I'm sure everyone heard about a mystery player who was going to be suspended for PEDs. Then it was a New York player. Then definitely not a New York player. Then an NL player. Then a pitcher. And finally it was revealed
by SI's Jon Heyman as Reds injured pitcher Edinson Volquez (picture from the article). So he's caught, he's suspended 50 games, he learns his lesson, and all's good (well, except for the children who lose a role model)...well not quite. Why?
Craig Calcaterra of HarballTalk explains why the suspension starting immediately doesn't work in this instance:
[Volquez] cannot pitch and would not be able to until at least July, due to recovery from Tommy John surgery. The suspension, in contrast, will be over in June. Sure, his pay will be docked, but he will miss exactly zero games that he otherwise wouldn't have missed...Volquez will essentially have no change whatsoever in his recovery and return...
Not that his fine will be insubstantial -- he'll be docked roughly $137K of his $445K contract this year, plus some fines I imagine -- but his baseball life will not be altered one bit by the suspension.
Think anyone is going to have a problem with this? Oh, yes. Yes they will.
I certainly do. Volquez is basically getting off because of "time served". He's getting a free pass because he's injured now. If Volquez was suspended for hitting a guy with a pitch, the suspension would start once he comes off the disabled list (unless he was Cliff Lee, of course). But because of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, it starts right now.
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