We can now say that the evidence has been presented that the reigning National League Most Valuable Player was juicing.  And they gave him the award anyway, because he got off on a technicality and in the process tarnished the name and reputation of an honest sample collector.

We can now say that the current All Star Game MVP and probable winner of the National League Batting Title is an admitted user of steroids.

Although Cabrera’s chances of winning the 2012 NL MVP title are all but gone, he could still win the NL Batting Title because of a little clause in MLB Rule 10.22(a).  (Photo credit – Doug Pensinger)

Any argument made that suggests that MLB not award him the batting title goes out the window because they gave the 2011 MVP to Braun.  And I’m about 95% certain that Cabrera will win the batting title because averages of the league leaders tend to move down as the plate appearances accumulate.  (With 501 plate appearances as of his suspension yesterday, Cabrera is one away from the required 502, so they give him an “out” for his 502nd appearance and he finishes batting .346).

Target that, McCutchen.  You’ll have to hit over .346 to beat out the cheater for the batting title.  Good luck!  It won’t be easy.

There is a true crisis in the game as it is far from free of drugs.  Victor Conte, like him or not, spelled it out yesterday in Bob Nightingale’s USA Today column “To circumvent the test is like taking candy from a baby,” he stated.  “The only people that get caught are the dumb and the dumber,” something that doesn’t bode well for the “Melkman’s” I.Q.

Conte continued, “What these guys are doing is using fast acting testosterone, creams, gels, patches and microdose injections.  They put the stuff on after a game, let it circulate in their blood stream and eight hours later, it’s out of their system when they take the drug test….there’s such a loophole, you really wonder if Major League Baseball  has a genuine interest in stopping these guys.”

I would have to say that MLB doesn’t care about stopping steroid usage in the game if the facts presented by Conte are true about their testing procedures. Last year MLB admitted that there were flaws in the collection process, something that allowed them to throw out the Braun positive test, though it was obvious that the sealed containers of Braun’s urine had not been tampered with.  However; MLB spokesman Rob Manfred was adamant that the game had been cleaned up and that the testing was working saying: Major League Baseball runs the highest quality drug testing program of any professional sports organization in the world.”

About three months ago there was a knock on my door at around 9:45 pm.  I thought, “who in the world would be coming to my house at this time of night?”  Figuring that it was some type of emergency, due to the odd hour, I quickly answered the door to find a drug test sample taker and accompanying witness there to take an unannounced sample from me.  You see, I work for a law enforcement agency that doesn’t mess around with these types of things.  No warning, nothing.  They arrive and you provide a sample.  If you are unable to provide a sample, they wait until you do.  You drink a lot of water until you can provide it.

So I have a hard time believing that MLB has a top tier testing system and has eradicated cheaters from the sport.

The money paid to successful athletes in the sport has created a mentality amongst the athletes that it is worth cheating and trying to cheat the system.  If you aren’t caught, your pay day is enormous.  If you are caught, there are penalties, but not ones severe enough to make an attempt to cheat worth it.

Look at the Melky Cabrera scenario and try to understand.

Cabrera was an MLB ballplayer who had stats that were regressing in all categories. In 2010 as an Atlanta Brave, his batting average dropped to 20 points to .255.  His home runs decreased by over 75% down to 4 on the year.  His slugging %, on base %, OPS, were all down.  Facing a crisis in his career, he was released by the Braves following the season and the Royals took a chance on him in 2011, offering him a $1.25 million one-year deal.  It was a pay cut of almost $2 million.

So this is what I figured he decided to do.  Cabrera must have said to himself, “what do I have to lose?  My career is almost over.  I only have one shot at a big pay day.        I’ll start juicing and if I’m not caught, I can get that decent salary after putting up some big numbers.”

And that’s what happened.  In 2011 with the Royals he raised his average by 50 points.  He had the most homers he had ever hit in his career (18).  He was an All Star.  His OPS – over .900.  He got the payday he sought.  When the Giants acquired him, he received a one-year $6 million deal.

With the numbers he was putting up this year, Cabrera was on his way to a multi-year deal that probably could have been in the $10 million/per year range.  (If reports are to believed, the Giants offered him a 3 year/$27 million extension that was turned down).

How many Melky’s are out there that haven’t been caught?  I’m not certain.  Conte says that 50% continue juicing.  I would think that with the decreased numbers in offensive categories, it isn’t nearly that high, but I surely will look at players that have significantly improved their numbers with a jaundiced eye from here on out.  I think it is safe to say that when Manny Ramirez came over to the Dodgers in 2008 and put up amazing numbers, he was cheating at the time.  And that kind of ticks me off, just as it did in 1996 when Ken Caminiti did so for the Padres during the pennant race against the Dodgers.

MLB still has a lot of work to do to clean up this game.  The Melk test has proved that.