A-Fraud
Well, didn’t see that coming. Apparently A-Rod tested positive for PEDs in 2003, the year he won the MVP. I always group A-Rod in the “Griffey, Manny, Big Hurt” category. An out of this world talent who didn’t need steroids to be better than everyone. He was never oddly giant like Bonds, McGwire, or Sosa, he could just flat out hit. We are kind of isolated from the whole roids issue as Twins fans, mainly because players who use roids tend to be a)expensive, and b) Boras clients.
I don’t hate A-Rod as much as most people. So what if he is highly paid. If I could convince someone to pay me 25 mil a year, I’d do it in a heartbeat. It seemed like all his off the field weirdness (madonna, creepy obbsession with jeter, etc.) didn’t start until he moved to the Bronx. I guess this just goes to show you, that everyone was doing it. It starts to make me question the rest of the elite hitters currently in the game. Especially the power hitters. Mauer clearly isn’t on steroids because I think the odds of him hitting 20 homers in a season are about the same as the odds of me doing so. Morneau is from Canada, so he is fueled by maple syrup and beer. Is there anyone on the twins that you feel is on steroids or is likely to start. Delmon comes to mind for some reason. I could see him buckling under the pressure of “No. 1 pick”.
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Actually, not to quibble, but A-Rod is the first Boras client to test positive for ‘roids. Just a minor point of order
The first Boras client to have a positive test revealed to the public. Big difference.
And Boras’ connections to the pharmaceutical industry are questionable at best.
Regarding A-Rod, I’m pretty disappointed. I always felt he was a transcendent talent, and an example of a great player who never used steroids. I guess that feeling gets to go right down the drain.
I don’t think any Twins are on steroids, but you never know. And I wouldn’t accuse Delmon of anything, even being “susceptible” to using steroids; he’ll probably get huge just like his brother (and hopefully start smashing home runs).
Also, I think Mauer could hit 20 home runs in a season. Maybe even this season, now that his kidneys are fixed.
But if I had to guess a Twin, I’d probably say Jesse Crain. Or Nick Punto.
Or, you know, Rondell White or Chad Allen or Chuck Knoblauch.
And there were Boras clients in the Mitchell Report; I know the use of the phrase “test positive” is to pedantically make yourself sound right without telling the whole truth, but I don’t think anybody really believes Boras clients are “cleaner” than the rest.
Whether he was the first to test positive or the first to be publicized isn’t the point! The point is that his clients, despite their notoriety haven’t been proven to be any “cheatier” (now I’m just making words up) than anybody elses. Now, I don’t mean to defend Scott Boras. I agree that his perceptions of HGH are skewed, one need only read that NYTimes editorial he wrote about a year ago to understand that! I only meant to point out that the point that FunBobby made which was that people who use roids are expensive and Boras clients, is slightly less than accurate! I.E. if 104 people tested positive in 2003 and one maybe five were Boras clients that doesn’t make roid users more likely to be either expensive, relatively, or Boras clients. Again, just a minor point of order.
I just felt like taking a dig at Boras.
Fair enough!
And it seems like lots of the guys who are the faces of the steroid era are jerks. Bonds, Sosa, and Clemens come to mind. And whenever I see a jerk-ass athlete the first thing that comes to mind is “he must be a Boras guy”.
…but isn’t that more of a knee jerk reaction to Boras the agent. Again not being a Boras apologist here but all his guys do is produce… for the most part!
So what are your thoughts on McGwire and Palmiero, J.C. Romero and Rick Ankiel. Not being an apologist, but steroids were not banned by the MLB, at that time, although they should have been, and in an environment like that most people would have gone after whatever edge they could find.
Oh, its definitely a knee jerk reaction. And he is damn good at his job. Although now that general managers are getting smarter, then seem less inclined to just throw money at players. I think Boras’ usual tactic is “you can’t win without so and so”, but now GMs are thinking “I have a guy in AA who can produce 85% of what Boras’ guy can, and it will be 1/20 of the cost” I like that mentality.
Agreed and now we are entering an age of reason, dare i say enlightenment! If the Twins would only find some way to increase the pop in the infield, then I would be satisfied!
Yes, we need some more consistent run production. I think we all agree that the insanely high average with RISP won’t be repeated. I still am under the impression that the coaching staff isn’t letting some of the guys play to their strengths. Morneau won the HR derby, but only hit 23 bombs for the year? Something isn’t right there. But I’ll take wins anyway we can get them.
This will give the NY media more ammo for their favorite punching bag. I wonder about the ethics involved in reporting this story in the first place. Bob Costas interviewed the SI writer who broke the story, and she said the union was at fault for not destroying those records. But perhaps some of the onus is on SI to not report what seems to me is obviously ill-gotten material (and the writer won’t reveal her sources- big surprise). They only found A-Rod’s test (the superstar! What are the odds!) out of the hundred other guys in the pile. That’s not right.
I agree its not fair they only reveal the Alex Rodriguezs of the world, and not the Luis Rodriguezs. I don’t expect the SI writer to reveal her sources. They clearly did this to sell magazines, which is fine, but a complete list would have been nice. I debated writing the above post at all, since this is one issue I HATE discussing, but I felt a brief post was necessary. 6 days until pitchers and catchers report!