Miguel Tejada--End of the Line?

[Don Quixote]

From Rotoworld--

"Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reports that Miguel Tejada will be suspended 105 games for testing positive for amphetamines.
It's the third longest suspension in MLB history. Tejada tested positive for Adderall in the past and failed two drug tests this season, which resulted in the 105 game ban. The 39-year-old will not appeal the suspension. Tejada is expected to retire after serving the first 41 games while on the disabled list."

His career kind of fizzled out, but wow, what he did in his Oakland-Baltimore prime, especially 2001-02-04. He was somewhat overlooked because of where he played, plus the presence at AL shortstop of A-Roid, Jeter, and Nomah, but he was fantasy gold for a while.

BTW, I was going to call this thread "Miggy Suspended 105 Games", but that would have caused heart seizures all over.

[Long John]

Am I the only one that thinks Selig's God complex is too much to bear?

[fuhrdog]

End of the line??

Yes it is

Sincerely,

2011

[Frank]

Am I the only one that thinks Selig's God complex is too much to bear?

No your not LJ.........

http://www.onlybaseballmatters.com/a...it-2/#comments

Hands down the best expression and perspective I have read on this issue to date

[Long John]

You've said this elsewhere and I just don't get it as it pertains to drug suspensions. Are you asserting that suspending players for violating (repeatedly, no less) the drug policy of the league over which Selig presides constitutes a "god complex"? Makes zero sense to me.

I understand what you're saying, ElD. I'm going to try to explain my rationale as best I can. If you disagree, so be it. You have every right.

Let's suspend our disbelief for a second and take what's being published as fact in the media at face value. If we take this as truth and we take Miguel Tejada's apology statement as a statement of fact, then the punishment clearly doesn't justify the crime.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...rrall/2667613/

"I apologize to my teammates, the Royals organization and to the Kansas City fans,'' Tejada said in a statement released by the players association. "I have a medical condition that requires medication to treat. I took that medication while re-applying for a Therapeutic Use Exemption. Under the requirements of the Joint Drug Program, I made a mistake in doing so."

To be fair, we don't know what MLB's reasons were for not granting Tejada an extension. Adderral is intended to treat ADHD and narcolepsy. We have no proof that Tejada suffered from either of these conditions. Maybe he did. It's not a stretch to think that in MLB's desperate attempt to "clean up the game" they haven't started targeting older players that they know are on dependent drugs such as adderrall, not renewing their exemption and then suspending them when they have proof of a failed drug test for a drug they already knew Tejada was taking. "See! He's cheating! We're effectively banning him from the game for life and cleaning the game up!" It's possible Tejada is being used as a pawn to fight the suspension of Alex Rodriguez. They now have precedent for suspending someone longer than 100 games. So when it's time to meet with the arbitrator, Alex's lawyer can't say that all the other 2013 suspensions were for 50 or 65 games.

I understand that you want to remove the players that are "cheating" from the game. It's going to take a generation to truly curb the use of drugs in baseball. So you caught a few of the idiots that were too dumb or arrogant to mask it. Big deal. You'll never catch the smart ones because they're already a step ahead of you.

Bud Selig has no right to interfere with the ability of these players to earn a living. Let's say I have ADHD and a doctor prescribes me Adderall. My employer holds a significant advantage in the field over all his competition and knows it. This employer only hires the best talent. This employer suddenly decides that there is a drug problem at his company (despite turning a blind eye to it in the past) and decides to make an example out of me because he can prove I take Adderall. Moreover, my (now former) employer can use it as leverage to persecute (err...prosecute) others. How is this any different?

You can argue that Selig was hamstrung by a very powerful MLBPA in the 90s. The fact that MLBPA leadership was only serving it's immediate near-term greed lessens the strength of that argument. My argument is that after the 94 strike, Selig was desperate to bring fans back to the game and offense brought people back. Now that fans are back in droves, he can push his agenda further by appearing actionable in baseball's obvious drug problem. The drug problem is only obvious because it ran rampant for a decade and blind eyes were turned intentionally.

In my opinion, every action Selig has taken in MLB, either as the owner of the Brewers or as commissioner, has been strictly in his best interests. He is extremely self-serving to both himself and his owner buddies. Drugs in the game is only part of the issue. Revenue sharing that allows frugal owners in small market to pocket profits (his daughter took over as owner of the Brewers until about 6-7 years ago). Interleague series (and now this ridiculousness that pits unfamiliar AL and NL teams against each other every day of the season). This, along with moving the Brewers to the NL (the "better" circuit) and subsequently moving the Astros to the AL is a set up for expansion in the near future - less than a decade after threatening contraction - scream of a classless being who acts upon his will alone. He has no respect for the game (calling a tie in the ASG; letting the ASG decide home field for the World Series). He has no respect for the players. All he cares about is his own personal goals, regardless of the best interest of the game. That is why i feel the term God complex is appropriate.

[Long John]

OK, that makes more sense. What still doesn't make sense, though, is that a grown man would somehow (conveniently) forget that he was taking a banned substance, something in the freakin' news every single day ad nauseum, without the consent of his employer. How on earth could he forget something that would threaten his career (and, presumably, that he'd gotten cleared for in years past)? Forgive me if I'm a little dubious about Tejada's statement. Forgive me particularly if I doubt the word of a man who's already gotten caught before these two failed tests even occurred! I'd guess that he's gotten the "do NOT fuck up any more, Mr. Tejada, or serious consequences will ensue" talk repeatedly from both friend and employer after his first failed test.

I think you may be right on the money about the rest of the stuff, but I don't think it's particularly relevant (although we could check with BuckyBuckner about that) to the issue at hand. Selig is kind of a douchey commish but I think this was the right call by him. Hell, Tejada even pleaded guilty to lying to Congress a few years back. It's hard to view him as a victim in all of this.

Fair enough. I'm not insisting Tejada is a saint or didn't use poor judgment. He used terrible judgment and the price of this is that he'll likely never play in MLB again. He is a victim of a game that embraced the use of addictive drugs and then the uncaring, greedy parent decided to scold the kids when they figured out it was really bad (it wasn't until Ken Caminiti died that they really did anything at all). Tejada's statement is probably his interpretation of the truth. The actual truth is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of "he's been addicted to Adderall for many years, picked some up through friends or certainly without a doctor's prescription, and tested positive for it because he can't quit". It certainly explains legitimately why MLB wouldn't approve his extension for use of Adderall. Although the fact that he had an exemption previously makes me wonder why.

As for lying to Congress, I'm not going to get involved in that. IMO, I don't think Congress had any business getting involved in any of that nonsense. I'm not going to dispute your statement, rather state that it may or may not have relevance in the subject at hand. Could it? Sure. Does it? I'm not convinced of that.

Thanks for hearing me out.

[chancellor]

BTW, I was going to call this thread "Miggy Suspended 105 Games", but that would have caused heart seizures all over.

Heh...that'd have been awesome.

[Don Quixote]

Heh...that'd have been awesome.

Only in terms of being a heartless ba****d. I rely on my fellow inmates here for advice, and getting some people very upset with me for a thread title like that would not help my chances of getting good advice in the future.

[cavebird]

Fair enough. I'm not insisting Tejada is a saint or didn't use poor judgment. He used terrible judgment and the price of this is that he'll likely never play in MLB again. He is a victim of a game that embraced the use of addictive drugs and then the uncaring, greedy parent decided to scold the kids when they figured out it was really bad (it wasn't until Ken Caminiti died that they really did anything at all). Tejada's statement is probably his interpretation of the truth. The actual truth is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of "he's been addicted to Adderall for many years, picked some up through friends or certainly without a doctor's prescription, and tested positive for it because he can't quit". It certainly explains legitimately why MLB wouldn't approve his extension for use of Adderall. Although the fact that he had an exemption previously makes me wonder why.

As for lying to Congress, I'm not going to get involved in that. IMO, I don't think Congress had any business getting involved in any of that nonsense. I'm not going to dispute your statement, rather state that it may or may not have relevance in the subject at hand. Could it? Sure. Does it? I'm not convinced of that.

Thanks for hearing me out.

FWIW, I think the truth is a little less sinister on either part in this case. Here are the factual assumptions I am making based upon what has been publicly stated and why I am making them.

1. Tejada had an exception for Adderrall to treat ADD for many years. He stated this, and if it wasn't true, MLB would have said so.
2. Tejada has, at least in the past, shown significant evidence that he suffers from relatively serious ADD. I assume this because given MLB's posture, I would imagine that these exemptions are hard to get.
3. The joint drug program protocols do not allow for discretion in the case of failed tests. If they did, we would have heard about it by now.
4. The Adderrall exemption that Tejada had involves a lot of obnoxious paperwork, MD's affidavits, etc., to obtain and renew. I assume this because, well, everything of this nature does.

From these factual assumptions, here is my conjecture on what happened:

Tejada, not particularly likely to even make a major league roster this year, didn't get a head start on his renewal paperwork. Because he did do all that, his exemption expired. He then makes the Royals. He's a complete wreck without the adderrall, so he files the paperwork late and takes the drug anyway, hoping that this is good enough, but figuring what the hell, I'll be out of baseball soon anyway. Not surprisingly, he tests positive twice. There is no exception for good faith violations and he has no active exemption, therefore the suspension comes as a matter of course.

Looks to me like idiocy and paperwork. And I don't really see Selig in this one that much; not that I dispute your take on Selig, I just think this isn't particularly his handiwork.

[revo]

Things that make you go hmmmm:

The nationwide rate of people ages 14-44 with ADHD and who need Adderall is 4.4%, while the rate for MLB players is double that at 9%.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2012/11/27/adderall-in-pro-sports/1730431/

Quotes from the article:
"To have doubled the population prevalence of a disorder is staggering," says University of Wisconsin psychiatrist Eric Heiligenstein. "Obviously, that's weird."


"Ben Vitiello, a research psychiatrist with the NIMH, says that 4.4% figure cited in the 2006 study is probably still accurate, but says it's simplistic to claim baseball's ADHD prevalence is double the general population, because baseball's numbers reflect only men — who have a greater prevalence of ADHD than women.

Still, Vitiello looks at the 9% prevalence in Major League Baseball and says, "That's a fishy number."

[Don Quixote]

Things that make you go hmmmm:

The nationwide rate of people ages 14-44 with ADHD and who need Adderall is 4.4%, while the rate for MLB players is double that at 9%.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2012/11/27/adderall-in-pro-sports/1730431/

Quotes from the article:
"To have doubled the population prevalence of a disorder is staggering," says University of Wisconsin psychiatrist Eric Heiligenstein. "Obviously, that's weird."


"Ben Vitiello, a research psychiatrist with the NIMH, says that 4.4% figure cited in the 2006 study is probably still accurate, but says it's simplistic to claim baseball's ADHD prevalence is double the general population, because baseball's numbers reflect only men — who have a greater prevalence of ADHD than women.

Still, Vitiello looks at the 9% prevalence in Major League Baseball and says, "That's a fishy number."

In other words, the word has gotten around the players' world that Adderall helps performance (true or not, I have no idea). So some of those who don't have it figure they need an edge and fake ADD, or just have their doctors write them prescriptions for it. The foul-up is that some of the players then don't go through the tedious process of getting the paperwork done to "validate" their usage.

[revo]

In other words, the word has gotten around the players' world that Adderall helps performance (true or not, I have no idea). So some of those who don't have it figure they need an edge and fake ADD, or just have their doctors write them prescriptions for it. The foul-up is that some of the players then don't go through the tedious process of getting the paperwork done to "validate" their usage.

Bingo.

[Controller Jacobs]

Just double? pshaw

Here's a fishy number:
"...Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina and Tennessee, showed about 23 percent of school-age boys receiving an A.D.H.D. diagnosis."
link

[Long John]

FWIW, I think the truth is a little less sinister on either part in this case. Here are the factual assumptions I am making based upon what has been publicly stated and why I am making them.

1. Tejada had an exception for Adderrall to treat ADD for many years. He stated this, and if it wasn't true, MLB would have said so.
2. Tejada has, at least in the past, shown significant evidence that he suffers from relatively serious ADD. I assume this because given MLB's posture, I would imagine that these exemptions are hard to get.
3. The joint drug program protocols do not allow for discretion in the case of failed tests. If they did, we would have heard about it by now.
4. The Adderrall exemption that Tejada had involves a lot of obnoxious paperwork, MD's affidavits, etc., to obtain and renew. I assume this because, well, everything of this nature does.

From these factual assumptions, here is my conjecture on what happened:

Tejada, not particularly likely to even make a major league roster this year, didn't get a head start on his renewal paperwork. Because he did do all that, his exemption expired. He then makes the Royals. He's a complete wreck without the adderrall, so he files the paperwork late and takes the drug anyway, hoping that this is good enough, but figuring what the hell, I'll be out of baseball soon anyway. Not surprisingly, he tests positive twice. There is no exception for good faith violations and he has no active exemption, therefore the suspension comes as a matter of course.

Looks to me like idiocy and paperwork. And I don't really see Selig in this one that much; not that I dispute your take on Selig, I just think this isn't particularly his handiwork.

All of this makes sense, cb and is certainly plausible.

What I don't get is why the suspension is for 105 games. Why that number? A second offense suspension is typically 100. Frankly, all you need to do is take the rest of this season away from Tejada and he's not coming back.

So I did some digging. This is from ESPN:

Tejada had previously tested positive under the league's amphetamine policy, so he was subject to a 25-game ban for a second test and an 80-game suspension for a third, both of which occurred while playing for the Royals this season.

So maybe the better question is why wait until now to suspend him for both? If you suspend him after his first positive test this season, he gets the message that he didn't listen to - that taking Adderall while you file your exemption paperwork is not ok. He either gets his paperwork done for his exemption or he stops taking it.

If they're cracking down on drugs so much, why wait?

[DMT]

Suspending a guy who's been taking medication for years for a medical condition that the league knows about is bush league.