Gettin' Miggy With It.

The story of Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera is, to say the least, an underrated one. After quietly debuting 10 years ago last week as a 20 year old for the last Marlins team to resemble a contender, Cabrera has spent the last decade slowly but surely putting together a surefire Hall of Fame career, seemingly right under our collective noses. Most baseball fans paid him little mind until last season, when he led Detroit to a World Series berth, won the MVP in one of the most scrutinized races in years, and became the first man to win the offensive Triple Crown since Carl Yazstremski in 1967. But the truth is that Cabrera's 2012 season was simply a microcosm of the consistency he's shown in his entire career, and this year is a further refinement of his craft.

You cannot stop Miggy...you can only hope to contain him. Even then, your chances don't look good.

Cabrera's career triple slash line is .321/.398/.565. Assuming he's ranked as a third baseman among the all-time greats when all is said and done, instead of as a first baseman like he was from 2008-2011, he could stand a chance of joining Chipper Jones as the only men to post a career .300/.400/.500 at the hot corner. He's already got 343 homers, over 1,000 runs scored and batted in (1,020 and 1,201 respectively), and he's closing in on 2,000 career hits, standing at 1,912 at the time of this writing during a Tigers-Angels game on Wednesday. His career accolades are nothing to scoff at: he was part of the Marlins' championship in his first season, he's a 7-time All-Star, he has 4 Silver Sluggers to his name (never known for his defense, the only thing lacking from his otherwise pristine resume is a Gold Glove), and before he led the league in all 3 of the big offensive stats, he led the league in home runs (2008), RBI (2010), and batting average (2011) before putting it all together last year. He's just 2 months into 30 years of age.

What makes his Triple Crown win last year even more amazing is not the fact that he had already led the league in those stats in different seasons, but the year after doing it all at once, he has more than a legitimate shot of doing it again. He's batting .370 at the end of June (tops in the AL and the majors), has 22 homers (third in the AL and tied for the same in the majors), and 78 RBI (tops in the AL and the majors...do you see the pattern developing?). While I've always looked at season projections for a player as mostly conjecture (can't use the word I'd really like to use, trying to keep this blog family-friendly), Miggy's numbers at the end of the year, if he keeps this level of production up, would give him a line of .347/.436/.616 with 41 long balls and 144 runs batted in. Aside from that pesky Chris Davis, he could make a run at his second consecutive Triple Crown, which would put him in the same rarefied air as Rogers Hornsby and Ted Williams as the only men on planet Earth who've won it more than once, and would make him the only player in baseball history to achieve this in back-to-back seasons. Did I mention that he's still only 30? I feel like that's very important to remember.

Love him or hate him, Cabrera's bound for Cooperstown.

More importantly, of course, is the picture that sabermetrics paint of Miggy: Isolated Power, or ISO (determined by subtracting a player's batting average from their slugging percentage), measures how often a player hits for extra bases. Any ISO over .250 is considered top-notch. Cabrera's career ISO is .245, meaning he's not just getting these hits on piddly little singles up the middle. His BABIP, which determines how often or far a player gets on base on balls in play, has never dropped below .310. Normally, when you see a player with a BABIP, whether season or career, above .320, they're usually just lucky and some regression is due. Cabrera's BABIP as we wrap up the first half of this season is .396. That's not luck, that's insanity. His WAR, Wins Above Replacement (the most comprehensive, all-inclusive measure of how important a player is to their team) varies depending on the source, as all WAR does. Baseball Reference gives him a WAR of 51.7, which puts him ahead of Hall of Famers Kirby Puckett, Lou Brock, and Ralph Kiner, among others. Fangraphs pegs him at 58.2, outshining legends like Hank Greenberg, Willie Stargell, and Luis Aparicio. Considering those men are all enshrined in Cooperstown and have completed careers, keep in mind that Cabrera turned 30 years old back in April.

So go ahead and fawn over the Trouts and the Harpers of the day. Be amazed by the Machados and the Puigs. Speak of the Jeters, the Ichiros, and the Pujolses (Pujoli?) in revered tones. But if you're looking for the best example of a Hall of Fame career in progress, if you're truly searching for a player who's destined to stand at the podium in Cooperstown on a warm July day as one of the game's best, look no further than Cabrera. Because his star, after 10 full years in the majors, is still somehow on the rise thanks to his abilities and his shocking youth (did I mention he's only 30?), and like one of his mammoth home runs, he won't be falling any time soon.

Where There's A Wil, There's A Ray.

On Sunday, the Tampa Bay Rays officially called up Wil Myers. Normally, a baseball team calling up a player whose Triple-A season reads well enough (after a slow start, he finishes this minor league stint with a .283/.354/.514 line, with 14 homers, 57 RBI and 7 stolen bases in 288 plate appearances) would merit a decent amount of attention without going overboard. But, you see, this is no ordinary call up. It may not create the same frenzy as the Harper/Trout/Machado debuts did, but believe me, Myers will make an immediate impact for a Rays team that could see this season end in a similar fashion as 2008, which culminated in their first trip to the World Series.

This might be a tough image to handle for most Royals fans, though.

When the Rays acquired Myers with Jake Odorizzi, Mike Montgomery, and Patrick Leonard from the Kansas City Royals this offseason, it was viewed as the biggest coup in baseball since the Mark Teixeira trade between the Braves and Rangers in 2007, which vastly skewed in Texas's favor while leaving Atlanta with mostly nothing to show for it. The Rays sent James Shields and Wade Davis to the Royals, and while the two have been doing pretty well for them, most baseball fans felt that the Royals overpaid to the extreme, considering that Myers and Odorizzi were supposed to be part of the next pennant winner in Kansas City. A little over 6 months later, after Odorizzi's debut in St. Petersburg went less spectacular than expected (he was sent back to the minors a few days ago, after an 8.03 ERA in 12 1/3 innings convinced the team he might not be ready for major league action), the trade's starting to look a little more balanced. The thinking is that Myers's callup is going to blow it out of the water. While his numbers at Durham are nothing like they were in Omaha last season (.314/.387/.600 with 37 home runs and 109 RBI, which netted him the prestiguous Minor League Player of the Year award), he's more than proven over the past year and a half that Triple-A pitching isn't good enough for him. Taking a look at the Rays' upcoming schedule to round out the first half of the season will give us a good indication of how Wil will handle this next level: they face the Red Sox for 3 games and the Yankees for 4 on the road, then face the Blue Jays for 3 and the Tigers for 3 at home to finish up June. July will probably see a deceiving spike in the young Myers's stats: before the All-Star break, the team faces the Astros on the road, then hosts the White Sox, Twins, and Houston again (all of whom are under .500) to wrap things up.

Still, both of these hurdles will give us a clear indication of what Wil Myers is really about. He'll get his first taste of major league pitching against 4 teams that he'll be facing in Octobers to come, and after that, he'll be able to relax with teams that are a bit further away from contending. Unfortunately, the kid will have a heavy weight placed on his shoulders right out of the gate. Myers is supposed to be the spark that lights a fire under the collective asses of Tampa's offense. Third baseman Evan Longoria is always a strong producer when healthy, and as we've stated on this very blog, a Myers-Longoria tandem in the lineup could soon give Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder a run for their money as the best 1-2 punch in the heart of any lineup today. But beyond the oft-injured corner infielder and the sight-unseen young outfielder, the Rays have an absolutely abysmal offense: even though they rank no lower than 11th in any offensive stat, the individual numbers will make you pine for the days of Wade Boggs and Fred McGriff. Longoria leads the team in...well, everything. Nobody else really comes close. Ben Zobrist, one of the most underappreciated players in baseball, is quietly having another productive season at .270/.361/.393, and James Loney continues to amaze in his first full season outside of Los Angeles, but with players like Luke Scott (.240/.340/.388) and Sam Fuld (.180/.250/.258) still on the roster, no amount of mashing from Longo, nor any consistency from Zobrist or Loney, can disguise the regression to come.

He seems pretty unconcerned with all of that.

Thankfully, Myers is on his way. If you'll remember, the Rays used to be the Devil Rays when they first began play in 1998, and for the first decade of their existence, they were little more than a punching bag in the AL East. After a few consecutive drafts wherein they garnered some high picks, the talent finally began to spill over into the majors, with David Price and Longoria both being called up as reinforcements in 2008, which led to a Cinderella run that's only been bested by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2011. While today's Rays are in 4th place entering play today, they're 36-33 on the season and only 5 games behind the division-leading Red Sox, and if anyone remembers that 2011 season outside of what the Cards did, you'll understand that this lead is anything but insurmountable. He may not carry the hype of a Profar or Taveras, but Wil Myers's presence in the majors is going to be felt almost immediately.

Within The Range Of Possibility.

The Texas Rangers find themselves in a tight spot, but one that most organizations would be extremely pleased to be in. They have an established, speedy, power-hitting second baseman in Ian Kinsler. They have a super fast, defensive wiz shortstop in Elvis Andrus. And they have a kid named Jurickson Profar that can play either of those positions, and might end up being even better than both of those guys. So they have three All-Star players for 2 positions. What are they going to do? Well, that's where Texas is lucky. They have several options, all that could benefit them significantly.

Maybe they can just create a position between second and shortstop. Shallow second centerfielder, anyone?

1) TRADE KINSLER - The senior statesman of the three (he turns 31 on Saturday), Ian signed a contract extension before the 2012 season good for 5 years and $75 million that is not only team friendly, but is easily movable if they decide to ship Kinsler out of town. While a middle infielder over 30 whose main attraction is his abilities on the basepaths in conjunction with streaky power may not net the kind of return discussed in the next two options, Kinsler is routinely rated as the 3rd best second baseman in today's game, and is much more affordable than Robinson Cano or Dustin Pedroia will be, while still very valuable at his position (more on that later).

2) TRADE ANDRUS - At 24, Elvis's value will never be higher. He's young, probably the best baserunner on the Rangers' roster, and even with the lucrative extension he signed this offseason (8 years, $120 million), he could still theoretically boost his value for a few more years and opt out in 2018, when he'll still be just under 30. While Andrus offers no power at the plate, he's so good at the rest of his overall game that it doesn't even matter (especially with Kinsler, Profar, and most everyone else on the roster using Rangers Ballpark as their own personal launching pad). Even though he looked like the most likely trade candidate at the onset of the season, his extension dirties matters a little.

3) TRADE PROFAR - I'm not sure why this has even been mentioned as a possibility. Jurickson is the youngest at 20, still under team control through the 2019 season, and as stated earlier, could be the best of the 3 as far as pure talent and ability. In the same vein, the return for trading Profar (ideas have ranged sending him to the Cardinals for fellow phenom Oscar Taveras or to the Marlins for slugger Giancarlo Stanton) would be by far the best, but no baseball executive wants to facilitate the new "Brock for Broglio" and end up being vilified eternally. Of all the options listed here, this is the one that's least likely to happen.

Obligatory Andrus-Kinsler handshake pic.

4) SWITCH KINSLER TO FIRST - The only problem with moving Kinsler a few feet to the left of where he plays now is the potential drop in his value. At second base, there are only two current players who are better at the position. If Kinsler moves to first, not only does he go from 3rd best offensively to roughly 20th (power-hitting first basemen are a dime a dozen, and most of them put up better numbers than Kinsler does at second, which is harder to compare), but his defensive prowess becomes completely wasted. This has been discussed for over a year, and maybe next Spring Training will see it come to fruition, but you don't undergo a change like this midseason.

5) SWITCH KINSLER TO OUTFIELD - Same problems apply to moving Ian to the outfield. And as far as the surplus of middle infielders in Texas go, they'll have a similar glut in the outfield soon, with Nelson Cruz, Leonys Martin, Craig Gentry, Daniel Murphy, and Jeff Baker all vying for playing time. Cruz is still under scrutiny for his involvement in the Biogenesis scandal and could potentially miss 100 games at some point, easing the trouble of the surplus out there. Throwing Kinsler (or Profar, which has recently popped up as a possibility) into that mix as well would just further complicate matters. Fixing one problem would create a similar one a couple of feet away.

6) SWITCH PROFAR TO OUTFIELD - This is a new possibility that seems to be gaining a little traction based on the comments of GM Jon Daniels, who recently mentioned it when asked what would happen to Profar when Kinsler was activated from the DL a few hours ago. Profar's speed and defensive capabilities, while on par with his middle-infield counterparts, would be best used further infield, and would be wasted more in the outfield than Kinsler's would be. With Ian's activation, it appears that Jurickson will be staying up in the majors for the time being as a super-utility player, spelling Andrus and Kinsler, but we could see him get a few appearances out there in the yard.

If the Rangers are smart (and recent history suggests they are), they'll go with option number 4, moving Kinsler to first, hopefully during the offseason so he has time to adjust. Imagine an infield consisting of Kinsler at first, Profar at second, Andrus at short, and Adrian Beltre at third. I don't think it's much of a stretch to say that there wouldn't be a better combination of players, both offensively and defensively, around the horn. For the remainder of the season, though, the glut will be a problem that won't be easily sorted out.

Gotham Doesn't Deserve Its Dark Knight.

Matt Harvey is a good pitcher. He might be a great pitcher, but at 24, it's too early to determine that properly. What we can say with certainty is that Matt Harvey throws a blazing fastball, with an average velocity of 95 miles per hour that flirts with triple digits from time to time, a slider that most hitters in the league can only dream of weakly fouling back, and a curve and changeup that also serve the boy quite well. He has a K/9 of 9.46 this year, with 102 strikeouts in 97 innings, and a beautiful 2.04 ERA. His FIP and xFIP, somewhat more accurate measures than ERA, are 2.15 and 2.83, meaning he's the real deal. His BABIP is .260, just slightly under the average, meaning luck has very little to do with his very impressive numbers. Matt Harvey, folks, is a good pitcher.

But he will never succeed as long as he plays with the New York Mets. They must trade Harvey if either party is to do better in the future.

And I'm not just saying this as a Yankees and Braves fan. Or as his manager in my fantasy league. I promise this has nothing to do with my biases. 

Consider this: you work at a job where your performance is weighed against the performance of your coworkers. You routinely give your all, earn your money, and make your coworkers look pretty good. In return, they frequently call out, and when they do show up, they're lazy, listless, and completely unconcerned with holding up their end of the deal. You'd probably want to work somewhere else, and your abilities would be more than enough to get you a recommendation from your boss to help you on your way. Unless, of course, you're a pitcher for the Mets, and your boss is Fred Wilpon, notorious cheapskate, or Sandy Alderson, GM du jour, two men who seem to have no cognizance of how to properly handle their ballplayers (read: Ike Davis).

After a 2-1 loss to the Cardinals today (in which Harvey went 7 innings with 7 strikeouts, 1 walk, and 1 run on 5 hits), Harvey factored into a loss for the first time this season, giving him a 5-1 record as we slowly approach the All-Star Break in a month. With his numbers, there is simply no reason why he should have 1 loss, let alone just 5 wins. Here's why: when Harvey pitches, the Mets have gone 8-6. In 14 games pitched, Harvey has only factored into 6 decisions. For some inexplicable reason, the Mets simply don't score while Harvey's pitching. Sure, they score in games he pitches, but it's often after he's left the game. The most sparkling example of this is his start against the White Sox back on May 7th. Matt had a perfect game going through 6.1 innings, until a piddly little single from Alex Rios broke it up. Still, Harvey pitched 9 innings, allowed only the one hit, no runs, no walks, and recorded 12 strikeouts. AND HE DIDN'T GET THE WIN, NOR THE COMPLETE GAME SHUTOUT, BECAUSE THE METS DIDN'T SCORE ANY RUNS EITHER. In case you're wondering, the Mets won in the 10th inning on a walk-off single, which they apparently couldn't manufacture in the first 9 innings. In case you were wondering, closer Bobby Parnell (who has 4 wins himself, thanks to closing out most games Harvey pitches) got the win. In case you were wondering, no other pitcher has ever had such a dominant start without even factoring into the decision. This is just the most extreme example, but many of his starts this season have followed a similar pattern: Harvey deals, throws strikeouts, induces grounders, strands runners on base...and leaves most starts with his team losing or the game tied. Do you see the problem here? When anyone else unlucky enough to don a Mets uniform pitches, the team has gone 16-31, so obviously, Harvey is doing his best to instill a winning mentality in this garbage team. But when they seemingly refuse to give him any run support, what else is he supposed to do?

I can guarantee that Harvey would be a huge draw for any team, and therefore would net the Amazin's quite a haul in return. It makes good sense, since the Mets would be able to say that they're still "rebuilding" or "looking towards the future" or whatever empty phrase they're slinging this week to make up for the fact that, from top to bottom (save David Wright and Harvey), the organization is heading in the wrong direction, and Harvey would get a chance to, you know, win. Somewhere else. He grew up in New Jersey as a Yankees fan, so it's not hard to see him in pinstripes someday. The Royals still have a deep farm system and could be looking for a young stud to complement James Shields. The Rangers could trade any one of their middle infielders that they are currently overstuffed with. The Giants don't have a strong minor league system, but with the state of their rotation, they're chomping at the bit for top-of-the-rotation talent. The Cardinals could take a flyer on the kid and take their rotation from dominant to unstoppable. As far as what the Mets could get back, well, take your pick: the Yanks could offer up either Dellin Betances or Manny Banuelos, the Royals still have Bubba Starling among others, the Rangers could dangle Jurickson Profar or Mike Olt, the Giants could create a package centered around Brandon Crawford and some lower-level prospects, and the Cardinals could potentially part with Kolten Wong. Hell, the Astros could probably just trade Carlos Correa straight up for him, and both teams would come out on top (sorry to throw you under the Mets bus, Carlos).

Although, sending him to Houston would admittedly be the most counterproductive trade ever made.

Now, a minor speedbump in any potential Harvey trade talks (please take note, dear reader, that this is all purely speculative, as Harvey's name has not come up in any trade rumors and likely will not for quite some time) would be the fan backlash. They were already pretty upset when the Mets brass sent reigning Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey north of the border to Toronto, even though they got back a nice package (catcher Travis d'Arnaud and hurler Noah Syndergaard, both of whom are progressing nicely in the minors) and the trade appears to be skewing in New York's favor (a quick glance of Dickey's stats proves that maybe a knuckleballer shouldn't have gone to the AL East so soon after Tim Wakefield retired). But still, the fans were not pleased when the trade was announced, and that was over a 38-year-old hurler who relies entirely on one pitch, coming off a career year that he could never hope to repeat. Imagine how pissed they'd be in Queens if a 24-year-old stud with an amazing repertoire and devastating command was shipped out.

But this has to happen. For Matt Harvey's sake and for the Mets' sake. It's always a shame to see a team so far away from contending, or an organization that can't get its act together, hold on to a star player and force him to languish away with little to no support, especially when there's an easily-taken route that would be extremely beneficial to everyone involved. So, for now, it appears that Harvey will just have to be satisfied with being a true diamond in the rough for his team, and maybe someday, he'll have a chance to shine brighter elsewhere.

Being Intrigued By Puig.

When a young athlete is signed to a major league contract, fans and writers alike rush to make comparisons between this phenom and a superstar from the past. Very few have been compared to Bo Jackson, a multi-sport player who is considered by many to be one of the best overall athletes of all time. His talents transcended expectations in both baseball and football, and it's been collectively decided that there will never be anyone quite like Bo.

So, when a 22 year old kid from Cienfuegos named Yasiel Puig rightfully earns the nickname "The Cuban Bo Jackson", you tend to take notice. And he's certainly making it hard to ignore him.

We should probably start getting used to this sight, we'll be seeing it a lot.

Puig, signed out of his South American home before the 2012 season with a 7 year, $42 million contract, tore through Spring Training this year, hitting .517 with 3 homers and an absolutely insane .842 slugging percentage (albeit in only 57 at-bats). Any baseball fan worth their salt will tell you that numbers in the preseason really mean nothing, as most pitchers and batters are minor leaguers that the big club wants to get some initial major league experience or aged vets on minor league deals trying to hang on at the highest level. Still, these numbers for a young masher should not be ignored. Puig made Double-A pitchers look similarly foolish through the first third of this season: before being called up, he was hitting .313 with 8 home runs and 37 RBI. Again, this should be taken with great skepticism, as Double-A, while moderately competitive, is not renowned for its high level of pitching competency. So nobody really knew what to expect when Puig made his grand entrance in Los Angeles when the struggling Matt Kemp went on the DL. He'd seen some professional hurlers, but nothing like what he'd face in the majors. We knew he'd make an impact on the club. We just didn't think it would be this soon.

Boy, were we wrong or what?

His grand slam left legendary broadcaster Vin Scully speechless. His first four career home runs have all come on completely different pitches. His 10 RBI have him tied with two unimportant players for most RBI in the first 5 games of a career. It's not that these things don't happen very often. They generally don't happen at all. And it's not just his presence at the plate that makes him so damn easy to root for: he is the definition of the classic 5-tool archetype. He hits (.464 average, or 13-for-28), hits for power (his 4 homers, one being a grand slam, are the most for any player in their first week, EVER), runs (his 13 stolen bases in his minor league stint is more than the Dodgers' current leader, Carl Crawford, with 9), and makes amazing catches, like the one on the warning track in his debut to end the game. For a frame of reference, his current and future teammate Hanley Ramirez has played in 9 major league games this season to Yasiel's 7, and Puig beats out HanRam in everything. I mean, everything. This is the same Ramirez that was pegged to be a consistently powerful shortstop with the capacity to field a la Ozzie Smith. And he looks like Rey Ordonez compared to what Paparazzi is doing (side note: I prefer my nickname for Puig, the Cienfuegos Crusher, but as usual, MLB isn't paying any attention to this blog...yet) further out in the diamond.

Oh, right: he can throw like a freaking catapult too. Count 'em, folks. Five tools.

How long will Puigmania last? Obviously, the regression will be coming soon, whether Puig returns to the minors in a few weeks when Kemp and Crawford are healthy or he manages to stick on the roster for the rest of the season and beyond. He currently sports a .450 BABIP, meaning his fall will be pretty mighty, but considering that he had a .339 BABIP in 167 plate appearances at Double-A Chattanooga this season before heading to Hollywood, meaning that even through a good portion of the season, he's still batting at a consistently amazing rate. His Isolated Power is .500. That sentence alone should boggle your mind. Small sample sizes be damned, Puig is a rare talent, in the same vein as fellow nubile studs Mike Trout (who's having to be content with being the second-most popular natural centerfielder in Los Angeles now) and Bryce Harper (whose Cinderella season and a half before his 21st now pales in comparison to his Cuban counterpart). Are we watching Puig's Hall of Fame-caliber career start at the same time as these two potential Cooperstown hopefuls? All signs are pointing to yes, but we shouldn't get too far ahead of ourselves. Yasiel will certainly be sent back down to the minors once his teammates are healthy enough to take the field, as he hasn't even gotten a full professional season under his belt at any level.

Then again...maybe he shouldn't be. After all, he's only 22, and the Dodgers have him under contract for 5 more years. Considering their playoff expectations have been all but decimated, why not let the kid stay in the City of Angels for the duration of the 2013 season? Certainly couldn't hurt to get him some more time in the majors. Might make his eventual Triple-A stay that much more exciting and dominant. Of course, this is pure speculation, and he will almost definitely be optioned once the outfield logjam makes itself prevalent once more. But make no mistake, Yasiel's stock is on the rise. There's hope for the Dodgers yet.

Edit: I just have to put this out there. I play in a keeper-dynasty, head-to-head fantasy league with a couple of my good friends. We had a minor league draft after our regular draft, and Puig went untouched. On a whim, I decided to take a chance on him back in March, well before his amazing display in Spring Training. I now have Puig as a last-round keeper for as long as I want. My friend brags about having Mike Trout in a similar situation, but I believe I'll have the last laugh here.

Some People Never Learn.

This past offseason, baseball fans were treated to yet another steroids debacle, something that's becoming commonplace in the nation's pastime. On this occasion, our attention turned to Biogenesis, an "anti-aging" clinic in Miami that now serves as this decade's BALCO. Anthony Bosch, the man behind it all, has documents that appear to prove that Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun, and a couple dozen other ballplayers have purchased performance-enhancing drugs in the last few months or years (as they are undated, it's not quite clear how old or how recent the documents may be as of now). MLB launched an investigation into these shady dealings when news first broke back in December, but a report from ESPN's Outside The Lines yesterday revealed that baseball was preparing to suspend all the players listed in these documents, in exchange for Bosch's compliance and access to the rest of his files. All told, it appears that the sport we all know and love will be suffering yet another black eye thanks to PEDs.

Just when you thought they had learned their lesson...

It doesn't have to be like this, you know. While most players are wising up and either finding new, creative ways to inject themselves silly with numerous "substances", or discovering loopholes to pass a drug test (or doing the same after they've failed one), baseball players still don't seem to understand the simplest of certainties: if you take steroids, or any kind of performance-enhancing drugs, you will get caught, and you will be punished. That much has been proven endlessly since 2007, when MLB suddenly decided to crack down on the rampant drug use that had occurred for the previous 20-something years. Sure, there's probably immense pressure on these men to perform at an otherworldly level. They're constantly under scrutiny from coaches, managers, owners, fans and the media. They all want to have a good, long, productive career, one that might end in a speech on a warm July day in Cooperstown, New York. They know how far their abilities alone can take them, and what these drugs can help them achieve further than their natural talent. Good players become great players, great players become legends. But the vilification that comes from being found out can't possibly make up for the most-likely minimal uptick in production. The risk seems incredibly disproportionate to the reward. Now, while my opinion on steroids has been made very clear (if an athlete wants to ruin their body, fundamentally, for my entertainment, let 'em), what still boggles my mind, as I'm sure it does to the minds of sports fans everywhere, is that these players still believe they'll get away with it. And if there's not enough history to disprove that at this point, consider what follows.

Advances in drug testing happen quicker than Rickey Henderson running from first to third. Doctors are coming up with tests that can detect not only if you took PEDs, but what you took, when you took it, how you took it, who you took it with, and what episode of How I Met Your Mother you were watching when you took it. And if the changes in the most recent collective bargaining agreement are any indication, then blood testing, which is a thousand times more accurate than urine testing, will be fully implemented across the board in just a few years, meaning any masking agents a player can use in an attempt to foolishly hide what will already be caught in their pee will become completely moot. And yet, knowing all this, there are still so many players, whether they're replacement-level (Francisco Cervelli, Danny Valencia), stars on the rise (Yasmani Grandal, Melky Cabrera), aged vets looking to hang on (Nelson Cruz, Bartolo Colon), or established studs (Braun, Rodriguez), who think they can beat the system. So far, most of the players that have been implicated (the ones already revealed, at least) have already either admitted to taking steroids or faced/served a suspension.

Admittedly, was anyone shocked when they heard these two were doping?

Every baseball fan will always remember where they were when they heard that A-Rod had taken steroids, supposedly just during his time with the Rangers from 2001 to 2003. Back in 2009, Rodriguez was still baseball's golden child. While we were still reeling from the Bonds/Clemens/McGwire et. al. situation, we had watched Alex blossom from a top prospect in the early 1990s to an absolute phenom, one we all thought was completely clean. We praised him for playing the game "the right way". Since his admission, the Yankees won 103 games that year, and the World Series. Curiously, though, A-Rod's production dropped off sharply in 2010, even further in 2011, and culminated in a terrible 2012 that saw him benched frequently in the playoffs in favor of Raul Ibanez's best Reggie Jackson impersonation. The vast and quick decline in his numbers, coupled with the injuries he suffered since the championship run (back, legs, hips), were all consistent with someone who had finally stopped taking steroids. From the little I've learned about these drugs since the term "performance-enhancing drugs" entered my perception of the baseball world, it takes roughly a year from your last "cycle" for the effects of steroids to wear off. If this is the case, then A-Rod had not only taken the drugs, but lied about how long he'd been taking them. He had to have stopped taking them probably right before his press conference. Like this guy needs to give us more reason to hate him.

Braun failed a drug test during the 2011 playoffs, coincidentally several weeks before he was named MVP of the regular season. He managed to appeal his suspension, something that the MLB brass took very seriously and have been looking for another excuse to nail him to the wall. With Ryan, it's harder to tell. His numbers that year were great, but they were nothing special. He put up similar stats his entire career to that point, and did so in 2012 (he actually did better the following season), and as far as we know, he only has one failed drug test to his name. I don't think anyone, anywhere, could honestly say they wouldn't have failed at least one drug test in their lives. Difference is, we're not professional athletes. Others, like Grandal, Cabrera, and Colon, all served 50 game suspensions for their failed tests. Cabrera's was particularly noteworthy as he had won the All-Star Game MVP award, was leading baseball in batting average for most of the season, put up career highs in nearly everything, and put the Giants in a great position to win the World Series, which they eventually did without him. All of them, Braun and A-Rod included, now face 100 game suspensions, as they technically qualify as second-time offenders. This is baseball, so you know what happens if you get a strike when you already have 2 on you: you're out. Forever. Third time offenders get a lifetime ban, something that Pete Rose got without even taking drugs.

Harsh? Maybe. Necessary? Entirely. While first timers still lose roughly a third of their seasons, these punishments, many feel, are still too lenient. As we've seen, players still find a way to get around drug testing, at least for a while. They still believe they can fool science. Maybe commissioner al dente, Bud Selig, will use this opportunity to finally make some examples to show the rest of the players in the game that this issue is one that needs to be resolved quickly. While I may not have a problem with players doing drugs to get an edge, it's still cheating. It still sends a negative message, that cheaters can indeed prosper, and after all the embarrassing stuff that's happened since the strike of 1994, baseball doesn't need another devastating scandal. It may not recover as well as it did last time.