Biogenesis Scandal 2013

More to the Story of the Biogenesis Scandal-

For starters, nobody has been suspended yet.  If suspensions do happen, we’re not going to hear about them for a long time.  First, the Commissioner needs to decide how long the suspensions will be, then the players will get a chance to appeal.  It’s only after the appeals are exhausted and the player begins serving it that a suspension is made public.  So, basically, the earliest any suspensions would start would likely be mid-August, probably later.  And that doesn’t even take into account the inevitable legal challenges that would ensue if players are indeed suspended without ever having failed a test, which the CBA expressly states the Commissioner can’t do.

But of course, newspapers in their rush to judgment and their need to publish sensational headlines, are reporting (incorrectly) that suspensions have been doled out.  Here in New York, the Daily News absolutely loved this!  They had as the front page the other day “A-ROD TO BE SUSPENDED 100 GAMES.”  Of course, it’s also well-known in these parts that the Daily News hates A-Rod.  So, once the Biogenesis stuff broke and they had a chance to throw him further under the bus, they were of course going to take it and run with it, the complete story be damned!

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying A-Rod is innocent.  But I’m not going to automatically assume he’s guilty either.  As easy as it might be to believe everyone on the list was doing something, it’s not that simple.  We don’t know why their names were mentioned in the Biogenesis records or what they received, if anything.  All we have is speculation and suspicion.  The American judicial system is based on the principle of innocent until proven guilty.  Why don’t we utilize that same benefit of the doubt in the court of public opinion?

I get it.  A-Rod’s unlikable, has a ridiculous contract, plays for the Yankees and has admitted to past steroid use.  But how come we aren’t throwing any of the other 20 guys mentioned under the bus?  How about Ryan Braun, who already beat a 50-game suspension on a technicality?  He said that he was “vindicated” after he won his appeal, yet his name showed up too.  Why is Braun, for the most part, getting a pass?  Unlike A-Rod, he’s actually failed a test.  Melky Cabrera was mentioned, too.  He, of course, served a very high-profile PED suspension while his team was in the midst of winning the World Series last season.  But you can’t suspend him again if the stuff he got from Biogenesis is why he failed that test.  That’s called double jeopardy.

Outside of the rush to judgment, which is a consequence of living in America in the social media age, my biggest problem with Biogenesis is Tony Bosch.  Just like Brian McNamee and Kirk Radomski and Jose Canseco before him, Bosch has shown his true colors.  My opinion of Bosch is about as low as it can possibly be.  In my eyes, he’s not a “hero.”  Just the opposite, actually.  Tony Bosch is the lowest of the low.

First, whether you want to believe him or not, you have to question his motives.  He tried to extort a significant amount of money out of Alex Rodriguez to help him fight MLB’s lawsuit against him.  When A-Rod wouldn’t pay, Bosch was suddenly willing to spill everything and the lawsuit magically went away.  You also have to wonder what Bosch’s master plan was.  If, as he claims, he was providing these players with performance-enhancing drugs, why is he suddenly willing to sell them all out?  Is it purely selfish?  His clinic is closed and he needs to make a name for himself somehow, so why not?

There are plenty of holes in Bosch’s credibility, just like there was in the whole Brian McNamee-soda can nonsense.  Outside of wanting to believe the worst in the players, I don’t understand why so many people are so willing to take these guys at their word.  They haven’t exactly proven to be fine, upstanding citizens.  Through all of this, I’ve always wondered this question: “If you’re working with the guy, helping the guy cheat/break the law if you will, why are you keeping all this evidence lying around if your ultimate goal isn’t to ultimately betray him years later when it’s most convenient for you?”  Talk about questionable motives and unethical behavior.

Of all the guys who’ve been implicated as suppliers in these PED cases, the only one I have any ounce of respect for is Greg Anderson.  Anderson, of course, was involved in the BALCO scandal, which is what really started the ball rolling on all of this.  But rather than testify against Barry Bonds during Bonds’ 2006 perjury trial, Anderson was willing to go to jail for contempt of court.  Even though it meant jail time for himself, Anderson was unwilling to implicate Bonds in any wrongdoing.

Bringing it back to Biogenesis, I’m not saying the players should get off scot-free.  There’s a drug policy in place for a reason.  If they violated it, they deserve to suffer the penalties that are in place.  I’m not ready to rush to judgment, though.  This has the potential to be the largest PED scandal in sports history.  But let’s let it play out first.  Because none of this is as black-and-white as anyone would like it to be.