MLB 2018 regular season thread

Really common medication, I have been on it. but my career did not depend on knowing. They should know, the doc especially.

 

It's not a steroid. It's a possible masking agent.

 

yeah, i will correct that.

I believe Manny was also a masking agent. Something to do with fertility.

 

He accepts the suspension, but claims he didn't use a PED? From what others posted, it sounds like MLB does have evidence of PED use, but is willing to let the statement stand because Cano isn't fighting the suspension.

That said, if he wants people to buy his story that he used the known masking agent to treat some sort of medical condition, he probably should specify the condition.

Fair or not, the PED user label is going to stick on Cano.

 

I once covered an aging minor leaguer who had spent a few years in the bigs suspended for the same thing. He claimed his doctor gave it to him because his hands swelled up on long bus rides. I talked to multiple doctors who were quite skeptical another physician would prescribe Lasix for that reason.

It also just happened to be at a point the player was pretty desperate to get back to the majors one last time.

 

The underlying ailment can be very personal.

 

I hate these, “I had an inkling, but wasn’t able to report it,” stories.

But one reason — the one not broadcast — was that Melky Cabrera and Alex Rodriguez already had been suspended for their association with illegal performance-enhancing drugs. And those were Cano’s best friends on the Yankees. And while no one can be found guilty by association, the Yanks were apprehensive enough about the tightness of that group to wonder if Cano would ever be the next domino to fall.


He now is.

 

God, there are going to be some albatross contracts for the next few years. Off the top of my head, salaries for:

Cano: $24M through '23
Greinke: $35M through '21
Pujols: $30M through '21
Cabrera: $32M through '23
Price: $32M through '22

 

Somebody already posted reports that MLB has proven that Cano took PEDs, but the specific ban is related to the masking agent. If that is true, Cano's entire story is bullshit.

This is how anything related to PED use is treated. Players are guilty until proven innocent. In this case, he's accepting the suspension. If he wants to make a case that even though he is accepting the suspension, he didn't use a PED, he needs to get past "very personal."

Is that fair? Not really, but that's how this goes.

 

The difference with Manny is that he was suspended twice.

Is Cano a surefire HOF now? No, because of this. But he won't hit the ballot for more than a decade, and that will help his chances significantly

 

Jacoby Ellsbury $21M per through 2020. He hasn’t stepped on the field yet this year

 

My beef was with the use of the word “proves.” God, I hope this doesn’t nudge me into “piece of shit concern troll” territory.