Jehrico

By public, do you mean the media? The same group of media that has pretty much tied steroids to professional wrestling and Major League Baseball, and virtually, no one other than them does it. I'm still trying to figure out how the NFL hasn't been "probed" yet for their use of PEDs, or is that just widely-acceptable in football? By public, we mean the media, the fans, the sponsors, the whole nine yards. The NFL smarted up and took care of this issue a long time ago. They've been testing for steroids and what not for a very long time. I don't know why you think it's widely accepted in football. Remember way back when when Jim Miller got suspended for an over-the-counter supplement? That was 10 years ago. PEDs are certainly more frowned upon in the NFL and have been for quite awhile.

I could see them hardballing the owners on other issues, but they won't dare move to have drug testing removed. If they took that stance, the owners can be aholes on every other issue and win the public opinion war. That's the absolute dumbest thing that the players association could try to do right now.

I think you're being sarcastic, but one of the fallouts from the 'scandal' is that what you described is what will happen- guys with these huge outlier years will be scrutinized a little. And you know what, I'm for the most part cynical anyway, so I don't see a big problem with it. Unless I have the guy on my fantasy team and he can't repeat the numbers. Baseball brought it upon itself and it is fair to question everyone. That's the really unfortunate consequence of this whole thing. I feel like there is no one I CAN'T question. Heck, I question Jose Macias now. To be fair, we were all questioning Macias the day they signed him.

The Edmonds thread would lay waste to all, simply because of the sheer emotion, horror, and hatred that initially went into that thread.

Why would he take a NL team when he can play OF and DH in the AL. The only disadvantage to Seattle is their lack of coverage by national media. As far as Griffey is concerned, that may be an advantage, not a disadvantage.

Guess who had a higher IsoP last year between Blanco and Bako. Are you suggesting Bako is a better hitter than Blanco? And if so, are you basing that solely on last year? I hope you're not trying to suggest what I think you're saying because of one stat from one year. You won't find many teams choosing their backup catcher based on their potential OPS. They are more likely retained for their defensive abilities and Bako surpasses Hill in that regard. But the argument was Bako vs Blanco, not Bako vs Hill. And Blanco is arguably a better defensive backup than Bako as well.

Except the guy at the top. No, it benefits him too, at least financially. Wait... The union overriding the player's own decisions is a benefit? Wow, who knew big brother was so benevolent. you know it's not that simple though. as soon as you do this once, teams will be all over players who want to be traded, telling them there's no one interested at the salary and he needs to give some cash away. it's a completely unacceptable precedent to set, and the players' union was completely right to refuse a-rod's attempt to screw over teammates and competitors. Correction...they were right to OBJECT. They never had the right of refusal. I really don't know for sure, but the union would have the right to kick ARod out of the union if he did sign the deal. The union couldn't have stopped him but that is one heck of a road block if it is actually the case. If you're already signed to a contract for a quarter of a BILLION dollars, do you really need a union to help protect your interests? This isn't like the United Auto Workers back in the swing days. He's already got all of the leverage that he needs. He's already signed to the richest contract throughout the rest of his prime years, and then some. Now he just has to figure out what he wants besides money to keep him happy. He's pretty much already benefited all he's going to benefit from the union. The problem with ARod though is he wants everyone to like him. If he did that and got kicked out of the union, he'd be the bane of all of the other players, and that would have been worse and made him less happy than if he stayed with the Rangers.

Except the guy at the top. No, it benefits him too, at least financially. Wait... The union overriding the player's own decisions is a benefit? Wow, who knew big brother was so benevolent. you know it's not that simple though. as soon as you do this once, teams will be all over players who want to be traded, telling them there's no one interested at the salary and he needs to give some cash away. it's a completely unacceptable precedent to set, and the players' union was completely right to refuse a-rod's attempt to screw over teammates and competitors. Correction...they were right to OBJECT. They never had the right of refusal.

Because otherwise we'll have 10,000 posts talking about how they'd like the Cubs to rob the Padres for Peavy. Too late.

I assume he also thinks the Astros should be stripped of their National League title that they won with Clemens as well if he is proven guilty, correct? You mean with Clemens AND Pettite?

. :-k It's mighty big of the players union to allow the CBA to be breached when it benefits their own, isn't it? I love the blurb about how the union would permit Cruz and others to waive their individual rights. I don't think the union has a say in that decision. Wasn't it the union not allowing ARod to waive his rights that prevented him from being traded to Boston and instead to NYC? I believe it was that he was willing to take a salary cut to fit in the Red Sox's payroll and the union objected. That would be correct. ARod was will to cut something like $30 million off his deal to make the trade happen, but the union wasn't having it. The union confuses me sometimes. Why won't the union allow something like that? Does the union get a portion of that money or something? If it's his money what do they care what he does with it? Precedent. And the fact that what A-Rod gets affects the everyone else. He's at the top of the food chain, what he does affects everyone below him. All unions are set up to benefit the collective that makes up the union. Sometimes that means that the needs of the guys at the top have to be subordinate to everyone else. In the end, it benefits everyone. The key though is the union objected. They don't have final say on what any individual player does, but they can object. If ARod felt the union was preventing him from being happy, he's free to agree to terminate his contract anytime he wants (assuming the team wants to terminate it as well). If a player undermines the union anyways by going against the collective bargaining agreement or otherwise, then that player will get crap from the union and the other players. ARod isn't a guy who is going to go against the grain. He wants everyone to like him. He wasn't going to go against the union's wishes.

Guess who had a higher IsoP last year between Blanco and Bako. Are you suggesting Bako is a better hitter than Blanco? And if so, are you basing that solely on last year? I hope you're not trying to suggest what I think you're saying because of one stat from one year.

Regardless of the content of this thread, this thread's title makes it the greatest thread to ever grace this board. I smile every time I see it.

I think they need to check the contents of his "oil" can...make sure that oil isn't the "clear."

This is where bringing back Henry would have been much better than bringing the original lemon back. Henry had some decent pop in his bat for a backup catcher. Whatever really happened there? Did Hendry just decide he didn't want Hank back or what? It can't be that he wanted too much money or anything like that.

Adrian Gonzalez

. :-k It's mighty big of the players union to allow the CBA to be breached when it benefits their own, isn't it? I love the blurb about how the union would permit Cruz and others to waive their individual rights. I don't think the union has a say in that decision.

It's not just the straight draw. You know they'd move a good number of jerseys too.

If they can get him for cheap enough, he might just draw enough additional fans to make it worthwhile. I wouldn't be surprised if they get him for maybe two mil.

that's right. kinda makes me respect tony a bit there. almost. Yeah, I almost respect him. Then I see his hair. He does look a little like he inspired Blago's haircut. Seriously, it makes sense. That's where he gets it. I always knew Blago was a closet cardinals fan.

If Sheets is still on the market in July, I'd like to call him the PFP. Peavy Fallback Plan. If we don't get Peavy before the deadline, Sheets may be a nice plan B.

Don't forget that he's not just paid handsomely, he's now paid even more handsomely with his recent raise. I always grew up thinking you had to do great things to get a raise or promotion. Boy was I naive.

Fixed it for ya. We all know that's what you meant. ;)

....green font? you don't think people have cheated in pretty much every era of the game? Players were using speed in the 70s, who knows what in the 80s. Steriods were just the latest fad 10 years ago, as far as I'm concerned. Ever since players started making big bucks, it's just gotten worse and worse. Some scientist in some lab is working on inventing the next great supplement that isn't a steroid and isn't HGH that will give its takers an unfair advantage over the non-takers. That's a completely inaccurate perception of the history of steroids and PED's. They go back a lot longer than the 90's. That's why I started in the 70s. They probably go back more than that, but I've never even heard much anecdotal dating back to the 60s though, so I didn't mention it. I'm sorry if my post didn't meet your expectations of a thorough dissertation on the history of chemical enhancements in sports.