As Major League Baseball enters the second half of its season, steroids are once again the front page story. Yesterday, Ryan Braun was suspended for the remainder of the 2013 season for his performance enhancing drug use. For over a year, Braun has been linked to a biogenesis clinic in Florida that was selling performance enhancing drugs to players. After denying P.E.D. usage for over two years, Braun struck a deal with Major League Baseball, when the evidence surrounding his steroid-past was overwhelming. The fall of Braun is just the latest hiccup in what has become the largest scandal in Major League Baseball history. Major League Baseball was hoping steroids were finished following the demise of Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro, Sammy Sosa, and Mark Mcgwire. Since the testimony given by those four players back in 2005, steroids have not left the baseball scene. More and more players were reported in the Mitchell Report in 2007, including Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Miguel Tejada and Eric Gagne. 2007 also featured the admission to steroid usage by Yankee Alex Rodriguez. Even after Rodriguez's monumental interview, steroids plagued Major League Baseball in 2009 and 2011 when left-fielder Manny Ramirez violated the league's substance abuse twice. Now we're in 2013 and another MVP left-fielder is going to be suspended for steroid usage.
The "steroid era" was thought to be over. Major League Baseball thought it could forget about the era which featured all-star games of Bonds, Sosa, Palmeiro, Mcgwire, Ramirez, Rodriguez, Ortiz, Clemens, Tejada, Giambi, Sheffield, Boone, Piazza, Magglio Ordonez, Glaus, Mo Vaugh, David Justice, Juan Gonzalez, Jose Canseco, Ivan Rodriguez and more. Some of these mentioned have not been confirmed users, but there is high suspicion. The Braun scandal though shows that steroids are still infiltrating the league. The only problem worse than the actual drugs, is the fact that the punishments are clearly not tough enough. Moreover, the punishments do not outweigh the benefits. With the contracts given out in baseball, such as A-Rod's 10 year 300 million dollar deal, or Ryan Braun's 8 year 51 million dollar deal after only a year and a half of playing, money does outweigh the punishments for getting caught, if you value finances over legacy. Unlike the NFL, contracts in baseball are guaranteed. Now, if you get suspended for steroid usage, you do not make money during your suspension, but when you come back you still receive your annual salary.
Thus, baseball needs to make a change; contracts given out need to have a clause that if you are found to be a steroid user, your contract can be void or you should lose a certain percentage of your salary. Obviously these ramifications need to be tinkered with, but the way to get steroids out of baseball is to take the money out of the players' pockets. If you do not pay your taxes, you get charged higher interest and you eventually will get arrested if the trend continues. These players are motivated primarily by money, whether that be through salary with their team or through endorsement money. These suspensions are clearly not enough to drive baseball players out of the steroid market. A large percentage of players are willing to risk the chance of being suspended for 50 games, in order to have an MVP-type year and receive a new contract and new endorsement deals.
What's worse is that steroids are working for the young players. In Jon Wertheim's book, "Scorecasting, The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won", it is revealed that minor league baseball players who took steroids had a 70% increase to making the major leagues over those who didn't. If you're just trying to get a shot in the league, why not take a boost.
The problem with this contract proposal is that the MLB players union would never agree to it. Unlike the NBA players union or the poor NFL players union, the MLB players union is a strong union. The players are paid an exorbitant amount (Angel Pagan 4years-40 million) and a lot of these teams have the extra money to spend due to the ridiculous TV deals that are given out and the absence of a salary cap. The one way to conquer the strong MLB players union, is by having the culture of the players change from within. Fortunately, we are seeing this shift today. Former and current MLB all-stars such as C.C. Sabathia, C.J. Wilson, Jason Bay, and Torii Hunter were interviewed about Braun's admission yesterday and were both disheartened and disgusted. The first step in getting steroids out of baseball, is changing the once prevalent steroid culture. This is important for two reasons: Number one and most importantly, if players look down on steroids than they will be more willing to allow a clause such as the one that was proposed earlier in this article. Secondly, if steroid users are looked down upon, they will be less likely to do it. No one wants to be Ryan Braun or Alex Rodriguez, completely hated and not given an ounce of respect.
Still, it is not a surprise though that steroids were prevalent in the late 1990's and early 2000's when you hear quotes from ex-steroid users such as John Rocker and Jose Canseco who have not apologized for their actions, but rather have said they believe it is better for the game. We will see how this new crop of MLB players reacts to steroid usage.
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