The Oakland Athletics re-signed pitcher Bartolo Colon to a one year contract worth $3-6 million. Colon failed the steroid test for testosterone in August 2012. He was suspended for fifty games under the rules of Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment steroid testing program.
The Oakland A’s have shown no objections to signing players who have been caught using steroids and/or performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) as long as they have served their suspensions and paid their penalties. The organization previously signed Manny Ramirez after he served a 2009 and a 2011 suspension for violations of the league’s anti-steroid policy.
Billy Beane, the general manager for the Oakland A’s, outlined the organization’s position regarding dopers in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle.
“We understand these suspension situations are handled by the league and the players’ association under rules set by the CBA,” Billy Beane said. “Over the years, there have been quite a few players in this situation. That’s why there is an agreement: Once he’s served the suspension, he’s paid his debt.”
Major League Baseball teams come across as a forgiving bunch when compared to the ruthless, sanctimonious posturing by teams in professional cycling. Once a professional baseball player has served his suspension, most teams seem more than willing to re-hire them. This contrasts sharply with the “you’ll never work in this town” again mentality expressed by many pro cycling teams in the aftermath of the Lance Armstrong scandal.
Steroid McCarthyism has been raging in the sport of cycling ever since the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) released its detailed report into allegations of steroid and PED use by the United States Postal cycling team. Various teams have started demanding that all its athletes and coaches and support staff confess if they are or have ever used performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) at any time in their lives. If they answer affirmatively, they are summarily dismissed from the team.
The stigma in cycling of using PEDs such as erythropoietin (EPO), testosterone, human growth hormone (hGH) has made several former cyclists unemployable in the midst of the ongoing witch-hunt.
Fortunately, baseball has shown no interest in following cycling’s lead into steroid puritanism.
Source:
Slusser, S. (November 3, 2012). A’s re-sign Bartolo Colon to 1-year deal. Retrieved from http://www.sfgate.com/athletics/article/A-s-re-sign-Bartolo-Colon-to-1-year-deal-4006320.php
