The Chris Moeller Archives

My Sunday outrage over the steroids issue...

..came from Phoenix, where the Diamondbacks' managing general partner, Ken Kendrick, is furious that Jason Grimsley and his agent are suing for the relief pitcher's full 2006 $800,000+ salary, even though the team released him last week after he became the target of an FBI investigation into the use of Human Growth Hormone in the league.

This is the day we all knew was coming-- when Major League Baseball, like nearly all other corporate cabals, would attempt to throw its employees under the truck to cover up their own malfeasance. Says Kendrick, "This guy did no less than steal from us... He's a representative of the culture of cheating, and it's just not something that we're going to support at all... In my mind, he probably owes us as opposed to us owing him."

Major League Baseball and its ballclubs created this "culture of cheating" all by themselves. Are the Diamondbacks willing to give the fans their money back from the last half decade? They dragged their feet on steroid testing while the turnstiles spun. They paid handsomely-- yet modestly by their means-- to marginal ballplayers like Grimsley and great ballplayers like Barry Bonds to do whatever was necessary to compete and win, and put butts in the seats. They did-- and continue to do-- as little testing as they can get away with doing-- a strategy backed by the players' union, the news and sports media conglomerates, and all of your major sports leagues and commissions, but none of these others had as much to gain or to lose financially as Major League Baseball. The Arizona Diamondbacks are the shining example. Under owner Jerry Colangelo, the club was threatened with bankruptcy in 1999 and 2000. Bud Selig and MLB had to co-sign a loan to keep the team solvent. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa's exploits on the field were arguably most responsible for saving that franchise, if not a few others as well.

It is unheard of in modern baseball for released ballplayers to be denied the balance of their contracts. The collective bargaining process guaranteed those deals. This is not the NFL. Grimsley has not failed a drug test. He has not been charged with a crime. I for one will be damned if MLB's 30 teams are allowed to drop their bag of shit at the feet of their players. I hope Grimsley and his attorneys take the Snakes for all they're worth.

posted by CM @ 2:17 PM