Excellent write up Luke.   I feel that you are pretty spot on in your observation.   I was just talking to my son the other day about this (who is an aspiring player himself) and he was having a hard time trying to grasp why a player like Cano and our own Polanco would do such a thing.

While I probably did not explain it as well as you touched on in your story, I also added that beyond baseball there are not as many opportunities for young men in the DR.   Baseball is next to God there and the pressure to excel, to stand out and be noticed and gain your chance in the MLB and glory in your homeland (or maintain what they have gained) has to drive many of these young men to take chances they otherwise might not take.

We shall see how Cano's legacy holds up, and how Polanco goes forth from his suspension (although, wasn't this his second incident?    I thought he had one in the minors, but I can't remember), but I for one am... well, disappointed.  

It is as you said, the player themselves may face punishment, but the fans, teams, baseball the places like the DR in general that suffer the most.

While I probably did not explain it as well as you touched on in your story, I also added that beyond baseball there are not as many opportunities for young men in the DR.   Baseball is next to God there and the pressure to excel, to stand out and be noticed and gain your chance in the MLB and glory in your homeland (or maintain what they have gained) has to drive many of these young men to take chances they otherwise might not take.

Thanks for reading!

I think this Cano's case is particularly interesting because it's not like he needs any more money and it seemed as if he was well set in terms of legacy and image. I understand when a young player on the verge of dropping out of professional baseball gets caught, but a star like Cano? Really a head scratcher, although if Mark Teixeira's comments have any validity maybe he's been doing it all along and has just been caught now.

I think this is Polanco's first suspension, but I am disappointed as well. I think one interesting thing to think about that I didn't explore in the article is whether Dominican or Latin players get caught more than US based players. Just seeing that a lot of things here in the DR are done with fewer resources and time than we usually work with in the US, it would make sense to me that the actual doping itself may be done in a more haphazard manner here.