Manny Should Fire Scott Boras
- By: Jason Thornbury
- On: 5/11/2009 9:01:00 PM
- View Comments : 12
Related: Jason Thornbury Los Angeles Dodgers MLB
Essentially, this whole thing comes down to botched paperwork. Had Manny applied for a "Therapeutic Use Exemption" the world would have gone on believing that he was only quirky, not dirty.
Players get waivers for banned drugs all the time (see Question 3). Had Ramirez's people filled out the proper paperwork, Manny could have taken HCG and no one would have said anything. And when his testosterone levels came up high in his spring training drug test, MLB would have given him a pass because it would have known he was taking a drug that increases testosterone levels.
Instead, the bad test set off a chain reaction in which Manny perhaps could have been suspended for longer than 50 games.
According to ESPN, MLB determined Ramirez's off-the-charts testosterone level came from an unnatural source. In preparing a defense, Boras dropped the ball again when it was revealed to MLB that Manny was also taking the banned substance HCG. See, Goose, Cooked.
It's like a guy who's pulled over for speeding, and when the cop asks for his license and registration he hands him a bag of weed.
Now, the story says MLBPA turned over Manny's health records per the CBA, but the MLBPA would had to have gotten them from Boras, who could have conveniently edited potentially damaging information for his client.
In any event, it all could have been avoided if Ramirez just filled out the waiver to begin with. Which makes you wonder just how many players have TUE's to cover up their steroids use.
It also makes the usual media reaction -- from both the outraged and the deniers -- look a little foolish. As long as there's a "Therapeutic Use Exemption," we know that performance enhancing substances are a part of baseball.
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Comments
On: 5/11/2009 9:48:00 PM
On: 5/11/2009 10:25:00 PM
Maybe it's just me, but editing medical files probably wouldn't be considered ethical and how do you know Boras handled Manny's personal medical files?
On: 5/11/2009 10:44:00 PM
Bdunn, the first test showed high levels of testosterone. A second test was then ordered to determine whether it was natural. Had Manny had a waiver, that second test never would have occurred because the high level of testosterone would have been chalked up to HCG. And yeah, obviously editing medical files isn't ethical, but when has ethics stopped a sports agent, especially in such a sensitive situation as this? I don't know for a fact that Boras handled his medical files, but I can't figure how the MLBPA would get them if not through Boras.
On: 5/12/2009 4:28:00 AM
On: 5/12/2009 6:25:00 AM
On: 5/12/2009 6:48:00 AM
On: 5/12/2009 8:01:00 AM
Now, if you believe that Manny really did have such a condition then yes, Boras didn't do his job. If that isn't the case though, and Manny just needed the HCG to get his testosterone levels back up due to PED use, then I don't see how you can blame Boras. Applying for a TUE in that situation would have brought more scrutiny to his client and in the end there's a good chance major league baseball wouldn't have even given it to him. I'm sure Boras knows this. He's a lot of things, but dummy isn't one of them.
On: 5/12/2009 11:23:00 AM
On: 5/12/2009 12:55:00 PM
Obviously, the answer is somewhere in between. Some requests actually are going to be denied or raise suspicion. As stated in the article that you link, no waivers for HGH have ever been allowed, according to the MLB.
On: 5/12/2009 1:47:00 PM
My point is that known users like A-Rod have been grandfathered into the system. But they must do it within MLB's system. They can't freelance on their own like Manny. Had Manny played by MLB's rules, he wouldn't have been suspended.
On: 5/12/2009 8:12:00 PM
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3822193
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