Alex Rodriguez Uses PEDs, Best Strategy For Baseball Is To Move On

Enough. I've had enough.

Steroids have usurped the offseason and I am sick of hearing about them.

Instead of having the excitement at Legends Field surround the likes of CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Mark Teixeira, it is hovering over alex Rodriguez like 200 bees swarming around a fearful two year old.

Literally... At least the first part. Two hundred reporters attended Rodriguez's press conference at Legends Field this afternoon and they all walked away satisfied. They continue to bite and sting the vulnerable Rodriguez, who has already admitted that he did something wrong. Note: he didn't just admit, but he also apologized. 

So, here's my problem: people keep crying about how the substance-abusers have ruined the game of baseball. how they have tainted the game of baseball and how their sin is irrevocable. These people cry about how baseball is forever ruined. 

Well, stop crying. You need to move on. If you don't move on, the game of baseball certainly won't.

I can't believe I'm putting these words down under my name, but David Ortiz is right. Yep, Big Papi would be a better commissioner than the incumbent Bud Selig because Selig, who has tried to ignore the Steroids Era, has been blind to the fact that he could actually crack down on abuse. 

It's as simple as Ortiz put it: Issue mandatory, not arbitrary, drug tests. Everyone gets tested multiple times in a season—I believe Ortiz said each team should be required to have about 30 drug tests per season. The punishment for abusing would be, well, a suspension of some sort. Threaten a player with a year-ban and he might consider putting down the syringe. It's really quite simple, Bud.

Now, what to do with the past, specifically A-Rod.

It's not fair. Rodriguez should not need to endure what has been thrown upon him over the last two weeks, at least not as long as the 103 other names on the list of abusers remain unscathed.

Everyone knew that players were using steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, and the drug test, in which Rodriguez tested positive for two steroids, was designed as a test to determine if random drug testing was necessary. 

Rodriguez broke the rules of baseball, but his name was supposed to remain anonymous and it is not fair for him to be punished while every other player on the list remains anonymous. 

Despite coming forth, admitting, and apologizing, Rodriguez is being treated the worst of all the known PED users (Miguel Tejada, who committed perjury, only saw 10 microphones in his face upon his arrival at Houston camp).

Lay off of A-Rod!

He knows what he did was wrong, but, look, the drugs didn't even bolster his performance to a great extent. His best seasons were not those three years in Texas. He may have hit 57 home runs in 2002, but his 2007 season was better in every offensive category except for hits (187 vs. 183) and home runs (57 vs. 54). His lack of improvement with the drugs doesn't take away from the fact that he broke the law, but it should be remembered at the end of his career. 

Look, there is nothing you can do to turn back the hands of time. Rodriguez used steroids and by doing so broke the law, but we have to move on. Whether you support him or not, you need to move on. Bud Selig should act now, according to Ortiz's plan, and baseball should try to forget what happened this offseason so that it can head in to Spring Training with a positive outlook on the upcoming season.

We learn history to prevent future mistakes. Hopefully Bud Selig will use this offseason and the entire Steroids Era to learn that he needs to clean up baseball.

Photo courtesy of dailycontributor.com