Manny Ramirez and the MLB Drug Policy

Now batting for the Albuquerque Isotopes number 99 Manny Ramirez. Wait; is this the same Manny Ramirez that violated the leagues performance enhancing drug policy? Ironically enough I thought that when the league said it was a 50 game suspension that it would actually be 50 games before we had the "pleasure" of seeing Manny play again.

Now to be fair Manny is not the first player to go on a rehabilitation assignment prior to fulfilling his suspension. J.C. Romero did the same thing before returning to the Phillies a season ago, but how are we as fans suppose to take this suspension seriously if the man isn't actually SUSPENDED! It is a joke a mockery to the game. Something else that was brought to my attention today which is even more of a joke that Manny being able to play prior to the 51st game of his suspension is that if a minor league player not on the Major League teams 40 man roster tests positive for PED's he is allowed to be called up and play in the Majors. To put all that simply if Daniel Bard, who was not on the Red Sox 40 man roster at the beginning of the season, had tested positive for PED's the Red Sox could still have called him up and had him pitch for the big team. How ridiculous is that? If Manny Ramirez or anyone else who tests positive for performance enhancing drugs is not major league ready to play on that aforementioned 51st game then tough. Send him to the minors then and please don't give me the sob story about how the Dodgers or any other team will have to pay them their major league salary again because they are no longer suspended. It is the team’s faults that they did not do enough back round research on their free agent acquisitions or have a strong enough in house policy.

I completely understand that the drug policy had to be agreed upon by the owners and the players and the commissioner but how hard is it to understand that 50 games is 50 games. The man cheated! He took a drug that made him a better baseball player. Sammy Sosa and others may be kept out of the Hall of Fame because of this but we can not get Manny Ramirez back on the field fast enough. The Albuquerque Isotopes sold an extra 7,000 tickets when people found out Manny Ramirez would be in the line-up tonight and that is great for baseball from a revenue stand point but the commissioners office needs to have some back bone on a topic like this. Manny has been practicing and hanging around the club house almost everyday of his suspension and the leaving right before the game so he does not violate the rules. The real question is why is he allowed in the clubhouse in the first place? In all other major sports if you test positive you can not even be on the team’s facilities let alone practice and take batting practice.

This is an issue that the Commissioners office needs to take a stronger look at.