Melky should be banned from baseball

[bamagrad03]

I already dislike the guy. He has a crappy work ethic, terrible attitude, and has shown to be completely disrespectful of the game on many occasions.

However, this crap about setting up a fake website to deceive MLB takes the cake. All of it on the heels of him having to cheat to turn in his best season as a pro.

[dsc123]

I always liked Melky and was really happy to see him playing well, but I tend to agree.

[Golfingdad]

His 50 game punishment is fair for the PED use.  And after I heard what he had to say originally, I thought it was commendable and admirable.  He admitted it, rather than back down or make an excuse.  But ...

Now we find out that was only AFTER he came up with a hare-brained cover-up attempt?

Certainly there needs to be some extra punishment for that, no?  Banning him is probably a tad harsh, but, I agree that something on top of the 50 games needs to be added for that stunt.

[newtogolf]

I think the PED's issue is completely overblown by the media.  That said, these are the rules MLB and the MLBPA agreed to so Melky should serve the 50 game suspension and then at least all of next season for the attempted cover up.  Banning is a bit severe as I believe their CBA is pretty clear on what is and isn't a bannable offense.

[RPMPIRE]

As a Giants fan (see avatar), I do agree that Melky deserved the 50 game suspension and probably more for his attempted cover up. Banning is still pretty harsh especially when the players are working in a system where Bud Selig's drug testing program isn't as cut up as it should be. Melky was just dumb enough to get caught.

It's very disappointing how this came up especially after making a name for himself in his first year as a Giant. But it's also good to see younger unknowns like Brandon Belt and Crawford start to step up and get some hits when it matters balancing out the line up. We're at least in the playoff hunt and the next series against the Dodgers will be a determining one for the NL West title, IMO.

[bamagrad03]

The PED part, and the 50 game ban, I'm fine with. But the fact that he lied and created such a huge scheme to try and cover it up - it's borderline obstruction of justice.

For that 2nd part, he should receive a lifetime ban IMO. It's much, much worse than the PED rule he broke.

[iacas]

50 for the PEDS, 100 for the attempted cover-up. Banning is AWFULLY severe.

But this is basically a first and second offense rolled into one. He took drugs, then lied and tried to cover it up.

[RPMPIRE]

I agree with this.

On another note, I'm glad SF still has good pitching and the other players are producing hits. Last night's game against the Dodgers was an example of that.

Originally Posted by iacas

50 for the PEDS, 100 for the attempted cover-up. Banning is AWFULLY severe.

But this is basically a first and second offense rolled into one. He took drugs, then lied and tried to cover it up.

[dsc123]

[dsc123]

When USC bought Reggie Bush's mother a house so that he would play for them instead of Notre Dame, he had to give back his trophy and USC had to forfeit games and championships.

SF on the other hand got 100 games of a all-star caliber play, first place, and hadn't given him a new contract yet.

[newtogolf]

All sports are playing games when it comes to PED's.  If you want to truly rid your sport of them, make the penalties tougher, like a half season suspension for the first offense and permanent ban for the second.  Fine the teams for any player that tests positive and make the teams illegible for post season play.  Rules like that would get PED's out of sports but no one really wants PED's out of sports, they just want the appearance to seem like they do.

Same thing with DWI, want to discourage people from DWI make it a mandatory 10 year prison sentence first time they do it, 25 years the 2nd time.  I doubt we'd have as many DWI's if people knew they'd serve 10 years regardless of how good a lawyer they had.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by newtogolf

All sports are playing games when it comes to PED's.  If you want to truly rid your sport of them, make the penalties tougher, ....

I disagree.  That was true prior to 1987 for the NFL, and 1998 for the MLB.  They are pretty tough now.  25% of your season including salary for first offense in football, right?  And it looks like a full season suspension for a second offense and, according to Wikipedia, the penalty for a third offense is not specified because its never happened.  For baseball, its 31% of a season, then 62%, then 100% ... presumably all without pay.  Those seem pretty severe to me.

I would think that if those suspensions aren't enough of a detterent, then nothing will be.

(I didn't look up the NBA's policy but I figure that they have no problems with steroids because the bacne would be obvious in those tank tops)

[newtogolf]

We can disagree, nothing wrong with that.  I'd also point out that baseball doesn't test for HGH, as HGH requires a blood test and the Players Association has to date refused to agree to blood testing.

Also as someone that's been around steroids and HGH, it's pretty easy to beat the tests if you know when the tests are being conducted.  Random and frequent testing is the only certain way to catch offenders.  In baseball the testing isn't random, it's scheduled, which means players have sufficient time to clean their system before the test.  If baseball and the players really want to get rid of PEDS, it's within their power to do so.  The current process is a lame attempt at testing and done more to appease congress than rid the sport of PEDS IMO.

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

I disagree.  That was true prior to 1987 for the NFL, and 1998 for the MLB.  They are pretty tough now.  25% of your season including salary for first offense in football, right?  And it looks like a full season suspension for a second offense and, according to Wikipedia, the penalty for a third offense is not specified because its never happened.  For baseball, its 31% of a season, then 62%, then 100% ... presumably all without pay.  Those seem pretty severe to me.

I would think that if those suspensions aren't enough of a detterent, then nothing will be.

(I didn't look up the NBA's policy but I figure that they have no problems with steroids because the bacne would be obvious in those tank tops)

[RPMPIRE]

Even with scheduled tests, Melky was still stupid enough to get caught. I agree that despite Bud Selig's high regard to his drug testing program, it's nowhere near where it should be to deter the use of PEDs or HGH. From what I hear, all the types of testing that can be used is very pricey and with all the players that will get tested, it will definitely run up the costs for each team especially since it has to be done for every player. However, if that's the cost to promote skill and talent ONLY in the MLB (or any other sport for that matter), then I say do it.

Originally Posted by newtogolf

We can disagree, nothing wrong with that.  I'd also point out that baseball doesn't test for HGH, as HGH requires a blood test and the Players Association has to date refused to agree to blood testing.

Also as someone that's been around steroids and HGH, it's pretty easy to beat the tests if you know when the tests are being conducted.  Random and frequent testing is the only certain way to catch offenders.  In baseball the testing isn't random, it's scheduled, which means players have sufficient time to clean their system before the test.  If baseball and the players really want to get rid of PEDS, it's within their power to do so.  The current process is a lame attempt at testing and done more to appease congress than rid the sport of PEDS IMO.

[newtogolf]

That's exactly it, a player has to be stupid or careless to get caught under the current system.  Blood testing for HGH is expensive, but the standard urine tests are fairly cheap.  The issue is random testing versus scheduled testing.  The MLBPA doesn't want random testing during the season and off season so it was left out of the CBA.

As I've said, I don't really have an issue with PED's, I just don't like the hypocisy.  Selig knows the current testing method allows for PED use but he and the players just want it to appear like they care.  Selig and the owners don't want to see the HR leaders drop to less than 40 HR's a season and without PED's there's only a few in the league today that can hit that many.

Originally Posted by RPMPIRE

Even with scheduled tests, Melky was still stupid enough to get caught. I agree that despite Bud Selig's high regard to his drug testing program, it's nowhere near where it should be to deter the use of PEDs or HGH. From what I hear, all the types of testing that can be used is very pricey and with all the players that will get tested, it will definitely run up the costs for each team especially since it has to be done for every player. However, if that's the cost to promote skill and talent ONLY in the MLB (or any other sport for that matter), then I say do it.

[Golfingdad]

Originally Posted by newtogolf

We can disagree, nothing wrong with that.  I'd also point out that baseball doesn't test for HGH, as HGH requires a blood test and the Players Association has to date refused to agree to blood testing.

Also as someone that's been around steroids and HGH, it's pretty easy to beat the tests if you know when the tests are being conducted.  Random and frequent testing is the only certain way to catch offenders.  In baseball the testing isn't random, it's scheduled, which means players have sufficient time to clean their system before the test.  If baseball and the players really want to get rid of PEDS, it's within their power to do so.  The current process is a lame attempt at testing and done more to appease congress than rid the sport of PEDS IMO.

Well, shit.  If all of that is accurate then we don't disagree anymore.  I assumed that the testing in all sports for these types of things was always random.  I also didn't realize that they still haven't started testing for HGH.  Lame.

[RPMPIRE]

Looks like another suspension - this time for the Oakland A's pitcher Bartolo Colon

Bartolo Colon Suspended

[newtogolf]

No shock there, 40 year old overweight guy comes back after questionalble shoulder surgery that involved using stem cells and returned to pitch much better than expected (95 mph fastball) for a non-knuckleball pitcher.  My guess is the Yankees knew he was using PED's and decided not to re-sign him for 2012.

MLB is going to schedule testing for anyone that appears out of the norm, guys like Melky and Colon fit into that category.  It's the guys like A-Rod and Pettite that are tougher to catch because they don't bulk up and look like they are using PED's.

Originally Posted by RPMPIRE

Looks like another suspension - this time for the Oakland A's pitcher Bartolo Colon

Bartolo Colon Suspended