Would You Agree with my Idea on MLB Suspensions?

I understand where you are coming from and what you are trying to see accomplished but I will have to disagree. The objective is to stop the use of drugs in baseball and in doing so the players and the teams have to pay the price. No consideration should be given to what the suspensions will do to either the player or the team. The drug policy in MLB was negotiated between representatives of the team owners and the players and is tightly controlled by the CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement). To achieve the goals that MLB and the Players Union are looking it has to hurt to be effective.

I disagree.

I personally think that a club SHOULD be punished for having a drug user on the roster. Sometimes the best way to get rid of an issue like cheating is to encourage self-policing. And what better way to do so than to have a player being suspended hurt his team by his absence. Having played a bit of ball in my younger days, I know that sometimes the best discipline was not handed out by the coach , but by the players themselves. That's the reasoning behind he idea that some coaches have that you punish the whole team for certain individual infractions - for instance, if a player shows up late for practice you make the whole team run. I had one coach who would make the whole team run a certain distance for each error we made in a game (we called it a "happy acre" - was about a quarter mile)

My thought is that the clean players would put an end to it pretty quickly if it could cost them a playoff spot.

And not only do I feel the teams should be punished, I don't think they should be allowed to fill that player's roster spot until the period of the suspension is over - even if the player moves on before the suspension is finished. And I think a team that signs a player who still has a suspension to serve should lose that roster spot as well. Example - had Cabrera been suspended for 50 games with only 20 games left in the season and then signed with the Tigers in the off season the Giants would have been out one roster spot for the first 30 games this year as would the Tigers.

I think that you have a much better chance of eliminating the problem if more people get angry at being affected by it.

(I also think that a positive drug test should automatically void a player's contract, but that's a different topic.)

Disagree. Oftentimes its the clubs themselves that promote a culture of PED-use. Or have you not noticed all the Yankees and ex-Yankees getting in trouble now? Not to single the Yankees out, but they had a club that promoted that culture. Similar to the Dodgers about 8 years ago. I was angry with DePodesta for coming in mid-season and trading away all the Dodgers current star players (Lo Duca, Mota, Encarnacion to name a few). However, what I didn't realize at the time was that he was purging the Dodger locker room of all the PED-users, and it was only years later that I appreciated what he was trying to do in 2005.

In any event, the clubs are every bit as much to blame as the players themselves, and I see no reason to make them exempt to the consequences of turning a blind eye. Plus, as someone else pointed out, the suspension of Melky Cabrera really didn't hurt the Giants run last year, did it? Just like champions overcome injuries, they'll overcome suspensions as well. That's what separates the elite from the also-rans. The ability to triumph over adversity.

Your point is well taken, however I must disagree. Unfair or not, the fact that these players cheated should not have a bearing on whether teams are placed at a disadvantage.

The players have a responsibility to the game, their team, and themselves. The impact of cheating goes well beyond just the player. It should effect the franchise as well. The one who cheats needs to understand how devastating his actions can be. Let him bring himself down as well as the team. I know this sounds terrible but the far reaching effect MUST be felt by everyone.

No doubt the player in question will not only destroy his own career but hurt those around him. Hard feelings will surface but it is deserved by those that cheat.

Losing Cabrera was a huge disadvantage for the Giants last year, wasn't it...

But sure, makes sense... have guilty guys playing in the pennant races and playoffs, maybe one of them can even be World Series MVP. It'll make for great TV. I'm sure baseball would love that.

Then they just retire, and suffer no punishment at all. Great thinking.

disagree.

The way I see it, you get what you pay for. If you buy something (a-rod) knowing full well that it could be damaged...then you get exactly what you paid for.