Steroid Scenario

[SaltyDawg]

In light of all of the suspensions in MLB Baseball- I have a scenario.

Say you've been in AA or AAA or a few years and you have 100% maxed out your ability as a player. Your window of making it to "The Show" is slowly closing. Would you use PEDs to finally make it (or greatly increase your chances) to "The Show" and not only fulfill your lifetime dream, but make 10x more money than you have your whole career?

What if you knew one of the guys you were competing with for the last roster spot was juicing? Would that change your answer?

[Django_DB]

You should b/c everybody else did. ARod career money made makes his risk worth the current suspension. They don't play for the love of the game. They play for cash. The NFL started testing for HGH this year. Tells me what those guys been doing

[The Croom Diaries]

Right now baseball rules don't really deter you that much from using. If you are in the last year of you contract you can just juice, put up bigger numbers, get a much better contract as a free agent, and if you get caught you are suspended for 1/3 of 1 year on probably a 5-6 year contract you got. Steroids probably made you an extra $20-30 mil and you will just have to pay a $4-5 mil fine in essence for using.

Last night I heard Dan Uggla say he thought it should be zero tolerance. I might not go that far, but I'd say one year ban and your contract is null and void. Then banished if found twice. That would end it.

[ShotgunDawg]

In light of all of the suspensions in MLB Baseball- I have a scenario.

Lets say you were from a 3rd world country, in which you grew up in a shack and your family worked the sugar cane fields in feudal like system. Your family has been doing this for generations, and it is expected that, if you don't make it as a baseball player you will do the same. THEN you've been in AA or AAA or a few years and you have 100% maxed out your ability as a player. Your window of making it to "The Show" is slowly closing. Would you use PEDs to finally make it (or greatly increase your chances) to "The Show" and not only fulfill your lifetime dream, but make 10x more money than you have your whole career?

What if you knew one of the guys you were competing with for the last roster spot was juicing? Would that change your answer?

There, I fixed your first post.

To answer your question, yes, most people would cheat under these circumstances. However, there is a reason that most of these players are latino. Americans have other choices in life, usually have an education, and many went to college. Therefore, there is chance of them ruining their life by getting caught with PEDs. However, the latinos have literally nothing to lose by using them. If they get caught, they will just go back to the sugar cain field and do what they would be doing if they wouldn't have used PEDs.

[PMDawg]

I have a couple of friends that found themselves in that very scenario. The answer is simple because (well, at least a few years ago) it's far, far more prevalent in the minors than it is in the majors due to your exact scenario.

[engie]

Yep -- answer is simple. Everyone here would do it.

I've been pretty silent on it because of how pissed off I get talking about it. Steroids hurt baseball -- but the hypocrisy of everyone with a voice is what hurt it worse IMO. Everyone semi-connected to the game knew the steroid thing was going on fullbore back in the 90s. EVERYONE. They didn't care -- because the homerun was bringing the fans back after the 94 strike.

Now, everyone is judging guys that participated in something that they were complicit with(and actually encouraged by knowing and being complicit) in the first place. I find that part WAY more sickening than simply using a supplement that didn't break any rules at the time in order to improve/prolong your career.

Anyone that gets popped now, however, are just idiots. Should be out of the game at this point -- and should have never entered the game in the first place under competent leadership(Yes, I think Bud Selig is an idiot -- and the declining popularity of the sport seems to agree with me). That said, you can't turn a blind eye for years and then bite off all the hands that fed you. That's what baseball has done -- and it has disconnected itself from a generation now fully invested in football and virtually could care less about the "records" that once made baseball great...

[FlabLoser]

People act like PEDs are a magic bullet. They aren't. PEDs aren't going to undo other genetic limitations. You still have to work your ass off to get results. Moreover, you have to work you ass off to beat other people on PEDs who are also working their ass off.

I can see banning PEDs to slow down the game which is hurting people and limiting lifespans. But that's about it.