Neal: Rosario has nothing to do but wait

[Seth Stohs]

http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/257268071.html

 

LaVelle Neal was able to talk to Eddie Rosario late last week about his 50-game suspension and what he's doing now and going forward. We've all had a lot of questions and this answers some of them.

 

Hopefully he's learned from his mistakes, but it's good to hear him said, "I miss baseball bad!"

[Mike Sixel]

Geebers....he smoked a joint and lost a half year or year of baseball. What a screwed up planet......it is OK to throw a baseball at a guy "to teach him a lesson", and potentially injure him, but not OK to smoke a joint. Wow. What a world.

 

Hopefully they move him to LF, and get him here fast. Between Dozier and Polanco, they look set at 2B (and not so set in the OF, as Hicks continues his slide).

[gunnarthor]

Here's hoping.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I never have and never will understand why marijuana is a banned substance in professional sports testing.

 

May as well ban supersized meals and double cheeseburgers while we're at it. It would have lengthened Sidney Ponson's MLB career.

[blindeke]

I never have and never will understand why marijuana is a banned substance in professional sports testing.

 

May as well ban supersized meals and double cheeseburgers while we're at it. It would have lengthened Sidney Ponson's MLB career.

 

One reason is that MJ one of the few drugs that it's really easy to test for.

 

Do Rockies' prospects and players get a pass on testing now?

[LimestoneBaggy]

I never have and never will understand why marijuana is a banned substance in professional sports testing.

 

May as well ban supersized meals and double cheeseburgers while we're at it. It would have lengthened Sidney Ponson's MLB career.

 

Perhaps this: http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2009-02/pot-performance-enhancer

 

But mostly society is likely not ready for our athletes (purported role models) to be sitting around smoking pot in any venue. Hypocritical in relation to alcohol and thickburger abuse, possibly, but if you reasonably (societally) curb bad press in one area of your players personal lives and get away with it, a professional sports organization is going to do it.....possibly any organization.

[Seth Stohs]

I never have and never will understand why marijuana is a banned substance in professional sports testing.

 

I assume you mean besides 'because it's illegal in 48 states in this country?'

 

The weird thing is that players on the 40 man roster can't be tested for "Drugs of Abuse" but it is in the minors.

[tobi0040]

I assume you mean besides 'because it's illegal in 48 states in this country?'

 

The weird thing is that players on the 40 man roster can't be tested for "Drugs of Abuse" but it is in the minors.

 

I personally think it should be legal in the US and should not be included in minor league testing. Having said that, it is and Rosario had to know it. I also believe you first get a warning, then a 50 game suspension on your second offense. So it seems wreckless and extremely immature on Rosario's part.

[cmathewson]

I never have and never will understand why marijuana is a banned substance in professional sports testing.

 

May as well ban supersized meals and double cheeseburgers while we're at it. It would have lengthened Sidney Ponson's MLB career.

 

I don't understand why the drug is illegal in the first place. Within 10 years, it will be a legal recreational drug across the country, as states replicate CO to close revenue gaps and reduce the burden of MJ on their prison systems (estimated at more than a third of the inmates).

 

That kind of puts it in context. Yeah it was a 50-game suspension, but thousands of people are serving life sentences for three counts of MJ possession in California alone, where you can buy the stuff in vending machines with a prescription.

[Mike Sixel]

It is illegal to do a lot of things that do not generate 50 game suspensions.

[TheLeviathan]

I assume you mean besides 'because it's illegal in 48 states in this country?'

 

The weird thing is that players on the 40 man roster can't be tested for "Drugs of Abuse" but it is in the minors.

 

It's illegal to drive past the speed limit but I'm not sure baseball is handing out anything for that.

 

Out of curiosity...if a 19 year old in a team's farm gets caught underage drinking, does anyone know what the penalty is?

[cmathewson]

It is illegal to do a lot of things that do not generate 50 game suspensions.

 

I understand, but if it is legal, should it trigger a suspension? What if you played for Colorado Springs or Tacoma and tested positive for MJ? You would be getting a suspension for using something you could buy in the corner store.

[Mike Sixel]

Frankly, this makes me 100% no longer worried about his future. Move him to LF, and get him up here this year. I will be bummed if he is playing 2B this year....Dozier is set, and Polanco can come up in 2 years.....

[tobi0040]

It's illegal to drive past the speed limit but I'm not sure baseball is handing out anything for that.

 

Out of curiosity...if a 19 year old in a team's farm gets caught underage drinking, does anyone know what the penalty is?

 

Speculating, probably an embarrassing headline ina paper nobody will read like the Cedar Rapids chronicle or Rochester Gazette.

[nicksaviking]

I personally think it should be legal in the US and should not be included in minor league testing. Having said that, it is and Rosario had to know it. I also believe you first get a warning, then a 50 game suspension on your second offense. So it seems wreckless and extremely immature on Rosario's part.

 

Yup. Regardless of which side of the pot issue you fall on, if the guys who you are trying to get a million dollar paycheck from tell you not to do it, well it's your own damn fault if you disregard their warning.

 

I'm mostly in favor of legalizing it, but the continued drug failures of these professional athletes who face losing millions of dollars if they use it really does point to an addiction problem with weed. Ruining your career and losing a boatload of money because you can't resist speaks of a pretty bad problem.

[Mike Sixel]

Or, that he tried it once......we have no idea how much anyone has used if they fail a test. I don't think it shows addiction at all to fail one test.

[Willihammer]

MLB is hardly the only employer to test for THC. Its their prerogative. And it makes perfect sense from a productivity angle IMO.

[tobi0040]

Or, that he tried it once......we have no idea how much anyone has used if they fail a test. I don't think it shows addiction at all to fail one test.

 

 

He failed two, the first is a warning.

[cmathewson]

Yup. Regardless of which side of the pot issue you fall on, if the guys who you are trying to get a million dollar paycheck from tell you not to do it, well it's your own damn fault if you disregard their warning.

 

I'm mostly in favor of legalizing it, but the continued drug failures of these professional athletes who face losing millions of dollars if they use it really does point to an addiction problem with weed. Ruining your career and losing a boatload of money because you can't resist speaks of a pretty bad problem.

 

I agree that it is incredibly stupid to do something the league tests for, legal or not. But I don't think it means anything in particular beyond stupidity. Perhaps he thought he wouldn't get caught. Perhaps he was out with friends and they offered and he accepted without thinking about the consequences. Speaking of which, I've heard of guys testing positive after just being in a car with guys smoking, without actually partaking themselves. (At least that's what they said.) (Also, Clinton didn't inhale.) I can think of myriad ways this mistake can manifest itself with a player. The important thing is he accepts his mistake and I have 99% confidence that he'll never do it again (at least until he's on the 40-man).

[70charger]

I never have and never will understand why marijuana is a banned substance in professional sports testing.

 

May as well ban supersized meals and double cheeseburgers while we're at it. It would have lengthened Sidney Ponson's MLB career.

 

But can't you see that marijuana is a gateway drug!?

 

First the pot, then the cheeseburgers, then the supersized meals - it's the first step on a path to ruin! Won't somebody please think of the pitchers!

[halfchest]

Frankly, this makes me 100% no longer worried about his future. Move him to LF, and get him up here this year. I will be bummed if he is playing 2B this year....Dozier is set, and Polanco can come up in 2 years.....

 

I get that, but still think he's more valuable if he can stick at 2B. I think transitioning back to a corner outfield position would be pretty simple. At this point there doesn't appear to be an opening in our outfield as they are trying to get Kubel, Colabello, and Pinto(DH) in the lineup as much as possible and it sounds like Arcia and Willingham are on the way back.

 

I still could envision the Twins giving Dozier another shot at SS next year and they're obviously trying to give Polanco the chance to stick there next year as well. Not sure if Rosario's stick will play as well in the corners either. He's a potential all star at 2B but maybe league average or below in a corner. Now if he could play CF it's a whole different conversation.

[Brock Beauchamp]

I assume you mean besides 'because it's illegal in 48 states in this country?'

 

To me, that's irrelevant. Sports leagues are not law enforcement agencies. It should only matter whether the athlete is gaining a performance advantage from the use of a drug, at which point they are competing unfairly within the bounds of their own profession.

 

Anything that doesn't fall under that jurisdiction, have at it. Do whatever you want, it's not my career to ruin.

[Mike Sixel]

His stick is useless at 2B if Dozier and Polanco are playing there. And, he's better than Willingham or Collabello, and Kubel is gone in a year or two. Who is your LF, if not Rosario? I guess if you are willing to trade Dozier for a legit player or three, you keep Rosario at 2B. But at some point, it sure would be great to play for the present, and not keep trading your good players for the future....

[Brock Beauchamp]

His stick is useless at 2B if Dozier and Polanco are playing there. And, he's better than Willingham or Collabello, and Kubel is gone in a year or two. Who is your LF, if not Rosario? I guess if you are willing to trade Dozier for a legit player or three, you keep Rosario at 2B. But at some point, it sure would be great to play for the present, and not keep trading your good players for the future....

 

I agree but I think it's a decision that doesn't need to be made right now. Rosario has 300 pretty unimpressive PAs in AA. He's coming off a suspension that's going to eat nearly half of his 2014 season. He would have to play out of his mind for the rest of 2014 to even be a consideration for the 2015 Opening Day lineup.

[Old Twins Cap]

How dumb. A 19-year-old smoked a joint. Big deal. MLB has no business, and certainly no right, to suspend a player for that level of infraction. Time to get a lawyer. Really, what harm did Rosario bring to himself, to others, or the sport of baseball? Marijuana has been proven to be less harmful than drinking alcohol!

 

The Anti-Trust exemption is a big deal for MLB, and arbitrary rules like this that violate a person's right to work and make a living are eventually going to be weeded out (sic). By force of law if need be.

[zchrz]

MLB is hardly the only employer to test for THC. Its their prerogative. And it makes perfect sense from a productivity angle IMO.

 

No one tests for alcohol, and pot is much less harmful a substance. You already give a massive amount of time and energy to your employer, they have no right to tell you what you can or cannot ingest on your free time.

[Brock Beauchamp]

No one tests for alcohol, and pot is much less harmful a substance. You already give a massive amount of time and energy to your employer, they have no right to tell you what you can or cannot ingest on your free time.

 

Yep. If I get asked to come on as a full-time employee at my current job, I'll have to take a drug test.

 

I'm considering rejecting the offer if it comes for that reason alone. I'll pass the test without issue but that's not the point.

[halfchest]

I agree but I think it's a decision that doesn't need to be made right now. Rosario has 300 pretty unimpressive PAs in AA. He's coming off a suspension that's going to eat nearly half of his 2014 season. He would have to play out of his mind for the rest of 2014 to even be a consideration for the 2015 Opening Day lineup.

 

Agreed. I just don't see a rush to transition him to LF as that would be an easier switch a year from now if they decide he's blocked at 2B. Polanco's a year behind and currently playing SS. Dozier well that's another argument but if they don't find a different solution prior to opening day I could see Dozier getting another shot at SS in 2015. Even if let's say Dozier sticks as our long term 2B and Rosario can handle 2B. How great would it be to have a corner outfielder that can back up 2B adequately. Gives added flexibility. If he's blocked and we can get a guy like Alex Meyer for Dozier or Rosario then heck yah. You're not going to get a guy like Meyer for a corner outfielder with a league average bat. My biggest argument against moving him from 2B is that it's way easier to find corner outfielders than 2B. Sure now if next year Hicks still hasn't improved and Dozier is still locked in at 2B then it makes sense to consider the transition to a corner outfield spot.

[jokin]

MLB is hardly the only employer to test for THC. Its their prerogative. And it makes perfect sense from a productivity angle IMO.

 

THC potency in MJ averaged just above 3 % in 1993, today the average is around 12.4%, with at least 15 strains tested by High Times coming in around 25% and one testing at 36%. I'm for legalizing all drugs, not just marijuana. But like any other psychotropic drug, it's critical to understand what exactly it is that you're ingesting and what the side effects are. More information, regulation and research on the individual efficacy and side effects of the exact product being ingested is desperately needed- as this story illustrates:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/03/03/283545932/evidence-on-marijuanas-health-effects-is-hazy-at-best

 

Just like the warning on cold medications not to operate heavy machinery for a certain period of time, and truck and courier drivers driving under the influence of alcohol, employers probably have the right to know if their employees are on company time and potentially impaired in their judgement. But 50 games seems way too excessive- even for a 3rd offense, let alone a second one, until the day comes that MLB could definitively prove that MJ is a dangerous PED (highly unlikely).

[Mike Sixel]

Who is your LF next year, or are we punting next year too?