Over the past 2 years, suspicions of PED use have risen as the number of home runs are occurring at the highest rate in baseball history. This leaves the question of whether or not players are in fact using PEDs, or have we just reached an era of athletic eliteness and we are witnessing history happen before our very eyes. As it stands right now, it is both. There are a group of phenomenal players that are raking in unrealistic numbers right now, but there is still a large group of players who use them to this day.
Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Starling Marte did not mount a word of defense when MLB hit him last month with an 80-game suspension for flunking a spring training drug test for the use of Nandrolone, an injectable anabolic steroid that has been around since the 1960s and is easy to detect. Unfortunately right now, players know that if they are caught then they can take their penalty and then return once their time has been served. This current method is not serving as a deterrence to get these athletes to quit.
A former player stated “If you use the nuclear option and make it a lifetime ban for getting caught, you will only have to use it once and then guys will be incentivized to stay clean. As it stands, it still seems to be worth the risk.” The message that the MLB is sending is clear, they know that this is a major issue surrounding the sport, but are they willing to do whatever it takes to rid this issue for good?
Ryan Upshaw
https://www.si.com/mlb/2017/05/16/ped-suspensions-home-run-rate
Group 4-Sport Management Seminar 