On Wednesday I was driving home and was listening to Matt Holliday who was a guest on SiriusXM MLB Network Radio, with Casey Stern and Jim Boweden. Holliday was discussing the issue of PED use in baseball, and gave his thoughts about increasing the penalties for players who are caught using.
Here were Holliday’s suggestion.
- First positive test:162 game suspension (one full season), without pay.
- Second positive test: Suspended indefinitely, lifetime goes into effect.
- Give players the ability to apply for reinstatement after two years of second positive test result.
After hearing this it got me to wondering if this idea of his is too harsh or is it just right?
Is there really a penalty that is too harsh, especially for getting busted a second time?
Afterward, hosts Casey Stern and Jim Bowden had a lively and substantive discussion about MLB dishing out lifetime bans. Both agreed that a lifetime ban after a first time offense was not logical, arguing that sometimes you can have a false positive and you could end up banning someone who was innocent.
It’s certainly a great topic for discussion and debate.
I personally love the idea that Matt Holliday brought to the table, and I think that it would go a long way to really putting fear into the players who are still using.
I also agree with Stern and Bowden regarding their take on lifetime bans after first time users are caught. Major League Baseball has to be careful how they handle this, but an increase in penalties seems more likely as more players continue to test positive and disregard MLB’s policy on banned substances. It’s time for some penalties with some teeth.
What are your thoughts, was Matt Holliday’s idea too harsh or just right?
You can listen to the segment here.
