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Thanks for the notes, e-mails, and pm's.
All is good. Real life just gets to be a little much sometimes.
It is good to be back.
Thanks again....

I've read mostly positive stuff about Melky Cabrera.
Crazy.
'At least he acknowledged that he was wrong'
'He didn't do a Clemens'
'He showed remorse'
If I fart and tell everybody close to me, "I'm sorry", it shows remorse, but it sure doesn't make that fart smell any better.
The guilt is still there, but much better on the public pallet with a dash of Pettitte, instead of Clemens



Let's make an amusing analogy out of this-
A sex addict goes into a whore house.
A sign is posted- 'No Viagara allowed'
Undeterred, this guy, an average guy in bed before Viagara, becomes a name the girls talk about and want in their beds.
Then he tests positive for Viagara.
He is banned from the whorehouse.
He is told to take two months off.
At that time, he can be re-instated to an even better whore house with lots more girls.
Will he use the viagara at the next house?
Does it matter?

What me Worry?

Melky Cabrera has been playing with an edge for a while. We don't know how long that 'while' is, but it's been a while.
Cabrera, in two years, has turned himself from a fourth outfielder to a Star.
No small feat.
That time frame could be the 'while'.
We don't know.

The penalty for the self-medication to become a star is 50 days without pay or play.
It's a personal penalty. It doesn't help the Dodgers or Diamondbacks or the wildcard contenders. These teams have already been beaten by the Giants with Star Cabrera, not fourth outfielder Cabrera.
Brian Sabean, who was so shocked and abhorred about Buster Posey being annihilated by Scott Cousins and wanted rules changed in baseball to protect his, excuse me, all catchers, is quietly surprised by the Cabrera revelation.
But offered nothing else.
No apologies for his player and certainly no sympathy for Giants opponents.

If Melky Cabrera was a calculated con man, the con worked.
The pay is not good for a fourth outfielder, comparatively, to a Star's salary.
A 50 day penalty is a small price to pay when comparing a fourth outfielder's pay to a Star's pay.
The answer will come when teams come a'bidding on Cabrera this off season.
The bidders will have to calculate how much of a player Cabrera REALLY is during the off season.
My guess is that most teams will bid on the star version of Cabrera, not the fourth outfielder.

The penalty itself, should be changed.
Cabrera has no loyalty to the Giants. They are simply the team he played for because he was traded by the Royals to the Giants.
Cabrera's loyalties lie with his paycheck.
Certainly, he did not self-medicate to make the Giants a better team. He self-medicated to make Melky Cabrera a better ball player and make more money after being perceived as a better player.
The penalty as it stands now does not hurt Melky Cabrera or the Giants.
Cabrera will make more money next year.
The Giants got the 'Souped up Cabrera' for over 100 games.
To make this penalty a fair one, the player must be hit where it hurts the most.
The pocket book.
If the rule read that a player taking self-medication would have to endure a 50 game penalty PLUS a salary cap designed by smarter folks than me, over the next two or three following years, self-medicating would stop.
It simply would not be worth it to the player to break the rules.

From a fantasy perspective, I'm guessing that most will see all of Cabrera's hits during the last two years and think that Melky can duplicate the effort.
Even without self-medication.
Most likely, I'll pass.
The unknown makes me unsure of Cabrera. And in most drafts, if a drafter is unsure of a player, they find it very easy to keep passing over that player until he is drafted and then, of course, that other drafter crows about the 'value' he received.
Funny thing about these 'value' picks....they're seldom talked about by winners of leagues.

Cabrera?
He has won over some of the public with his quick remorse and apologies. So, no public backlash.
He'll make more money than ever before. So, more money, not less.
He'll get 60 days off before his bonanza. A vacation.

What me worry?

There are a lot (A LOT) more players than just him doing this stuff. HGH, testosterone, androgens, Gene therapy, Blood doping, Blood Transfusions, Peptide and host of other undetectable enhancements already exist. The Players and thier AGENTS will always be 2 steps ahead of the testing and with the speed of Medical adavances now, there is no way the artificial enhancements will stop. Very recent questions and some study's about the substantial increase in the amount of injuires occurring and the specific types of injuires, point to something going on. Gee, I wonder what they will find?

The problem is the Genie was let out of the bag in 60's with amphetamines, greenies, uppers, and stayed that way for about 20 years, until the 80's when Forms of Steriods hit the scene and peaked around 2003-06. So bascially for the last 50 years Most of them have been doing something. People need to stop the high horse act where they act with indignation that a player or players do this stuff. It's part of the "GAME" and has been for a long time.

Outlaw wrote:There are a lot (A LOT) more players than just him doing this stuff. HGH, testosterone, androgens, Gene therapy, Blood doping, Blood Transfusions, Peptide and host of other undetectable enhancements already exist. The Players and thier AGENTS will always be 2 steps ahead of the testing and with the speed of Medical adavances now, there is no way the artificial enhancements will stop. Very recent questions and some study's about the substantial increase in the amount of injuires occurring and the specific types of injuires, point to something going on. Gee, I wonder what they will find?

The problem is the Genie was let out of the bag in 60's with amphetamines, greenies, uppers, and stayed that way for about 20 years, until the 80's when Forms of Steriods hit the scene and peaked around 2003-06. So bascially for the last 50 years Most of them have been doing something. People need to stop the high horse act where they act with indignation that a player or players do this stuff. It's part of the "GAME" and has been for a long time.

Signed,
Roger Clemens

The New York Daily News reports that Melky Cabrera created a fake website and a nonexistent product in an effort to prove he inadvertently took the banned substance that led to his suspension.
Cabrera had the help of Juan Nunez, who is a paid consultant with the agency that represents the outfielder. It didn't work, of course, and it's now possible Melky could face some legal issues, as the Daily News says FDA criminal investigative agent Jeff Novitzky and MLB’s Department of Investigation "have begun looking into Cabrera’s associates and his entourage." There's surely more to come in regards to this bizarre story.

Yes, a salt of the earth guy.
You keep on backing horses like these, Outlaw.
I'll pass.

DOUGHBOYS wrote:The New York Daily News reports that Melky Cabrera created a fake website and a nonexistent product in an effort to prove he inadvertently took the banned substance that led to his suspension.
Cabrera had the help of Juan Nunez, who is a paid consultant with the agency that represents the outfielder. It didn't work, of course, and it's now possible Melky could face some legal issues, as the Daily News says FDA criminal investigative agent Jeff Novitzky and MLB’s Department of Investigation "have begun looking into Cabrera’s associates and his entourage." There's surely more to come in regards to this bizarre story.

Yes, a salt of the earth guy.
You keep on backing horses like these, Outlaw.
I'll pass.

Dough- Not sure where I said I "back" this guy. You NEED to stop interpting what others think!!!!!!!!!!! I detest Illegal substances, and have been advocate with the youth and adults my whole life on the dangers of illegal substances, inlcluding all this crap, legal or not. But I' m also a realist when it comes to A LOT of all these multi million dollar spoiled Athletes.