Hardball Times: Rob Manfred, PEDs and MLB Publicity Goals

[weams]

"I believe those goals were advanced by disciplining players who had used performance enhancing drugs, and thereby set a terrible example for young people who might be tempted to do the same thing."

http://www.hardballtimes.com/peds-from-savior-to-villain-and-back-again/

...when asked about trusting the testimony of Bosch - who, among the many allegations against him, was accused of selling steroids to minors - Manfred replied, "Whether or not Mr. Bosch had distributed drugs to minors was not of paramount importance to me."

[25 Nuggets]

So, while the perpetuation of PEDs would be potentially harmful to minors, it didn't matter if the actual distributor sold to minors. Way to miss the forest for the trees, Manfred.

Man, big business is the single biggest deterrent for me as a sports fan. I've already given up on college football, I hope I don't lose interest in the rest. Does anyone else feel this way?

[25 Nuggets]

It’s doable, but it would have to begin with an unlikely admission: Perception doesn’t always match reality. Instead of being puffed up with pride over the introduction of in-season testing for a substance that hasn’t been proven to benefit performance in elite athletes, MLB actually could consider the potential value of dispensations for the therapeutic use of HGH.

It’s easy to lump all the so-called performance enhancers in one category, but doing so fails to recognize nuance. Human growth hormone isn’t derived from the secretions of somatotropic cells within the pituitary glands of demons. It’s not brewed in a witch’s cauldron. Real-life doctors of the non-quack variety prescribe HGH every day to treat their patients.

I am 100% on board with the writer (Dustin Parkes) here. HGH should not be treated like it is by MLB. It got swept up in the testosterone craze, when it should be viewed as immensely valuable to players in their waning years. Unfortunately, because of MLB's policy, I cannot give players a pass when they take it. And again this all boils down the abuse of substances like HGH by minors and young men who don't know how to medicinally apply them.