MLB Players Association withholding weapons it could use against PED use

Buster OlneyApr 23, 2016, 10:54 AM ET

Chris Colabello, who has been suspended 80 games by MLB, says he's at a loss and doesn't understand how an old-fashioned steroid got into his system. I don't know either, but I do know that each time an athlete has been busted and denied knowing how a steroid got into his system, or denied use at all -- hello, Lance Armstrong and Marion Jones -- it has greatly affected the perception of denials that have followed.

Nobody really gets the benefit of the doubt anymore, because the overwhelming majority of the my-dog-ate-my-homework claims turned out to be bunk.

And there's this: With major league players now making an average of $4.5 million annually, the incentive to cheat continues to far outweigh the punishment. A player like Colabello, once a fringe major leaguer, can make tens of millions of dollars by cheating, and if he gets caught -- even in the midst of a multiyear deal -- there's nothing to lose other than the salary lost from time served in suspension.

Melky Cabrera was regarded as a fourth outfielder by the Yankees when he played on their World Series championship team in 2009. Now, at age 31 and having served a 50-game suspension for PEDs, he's in line to make about $70 million in his career.

The union has philosophically opposed any rollback on contracts. Giving a team the option of voiding the entirety of a long-term deal for a player busted for PEDs would be one important way to reduce incentive to cheat. But because of concern about the inadvertent positive test -- like Colabello claims -- the union has not been open to discussing the option of stripping busted players of any future dollars committed.

There's another way in which players who cheat the system would feel the wrath of the industry, but the union brethren doesn't seem to have the stomach to wage the sort of emotional warfare it did against another group of players perceived to be a threat to the union in the mid-1990s. After replacement players were used in the spring of 1995, some were never really forgiven by the union after the strike was resolved, with the MLB Players Association going so far as to bar them from meetings, or not speak to them. They were regarded as scabs.

The reality that most of the replacement players were career minor leaguers and never a serious threat to the livelihood of the striking Major League Baseball players didn't really matter. There was a hard line drawn. There was a period of time when front offices and coaching staffs weighed the potentially divisive impact of keeping a replacement player on a roster. (That concern went away for the likes of the Mets' Rick Reed and the Marlins' Kevin Millar).

In practical terms, players who use PEDs now are probably a more significant and direct threat to a union which has embraced aggressive testing, because they are literally cheating every other member of their union -- other pitchers, other hitters, everyone -- by tilting the playing field for their financial gain.

But those who've been caught haven't been frozen out, it seems. Bartolo Colon, for example, was busted and is probably one of the best-liked members of the Mets. The transgressors appear to be forgiven and brought back into the union and its meetings without hesitation.

Is that right or wrong? Really, it's up to the union members. But so long as they don't employ these two clear steps available to them to punish users, the union isn't going all-in on the fight to reduce the incentive to cheat.

Here's Colabello's statement, as released by the union:

"On March 13, I got one of the scariest and most definitely the least expected phone calls of my entire life. I was informed by the Players Association that a banned substance was found in my urine. I have spent every waking moment since that day trying to find an answer as to why or how? The only thing I know is that I would never compromise the integrity of the game of baseball. I love this game too much! I care too deeply about it. I am saddened more for the impact this will have on my teammates, the organization and the fans of the Toronto Blue Jays. I hope that before anyone passes judgment on me they can take a look at the man that I am, and everything that I have done to get to where I am in my career."

(That transcription isn't quite accurate. In the original, the word "judgment" was misspelled.)

The suspension caps a stunning descent for Colabello, writes Rosie DiManno. It really doesn't matter if Colabello says he's innocent, writes Scott Stinson. Colabello was an anomaly until he tested positive, writes Cathal Kelly.

Notables

• On Friday's podcast: longtime Reds announcer Marty Brennaman on the fateful manner in which he got his job, the help he got from Sparky Anderson, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez and Pete Rose along the way, and a confrontation -- and detente -- with Ken Griffey Jr. Brennaman also explains the exchange with a player that ended his practice of using the word "we" when he spoke about the Reds. Also on the podcast: Karl Ravech and Justin Havens discuss Jake Arrieta's brilliant effort, three sweeps of varying importance and the idea of Colorado (and other teams) using four outfielders.

• In conversation the other day, a longtime evaluator chuckled about how he had seen an infielder inadvertently distract hitters with his pre-pitch movement – and it does raise the question of why more second basemen, shortstops and center fielders don't do this intentionally. Hitters will sometimes gripe at teammates who are too active in taking leads at second base or breaking from first base because they feel they are distracted, and yet distraction has always been part of what pitchers do, with a long string hanging from a glove, or with a beard, a necklace, etc. As part of the effort to get into the heads of hitters, why wouldn't the second baseman or shortstop or center fielder move into the hitter's line of vision?

• From Paul Hembekides of ESPN Stats & Information: Tampa Bay Rays pitching prospect Blake Snell will make his major league debut today against the Yankees. The 23-year-old left-handed pitcher was named 2015 Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America and USA Today; he entered this season as the 14th-ranked prospect in baseball, according to Keith Law. His 1.41 ERA last season was the lowest by a full-season minor league pitcher since Justin Verlander in 2005 (1.29).

For now, the plan is to return Snell to the minor leagues, as Marc Topkin writes. But remember, plans can change.

• Yankees speedster Jacoby Ellsbury stole home against the Rays on Friday night. In case you haven't seen the video, here it is.

• Mets outfielder Yoenis Cespedes made a great throw Friday night, and so did Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig.

• For Arrieta and the Cubs, there is a new normal, writes Jesse Rogers. The Cubs blew out the Reds 8-1 Friday.

From Elias Sports Bureau: The 103 hits the Cubs have allowed are the fewest allowed by the Cubs through the first 17 games of a season since 1908 (100), which just so happens to be the last time the Cubbies won the World Series. The Cubs' rotation is at the top of baseball, writes Rogers.

The Cubs have outscored their opponents 105-38 after their latest wipeout of Cincinnati, which drew the attention of a longtime Reds fan.

• Here's David Ross in a direct message about what he was saying in Arrieta's ear as they embraced after the no-hitter: "All I remember was just thanking him over and over. … It was super emotional for me."

• From Elias, via ESPN Stats & Info: Manny Machado hit a home run Friday and has hit safely in all 15 games this season. Eddie Murray is the only Orioles player with more hits in the first 15 games of a season since the team moved to Baltimore in 1954.

Most hits in Orioles' first 15 games:

Eddie Murray: 28 hits (1982)
Manny Machado: 25 (2016)
Ken Singleton: 25 (1981)

• Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts was hit by a pitch in the ninth inning of the Houston-Boston game.