2012 MLB Regular Season Running Thread

But the aroma lingers on. I'm as big a Giants fanboi as they come, but after Bonds, shouldn't they have seen some warning signs? Losing 150 man-games due to Mota and Cabrera taking shortcuts raises a hell of a lot of questions that aren't being answered.

 

Rangers and Orioles have had more suspensions and tainted players than the Giants.

 

Actually, you are holding the Giants responsible for what Cabrera did. Which is fine. You are entitled to your opinion. Unfortunately, you seem incapable of showing me the same respect.

 

But that's not the point, or my question. Isn't there anything the clubs can do as a preventative measure Considering you team's star player for the past decade or so appears headed for the Greybar Hotel, you'd think they'd have something in place before the testers arrive.

 

But your opinions suck.

So what do you propose should happen to the Giants then? Should they get to replace him with someone of equal ability because of this "misfortune"? Should every other team be forced to give up their leading hitter because the Giants lost theirs?

I never said the Giants were responsible for Cabrera. Cabrera is responsible to his employer. And his employer has to suffer the consequences of Cabrera's stupid actions. That's their problem.

Why should they get my sympathy, if I'm a fan of a team that is competing with them for a playoff spot? If one of my team's star players does something stupid, I don't expect Giants fans to have any sympathy for my team.

That's not "misfortune". It just isn't. That's not an opinion; that's misinterpreting the definition of the word.

 

Granted, I don't know much about the drug testing policy for MLB these days; what they test for, what they don't, how often, whatever.

But doesn't this show that MLB is at least TRYING to clean itself up? How is it bad PR for MLB when they bust a player for this? It's bad PR for the player and for the team, maybe.

 

This little revelation just cost Melky a ton of money in free agency. You know the guy really worked hard the last two years to become a productive player. In his only season in Atlanta he was fat, out of shape and lazy. When the Royals picked him up he must have figured if your choices are the Royals or nothing then you have a problem in your career. He came to camp last year in shape and played hard all year without causing a single problem. When he broke out this year you thought he was on the way to having a fine career. And now his career is in a shambles.

What and idiot.

 

And I think your opinion sucks.

Where did I say anything different should happen to the Giants? Nowhere. But that doesn't mean it doesn't suck for them. Unless they all knew, and we don't have evidence of that, what did they do to deserve to lose one of their key players? Nothing.

Cabrera deserves what he gets. The team? Sorry, but that is bad luck. I get that you feel the need to justify yourself, but while you claim to understand that the Giants aren't responsible for what he did, you are absolutely holding them responsible with your argument.

I know you are one of the people who has complained about me cluttering up baseball threads with foolish arguments, but man, you're doing your best to drag this one out. That's fine, too, but I want to make sure you realize it.

 

Does it show MLB is trying? Yes. Is that going to be the general perception? No, I don't think so. I think having the MVP of the All-Star game get busted for PED use looks bad for the game. The talk in baseball right now is probably split between Cabrera and Feliz Hernandez's perfect game. If you don't think having the Cabrera suspension in there isn't bad for the game, I just don't know what to tell you.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't we had this debate about players being lost to injury and you have cheered that in the past as well? I apologize if I I'm getting you mixed up with somebody else on that one.

 

That's fine. But I don't trust you to speak for the general perception.

Not sure if I've ever cheered a player's injury on here before. I may have. Hopefully, in a joking manner, but I wouldn't guarantee that. Especially when the Cowboys, Steelers, or Phillies are involved.

 

This all seems to assume his entire career turnaround wasn't built on steroid use. Obviously, working hard was a part of it. PED use doesn't help if you don't put the work in, but maybe he would have never had this kind of success without cheating. That certainly seems to be the point of going so hard after steroid users. It's not unreasonable to think he may have started that offseason when he went to Kansas City. His decision to use a banned substance sounds more like desperation than stupidity.

 

What I read and heard yesterday was a lot of condemnation of Cabrera and a lot of 20/20 hindsight. Were there really that many people talking about MLB doing a great job catching a cheat? Sorry, I just don't see it. Perhaps you are right, but I haven't seen that at all.