There’s been a lot of talk already about Manny Ramirez, and the news today that he’s failed a drug test. It seems that he didn’t test positive for steroids themselves, but for an agent commonly used to normalize hormone levels in the aftermath of a course of steroids. He’s admitted to this, and has been given a fifty day suspension.

And this is what bothers me. Fifty days? Let me say now, that I couldn’t care less about Manny, and his abilities or weaknesses. He plays for a baseball team I don’t watch, and as such, he’s just another player to me. But here’s the thing. How is a fifty day suspension regarded as any sort of deterrent? Let’s break this down, using a couple of examples.

First up: I’m an aging player, say, thirty five years old, and I’m starting to slow down. It’s becoming more difficult to stay fit, and to perform day in, and day out. However, I’m offered the chance to take something to keep me going a little bit longer. There’s a chance I’ll be caught, but there’s also a chance I won’t. The reward? A multimillion dollar contract. The risk? A fifty day suspension, including loss of my paycheck during that time.

Second Example: I’m a below average player, who has been in the minor leagues for a number of years, and I’m running out of time if I’m ever going to make it. Again, I’m offered the chance to take something that will put me over the edge and make me a major league player for at least a couple of years. Baseball being what it is, once you’ve broken through, you’ll probably find someone to employ you for a while. The reward? A major league contract, which is at minimum $400 000, per annum. The risk? Again, a fifty day suspension. This is worse, as you’ve not established yourself, but if you don’t get caught for long enough, it won’t be too bad.

As you can see, a fifty day suspension is a bit of a joke. If the players’ union and Major League Baseball were serious about clamping down on doping, they’d have mandatory blood testing, and a serious punishment for being caught. I’d like to see two years – this would put a real dent in someone’s career, and wouldn’t just be a token nod towards testing and deterrence.

In addition to this, it would be nice if people stopped looking at this as ‘a bad day for baseball’. Ok, it’s not great that one of the biggest stars was taking PEDs, but MLB should be talking this up as a positive – they have a testing regime (of sorts), it works (to an extent), and no-one is too big a star to be caught.

Here’s the overall problem ; the attitude of the owners, the fans, the broadcasters, the players and Major League Baseball is that if few people are being caught taking enhancers, then that must mean that there’s not a problem. I’m sure I don’t need to point out the inherent fallacy in that argument. If everyone wants to bury their heads in the sand, fine, but maybe, just maybe, this will act as an eye opener for a few people.

What do you think?