The No-Win question

[Pavelb1]

"Are you on the list of 104 players?"

How do you answer that if you are?

I could have sworn I heard Posada and Jeter say "I hope not." What do you mean you hope not?

[HoustonGM]

I could have sworn I heard Posada and Jeter say "I hope not." What do you mean you hope not?

Link? lol

[RedsoxRockies]

Huh?

[Pavelb1]

Link? lol

Interview on MLB network...Okay I need an answer to a question here:

When a player failed/fails a drug test..HIS TEAM is notified as well as the player...right? I mean how can Tom Hicks say he's 'shocked and betrayed' when he should know Arod failed a steroids test.

[ragecage]

The real no win question is if you were late to work and your boss asks you if you were late.

[RedsoxRockies]

Interview on MLB network...Okay I need an answer to a question here:

When a player failed/fails a drug test..HIS TEAM is notified as well as the player...right? I mean how can Tom Hicks say he's 'shocked and betrayed' when he should know Arod failed a steroids test.

No, I don't believe the team is notified

[etothep]

The real no win question is if you were late to work and your boss asks you if you were late.

Or when your girlfriend asks how you knew about her sister's hidden birthmark


sorry, back to more steroids talk

[HoustonGM]

Interview on MLB network...Okay I need an answer to a question here:

When a player failed/fails a drug test..HIS TEAM is notified as well as the player...right? I mean how can Tom Hicks say he's 'shocked and betrayed' when he should know Arod failed a steroids test.

The test that A-Rod failed was not like the tests that the game now uses. It was part of a survey test that the MLBPA and MLB agreed upon to assess the problem in the game. The agreement stated that the test would be anonymous and that after the results assessed, the samples would be destroyed.

Tom Hicks can't honestly say he's "shocked and betrayed" when he employed Rafael Palmeiro, Juan Gonzalez, Ivan Rodriguez, etc. It's a knee-jerk media-pleasing reaction.

[haveacigar]

How could Tom Hicks be "betrayed" anyway? He doesn't suffer any negatives from the news, but got to profit from all the money they made him as really good (and really juiced) players.

[HoustonGM]

How could Tom Hicks be "betrayed" anyway? He doesn't suffer any negatives from the news, but got to profit from all the money they made him as really good (and really juiced) players.

Yep. He's just upset that he traded away A-Rod and basically got nothing back for him while paying him to play for the Yankees. Maybe if Texas could've put some halfway decent pitching in front of the teams A-Rod was on, they would've won something.

[Pavelb1]

Surely the players themselves were notified...wern't they?

I thought that was why A-rod was 'tested 9 or so times' in 2004...as Arod himself said once.

[HoustonGM]

Surely the players themselves were notified...wern't they?

I thought that was why A-rod was 'tested 9 or so times' in 2004...as Arod himself said once.

No, I don't think so. It was supposed to be an anonymous test.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3894847

Rodriguez said he was told by Gene Orza, the chief operating officer of the MLB Players Association, that he might, or might not, have tested positive in the 2003 survey. That conversation happened during the 2004 season. A source told ESPN on Saturday that Rodriguez knew he had failed the test.

According to the Mitchell report, all players who failed the test in 2003 were notified by September 2004.

Rodriguez said he didn't know for sure he had failed a test until Sports Illustrated contacted him last week.

I don't really know WHAT to believe, except that according to the agreement, nobody was supposed to be notified. Each player was supposed to be tested ANONYMOUSLY and the samples were supposed to be destroyed.

[BINGLEBOP]

The email I got from Rory at The Bleacher Report:

Hey Justin,

Following Alex Rodriguez’s admission that he used steroids, I’m looking for some folks to speculate about the question that’s on every baseball fan’s mind: Who are the other 103 players that also tested positive for steroids along with A-Rod in 2003?

Feel free to profile one player and argue why his stats and/or physical appearance point toward steroid use, or highlight the Top 10 (or more) players that have yet to be associated with steroid use, but you feel are likely guilty of using performance enhancing drugs.

Or, breakdown the 2 to 20 (if you’re a Bay Area baseball fan) players who’ve suited up for your home team who you most suspect of taking banner substances.

Whatever your approach, be sure to provide analysis for whichever players you profile.

If you're able, please submit a 300-800 word editorial article, or a slideshow article, by this Thursday.

Let me know if you have any questions, or if you want to bounce any ideas around, and remember to publish your analysis directly to Bleacher Report. Shoot me a link once your article is posted so I can check it out.

Thanks,

Rory

P.S. Don't send this to that Tripaldi guy (RedsoxRockies). His articles are horrendous!

Just kidding about the P.S. part.

[StreetMedic]

Each player was supposed to be tested ANONYMOUSLY and the samples were supposed to be destroyed.

I remember hearing something about the samples being preserved, so in the event a previously-undetectable substance was uncovered, they could go back and check for it "retroactively".

Does that sound familiar, or am I crazy?

[HoustonGM]

I remember hearing something about the samples being preserved, so in the event a previously-undetectable substance was uncovered, they could go back and check for it "retroactively".

Does that sound familiar, or am I crazy?

I'm pretty sure they do that with tests NOW. With the test that A-Rod failed, according to the agreement, the samples were supposed to be destroyed.