Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig wants to keep players on drug suspensions from going to the minor leagues before they return, just like the Dodgers' Manny Ramirez did when sellout crowds showed up last month for Ramirez' minor league rehab assignment.
Ramirez returned to the Majors on July 3 after a 50-game suspension for violating baseball's drug policy.
Selig said baseball is looking into it, but it's an issue for labor negotiations with the next labor contract set to take affect in 2011.
I would agree with the commissioner, that a player shouldn't be allowed to start playing in the minors, insuring he'll hit the ground running when the suspension is over. But where is the common sense here? Why did baseball toughen it's drug policy without thinking the process through enough to keep players from circumventing the penalty phase? Do you mean to tell me the players association would have balked at such a proposal after allowing baseball to get tough on drug violators and put lengthy penalties in place?
Of course it was wrong for the Dodgers to send Ramirez to the minors early, but give them credit. They found the loophole and exploited it.
Should I be surprised? Not really. Afterall, it was Selig that allowed the 2002 all-star game to end in a tie.