Jhonny Peralta and Nelson Cruz were the biggest names among the dirty dozen suspended for 50 games in early August by the Major Baseball League (MBL). The dozen does not include Ryan Braun who had already taken a 65 game suspension because his Milwaukee team was out of contention and he was injured. There is also Alex Rodriguez who is in the middle of his hearing, appealing his suspension for the remainder of the 2013 season and all of 2014: 211 games. Rodriguez did not miss a game due to the suspension because he appealed but his Yankee team failed to qualify for the tournament.
In his first game after returning from off season hip surgery Rodriguez was booed in Chicago by White Sox fans. A few days later in his first home game Rodriguez was booed by Yankee fans.
Both Peralta and Cruz were welcomed like conquering heroes in their first plate appearances in the biggest games for them this season. First, Cruz was welcomed in Texas in the play-in game against Tampa to determine the final wild card spot in the tournament. Cruz did not get any hits and Texas lost. Peralta has played in 3 of the 4 first round games for Detroit and in game 4 he hit a three run homer to tie the game in the fifth, spark a win and turn the series around. In 8 at bats (AB) in the 2013 tournament Peralta has a single, double, home run and 5 RBI; OPS: 1.250.
The starting pitchers in the fifth and deciding game five in Oakland: Justin Verlander for Detroit and possibly Bartolo Colon for Oakland, both of whom have already started one game in the series. Colon was suspended in 2012 for 50 games because he failed a test for performance enhancing drugs (PED).
But neither Peralta nor Cruz nor Rodriguez for that matter ever failed a test. All those suspended in August were implicated by information given to MBL investigators for various reasons. So who knows whether Peralta, Cruz, Colon or any tournament player is enhancing his performance with drugs such as steroids? Probably not MBL commissioner Allen Huber "Bud" Selig.
Because of their suspensions the teams of Peralta and Cruz may have been improved for the tournament and indirectly Boston also may have improved. To replace 31 year old starting SS Peralta Detroit made a three team trade to acquire light hitting 23 year old SS Jose Iglesias from Boston:
July 30, 2013: The Detroit Tigers sent Avisail Garcia to the Chicago White Sox. The Detroit Tigers sent Brayan Villarreal to the Boston Red Sox. The Chicago White Sox sent Jake Peavy to the Boston Red Sox. The Boston Red Sox sent Cleuluis Rondon (minors), Francellis Montas (minors) and Jeffrey Wendelken (minors) to the Chicago White Sox.
Source: baseball-reference.com
Boston did not need Iglesias because they had better hitting 37 year old J.D. Drew. Boston acquired 32 year old starting pitcher Jake Peavy who won the 2007 Cy Young award with San Diego and started game four against Tampa, which Boston won to advance to the semi-finals against the Detroit - Oakland winner.
Because of the equivocating of Cruz about whether he would appeal his suspension, Texas acquired 32 year old OF Alex Rios who had a 107 OPS+ in 43 games for Texas. In game 163 against Tampa Rios played RF and batted third: RBI double in 4 AB in the 5-3 loss. Cruz was DH batting 6th; 0 for 4.
Peralta homered in game four off Oakland starter Dan Straily. If Detroit wins the series might Straily have questions about the fairness of Peralta playing? When Rodriguez was suspended relief pitcher Brad Lidge complained about a double that Rodriguez had hit off him in the 2009 finals. Does it really matter that Peralta served his suspension before his homer and Rodriguez has never lost any games to suspension? Will some pitchers feel aggrieved either way? How will Straily feel if Detroit wins the tournament?
If Selig and the MBL really wanted to deal with PED, there would be team penalties. When Peralta accepted his suspension his Detroit teammate, starting pitcher Max Scherzer, expressed disappointment in Peralta for damaging the team because Peralta would be missing 50 games. But if Peralta's performance had been enhanced by the banned drugs, hadn't Peralta already provided Scherzer and the other Tigers to more than they were entitled?
Sunday, August 19, 2012 Melky Cabrera: should his stats be purged and his team's wins vacated?
Melky Cabrera was suspended 50 games ...
To purge the stats of an athlete in a team sport such as baseball presents many more complex issues all of which would need to be ignored by those who mindlessly advocate such action. Here are a few as applied to Melky Cabrera playing for the San Francisco Giants in 2012.
1. If Melky got a hit should that be changed to s strike out for the pitcher?
2. If Melky got a hit and the next Giant hit a home run should that teammate have his RBI total reduced by one?
3. If Melky got a hit and the next Giant grounded into a double play should that be deducted from the teammate's total of DP grounded into?
Blah, blah, blah. You can see how absurd this could become...
But wait, there's more in Wonderland. What about the record of Melky's team? Without Melky the Giants would probably have won fewer games. Shouldn't the Giants wins with Melky playing be vacated the way the NCAA does with rules violations in football? And shouldn't the Giants be banned from the MBL tournament for a couple of seasons?
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Even though he had completed his suspension the Giants did not include Cabrera on their roster for the 2012 tournament, which they won without him ... a four game sweep against Detroit. In that series Jhonny Peralta was 1 for 15: a home run.
During the off season Cabrera signed with Toronto through 2014 for $8,000,000 per season. His OPS+ the last three seasons:
2011 KC: 121
2012 SF: 157
2013 Tor: 88
Career: 99.
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