The Slanch Report

Far be it from me to actually accuse Bud Selig of doing something wrong, but when I read things like this from ESPN, I start thinking that Bud isn’t the wisest wizard…

Commissioner Bud Selig is considering his options. While Rodriguez can’t be disciplined for testing positive, it’s possible baseball could try to punish him for acknowledging steroid use from 2001-2003.

Selig told USA Today on Wednesday afternoon that he is “just heartsick” about Rodriguez’s admission and would not rule out punishing him or adjusting baseball’s record book. Selig told USA Today he “had put a bulletin out” about the illegality of steroid use in 1997, even though MLB had no drug testing at that time.

“It was against the law, so I would have to think about that,” Selig told USA Today when asked about possible action against Rodriguez. “It’s very hard. I’ve got to think about all that kind of stuff.”

Sure, it was against the law, but until MLB starts suspending players for their DUIs or hitting their wives or other crimes, you can’t just pick and choose which laws are suspension-worthy offenses. But it’s nice that Bud is “heartsick,” not enough to have done anything about the rampant steroids problems in the 90s when he could have avoided incidents like this, but still, it’s good to know he at least has a heart. I always just assumed there was an empty black hole in the middle of his chest.

While I have been incredibly impressed with the manner in which the MLB network has approached the A-Rod news, MLB itself has been woefully inept in handling this situation. Bud Selig has presided over a period of baseball with RAMPANT cheating and did nothing to stop it, while in the process increasing baseball’s revenues and lining his own pockets with an exorbitant salary. Just as A-Rod would never have come forward and admitted his transgressions if the SI story never existed, Bud would happily just ignore everything that happened under his reign with steroids, except Congress and the newspapers love to keep bringing it up. Unfortunately for Bud, now the greatest home run hitter of all-time, one of the greatest pitchers of all-time and the best current player in baseball are all associated with steroids and cheating and all of it happened under his watch. But sure, let’s start punishing players arbitrarily now, particularly for testing positive on a test that was collectively bargained to be non-punitive. Good luck with that.