The updated MLB guidelines for banned substance monitoring and enforcement of (already in place) rules were announced Tuesday afternoon, and anyone expecting the hammer to drop will surely be disappointed.
Within the new punishments, which will take effect on June 21, any player caught using a foreign substance will immediately be ejected from that game and suspended, with pay, for 10 games. The players will be paid during the suspensions and repeat offenders will be, as they say, “subject to progressive discipline.”
Although the first player to be caught and grounded for breaking these rules will have received greater discipline than any player involved in the Astros’ scandal, it’s not exactly a vacation. These teams will suffer and that player will have to wear that for the rest of their career. But that’s at the very least what is deserved, and this is certainly an underwhelming response to what the league confirms is cheating in the game.
“I understand there’s a history of foreign substances being used on the ball, but what we are seeing today is objectively far different, with much tackier substances being used more frequently than ever before,” Rob Manfred said in a statement. “It has become clear that the use of foreign substances has generally morphed from trying to get a better grip on the ball into something else -- an unfair competitive advantage that is creating a lack of action and an uneven playing field.”
This disappointing response is going to leave too much to the court of public opinion. The decision to not punish any Astros players in that scandal led to a vitriolic shame tour with more flying projectiles that the league could have prevented.
Beyond the punishment, however, the league also decided to expand its definition of what substances are actually banned. The most publicly mentioned concoction, which is now technically banned, is a combination of rosin and sunscreen -- two substances which on their own are both legal.
Regardless of any of the specifics, a mid-season announcement saying that actual rules of the game will actually be enforced is proof of a very broken system.
YOUR TURN: What do you think of these new “enforcement guidelines?” Too lenient? Too strict?
