Selig: punishment possible for A-Rod
A “heartsick” Commissioner Bud Selig told USA Today he hadn’t ruled out punishing Alex Rodriguez.
But in issuing a statement on the controversy today, Selig didn’t mention the idea.
“It was against the law, so I would have to think about that,” Selig first said of Rodriguez’s admission he used banned substances from 2001-03. “It’s very hard. I’ve got to think about all that kind of stuff.”
In a statement released today, Selig said, “I am saddened by the revelations. What Alex did was wrong, and he will have to live with the damage he has done to his name and reputation.”
But …
“It is important to remember that these recent revelations relate to pre-program activity,” Selig said today. “Under our current drug program, if you are caught using steroids and/or amphetamines, you will be punished. Since 2005, every player who has tested positive for steroids has been suspended for as much as 50 games.” The USA Today reports said, “Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said the club has no plans to discipline Rodriguez and was unaware Selig is weighing the possibility.”
“There’s really nothing I could comment on about that,” Cashman said. “This is serious stuff, we all know that. It’s just something we’re going to have to deal with. It won’t be easy.”
Donald Fehr, the executive director of the MLBPA, says he doubts anything will come of it. And it looks like he’s right.
“I would be surprised if there was an attempt to do it,” Fehr told the paper. “I don’t know anything about that.”
Selig also said he would consider re-instating Hank Aaron as the sports’ home-run king and adding an asterisk or other notation to the statistics of Barry Bonds, Rodriguez and others.
“Once you start tinkering, you can create more problems,” Selig said. “But I’m not dismissing it. I’m concerned. I’d like to get some more evidence.”
Is A-Rod stealing from Oswalt, others?
Astros ace Roy Oswalt doesn’t really seem to mind if you are taking steroids, as long as you keep it to yourself.
Oswalt laid into Alex Rodriguez and other admitted cheaters in an interview with MLB.com. But said those like former teammate Roger Clemens, who are just under “suspicion,” well those guys are fine.
“It does bother me,” Oswalt said. “Especially for the guys that went out there and did it on talent. We’re always going to have a cloud on us, and that’s not fair at all. The ones that have come out and admitted it, and are proven guilty, [their numbers] should not count.
“The few times we played them, when he got hits, it could have cost me a game,” Oswalt told the Web site. “It could have cost me money in my contract. He cheated me out of the game and I take it personally, because I’ve never done [PEDs], haven’t done it, and they’re cheating me out of the game.”
Rodriguez has faced Oswalt a grand total of nine times in their careers. Oswalt has played his entire career in the National League with Houston, while Rodriguez’s three stops — Seattle, Texas, The Bronx — have all been in the American League. So to claim that Rodriguez is taking money out of his pocket is a bit much.
Although in those nine at-bats, A-Rod has reached base five times — one home run, two doubles and two walks.
And if A-Rod is taking money out of his pocket, it is not much. Oswalt is scheduled to make $14 million this year, $15 million in 2010 and $16 million in 2011 and 2012. Not saying that Oswalt hasn’t earned it, he’s a tremendous pitcher, but let’s save the pity party for the millions who are unemployed right now. Not Oswalt who will be raking in a cool $61 million over the next four years.
It’s also curios timing considering that current teammate Miguel Tejada had just pleaded guilty yesterday in a steroids-related case. And Tejada is included on the Mitchell Report, although he says he threw away the human growth hormones that he purchased.
“A-Rod’s numbers shouldn’t count for anything,” Oswalt toldMLB.com. “I feel like he cheated me out of the game.”
