liar, so how much credibility does he have when he's trying to save himself from being sued?
Without truly damning evidence, this feels like a smear campaign. "Hey baseball fans, you shouldn't root for these guys because we think they cheated. We can't prove it, but please be suspicious and boo them." Is that worth compelling fans to call player achievements into question and potentially become soured on the sport? Baseball is surely bigger than the indiscretions of a few cheaters, and it's in MLB's best interests to look like it's cleaning up the game. But this is a risky endeavor — especially if no suspensions can be enforced.
Pat Lackey: You're being naive, Scott. We've been in the era of testing being unable to detect performance enhancers since the day that MLB started testing. Put simply, the players know what's being tested for, they know what markers trigger failed tests, and they have basically an endless supply of money. The testers don't know what the players are doing to get around the tests. This is always a playing field slanted in favor of players. Remember: BALCO only happened because there was actually a smoking gun (in this case, a used syringe) that let authorities back-engineer a test for BALCO's designer steroids. Braun failed his test during the playoffs. Cabrera failed his test at the All-Star Break. It seems clear to me that these guys are only failing tests at points when they don't seem to realize that they're eligible for testing.
Where there's a huge disconnect here is that Bud Selig thinks what the public wants the same thing that the Bob Costases of the world want; TO SEE STEROIDS ERADICATED FROM BASEBALL FOR FOREVER! The problem is that there isn't one BALCO or one Biogenesis, there are probably ten or more of them across America servicing three out of every four of your favorite players in one way or another. I mean, you can use sworn affidavits and the like to prove guilt among these players here, but the question here is why? This case is going to be in the news for forever because the MLBPA is not going to roll over on this, especially given the way that MLB leaned on Bosch for testimony and they way that they've clearly singled Braun and Rodriguez out. It's not going to make the public think that baseball is taking care of its PED problem, it's only going to perpetuate the myth that baseball has a bigger PED problem than every other major sport in America. It's a self-defeating cycle that's not helping anyone.
Jaymes Langrehr: I don't think MLB is pushing this Biogenesis case so hard because they could never pop Barry Bonds. But I don't think it helps. I don't think MLB is pushing this Biogenesis case so hard because Ryan Braun's positive test was ruled to be fruit from a forbidden tree. But I don't think it helps. I don't think they've ratcheted up the pressure on Braun because of every grinning, middle-finger-between-the-lines statement he's given on the subject of PEDs. But again, I don't think it helps.
If Braun was dumb enough to use (or keep using, depending on your viewpoint) PEDs after narrowly avoiding suspension and dealing with the increased scrutiny he's faced on the road, that's on him, and yeah, he should be suspended.
The issue is this: to everyone's knowledge, MLB has no real evidence against Braun, Alex Rodriguez or any other player connected to the clinic. They're building a case based on vague, hand-written notes that don't have a whole lot of context. The star witness is a snake oil salesman posing as a doctor, a con man who's willing to say anything you want to hear for the right price.
Every detail that comes out about this investigation is more laughable than the last. Handing out 100-game suspensions — essentially 50 for being associated with a known dealer and 50 for lying about it — based on scraps of paper and testimony from shady characters is just the latest. MLB is obsessed with trying to generate positive PR on the drug issue. Their corporate partner, ESPN (who just happened to somehow get their hands on Braun's leaked test results before the appeal was heard), is more than willing to oblige. If that means taking down the biggest star of the 2000s and the star player from Bud's beloved Brewers to make a point, so be it.
Tim Livingston: Major League Baseball's policy on performance enhancers is pretty cut and dry, but I'm really interested in how they arrived at the penalties. It basically looks like they are treating the information garnered from Anthony Bosch and Biogenesis as a positive test, which in turn is them assuming the intent to use.
Now, intent being defined in MLB's sense is much more different than in a court of law. That's the big problem here: MLB's policy states that not only is a positive test worthy of punishment, but all players are prohibited from possessing any abusive drug or steroid. It also says no selling or distributing, but that doesn't come into play here. The big question is why they are treating these as positive tests. The commissioner's office stated that they arrived at the 100 game theory for being connected to Biogenesis and for lying about previous use, but that's one hell of a flimsy argument considering what the policy states, and the MLBPA knows that, too. So expect the two sides to make a run at an appeals process that could take a while.
The underlying issue here remains the same, though: MLB's testing process (and any other testing process, for that matter) has a large gap to fill in regards to the evolution of performance enhancers, and MLB trying to attack the source while using its players as scapegoats for testing procedures they want in place but can't have is eating away at them. That is shown through their insistence of getting this information out of Bosch and making him the enemy here, when in reality, there are many enemies: The testing policy itself not being strong enough, the testing facilities who want to give players that edge to beat said testing policy, MLB's non-insistence on blood testing until this year trying to catchup…it's just never ending.
The problem will continue to be that given the current structure and science of the situation regarding players and their desire to get that athletic edge that the testing policy won't be able to catch up to the science, and that only by going after places like Biogenesis will establishments like MLB find that cathartic release. They're going around their own policy to try and catch up, but all it's going to do is continue to get worse if they can't even figure out how to enforce their own policies in the ways they've hoped.
Now that we've heard from the TOC staff, what's your opinion on MLB's handling of the Biogenesis investigation and any possible suspensions? There have been plenty of eloquent responses written online, including the following.
–Eugene Freeman, a General Counsel for a labor union, at the Hardball Times,
–Craig Calcaterra, lawyer turned blogger, at Hardball Talk.
–Ken Rosenthal at Fox Sports.
–Jonah Keri at Grantland.
–Jayson Stark at ESPN.
So, what's your take?
