Steven Wright suspended 80 games for PEDs

RedOctober3829

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deep inside Guido territory

Red Sox pitcher Steven Wright has received an 80-game suspension without pay after testing positive for Growth Hormone Releasing Peptide 2 (GHRP-2), a performance-enhancing substance, in violation of MLB's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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There goes the hall of fame.

Often injured, you can understand the temptation here. But cheating is cheating.
 

santadevil

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Oh well, almost liked rooting for the guy, until that domestic stuff came to light
Now we have this

Enjoy the independent leagues Mr. Wrong
 

OurF'ingCity

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Gotta give him credit for coming up with a new way for missing significant time...freak injury, domestic abuse, PEDs...he's done it all!
 

simplicio

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Dammit. Wakefield, could you please find us a new awesome knuckleballer who isn't a total tool?
 

Ale Xander

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Hope Vela and Big Unit/American Thighs can bring it. Hope Thurnburg reverts to old form.

If not, we're kind of f'ed. A lot of pressure on Brasier and Barnes and the young guys.

So long, Wrong Stuff.
 

joe dokes

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I'm guessing it's related to his non-recovery from knee surgery and it was either "try this or I can't pitch anyway."
I hope Pedroia's path is better.
Wonder if they pivot on Kimbrel now. He was being counted on for a lot of middle relief innings.
I dont think it will be necessary to pay someone $10M+ to replace Steven Wright.
 

nattysez

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Given his lack of reliability for the past few years, I don't think this changes much. They still need to throw a bunch of flotsam and jetsam at the middle innings and hope someone catches fire.

Edit: Not to get too Sliding-Doors-y, but you have to wonder how differently this guy's life might've evolved had John Farrell not used him as a pinch-runner.
 

Remagellan

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I'm guessing it's related to his non-recovery from knee surgery and it was either "try this or I can't pitch anyway."
.
This is exactly what I believe is behind this. I look at people who do this a bit differently than I do people who are healthy who do this stuff to get stronger. It’s still cheating either way, but this is more about survival than trying to gain an advantage.
 

curly2

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It's hard to believe that as the playoffs were approaching last year, people were thinking he could be the secret weapon out of the bullpen.

Instead, the secret weapon turned out to be the four-headed monster of Eovaldi, Porcello, Sale and Price.

It's time to cut ties with Wright once and for all.
 

OurF'ingCity

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I look forward to the inevitable "I did not knowingly take a banned substance but I realize now I should have taken more care to know all the ingredients in everything I was taking" non-apology that always happens after a PED suspension.
 

nattysez

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I look forward to the inevitable "I did not knowingly take a banned substance but I realize now I should have taken more care to know all the ingredients in everything I was taking" non-apology that always happens after a PED suspension.
Bingo - with an additional "I didn't tell the team about it" bonus!

 

mauidano

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Bingo - with an additional "I didn't tell the team about it" bonus!

Didn't feel "obligated"???? Are you kidding me? Look, I like this guy and have followed his career since he pitched for the Univ. of Hawaii. But this is just plain stupid. I don't buy that he has "no idea". He was taking this as part of his rehab obviously. The hell with him. He was going to be a big part of the pitching staff and he just let his team down.
 

Spelunker

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The "I knew but didn't tell the team" is the firing line for me. You can't expect the team to support you under those circumstances.
 

cheekydave

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Within 10 years players will be allowed to take HGH under supervision for healing from a surgery. The Andy Pettite Clause.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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First the usual bullshit denial then adding insult to injury by not telling the team.
Fuck this guy, I'd rather they go out & spend his money on 2-3 average middle relievers.
If only his money could actually buy 2-3 average middle relievers.

I'm kind of amazed MLB doesn't automatically alert the player's team when the failed test occurs.
Privacy issues. If the failed test is a false positive and his appeal is upheld, does his employer really need to know about it?
 

Plympton91

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The "I knew but didn't tell the team" is the firing line for me. You can't expect the team to support you under those circumstances.
I agree it should be, but I wonder if the union contract protects him in this case. Still extremely shitty behavior by an employee.

Within 10 years players will be allowed to take HGH under supervision for healing from a surgery. The Andy Pettite Clause.
I agree with this, but that’s not where we are.

There is that article in the Lounge that says a bunch of supplements got rung up for poor quality testing. Is this one of the drugs that sometimes ended up in those?

And, needless to say, this makes our bullpen even worse than it was already. Not good.
 

Rasputin

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I'm kind of amazed MLB doesn't automatically alert the player's team when the failed test occurs.
HIPAA has some pretty tight regulations that probably apply.

I'd like to remind folks that getting something you're not expecting in supplements is remarkably easy because supplements are essentially entirely unregulated.

Fuck this guy, I'm done with him.
 

Sam Ray Not

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Drugs may lead to nowhere, but at least it's the scenic route.

Right now I'm having amnesia and deja vu at the same time.
 

DeadlySplitter

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I'm tempted to want to cut him right now, but he still can pick up some garbage innings in the 2nd half of the season. maybe non-tender him next offseason.
 

MakeMineMoxie

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I'm tempted to want to cut him right now, but he still can pick up some garbage innings in the 2nd half of the season. maybe non-tender him next offseason.
Is he even worth a roster spot in the 2nd half? I'm hoping they cut him & can find someone who can contribute all year and isn't so sensitive to wind, humidity, phase of the moon, tides, etc.
 

BornToRun

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I honestly couldn’t care less about the HGH but opting not to tell the team is really messed up.
 

uk_sox_fan

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I can't get on board with all the hate. Whether the positive was because he had no alternative for getting his knee back to the shape it needs to be for him to compete in MLB (30% IMO), because he truly ingested something by accident (10%) or some combination (i.e. he had to push the edge to get the knee ready but honestly thought he was on the good side of the edge (60%)), I think it's highly unlikely he was popping pills a la Conseco in order to be the strongest, most overpowering knuckleballer in the league. As for not telling the team, he must have thought that there was a reasonable chance that he'd win his appeal and it's certainly reasonable to assume that the advantage the team would garner from having that info 2 months earlier pales in comparison to the harm it might have done him should they have taken drastic action against him (i.e. what many of the lynch mob here have suggested).

Just think about what this guy is facing and what it means for his career before you try, convict and sentence him based on the limited info we all have. That goes for the domestic abuse as well. Unless there was some further news released that I'm not aware of what we know is that he prevented his wife from calling 911 during an argument, but both of them deny he ever struck or in any way harmed her. MLB thoroughly reviewed the case because of their efforts to take a hard stance on domestic violence issues and gave him the lightest sentence (15-games) of anyone since the current policy was instituted in 2015. The court case was retired and all charges dropped pending a 12-month probationary period which passed without incident. I'm not saying that he was definitely blameless or even that there's no chance that he's a PoS; I'm just saying that I'm amazed at how many people are convinced on the limited amount of public knowledge available that he's a wife-beater and should be vilified forever.
 

Lose Remerswaal

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Is he even worth a roster spot in the 2nd half? I'm hoping they cut him & can find someone who can contribute all year and isn't so sensitive to wind, humidity, phase of the moon, tides, etc.
I don't understand what the cost of keeping him around and continuing to rehab and seeing if he can help in the second half. Unless the issue is just that he is an abuser and a user, in which case that's why you dump him, not because he is a knuckleballer. Cuz those guys never work out.
 

Cesar Crespo

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I think it's highly unlikely he was popping pills a la Conseco in order to be the strongest, most overpowering knuckleballer in the league..

Why does this make a difference to some people? Cheating is cheating. It's somehow less of an offense if a less talented guy is cheating instead of the more talented guy?

Barry Bonds and Manny Alexander are the same in my book.
 

Average Reds

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Why does this make a difference to some people? Cheating is cheating. It's somehow less of an offense if a less talented guy is cheating instead of the more talented guy?

Barry Bonds and Manny Alexander are the same in my book.
It's strange how we accept PEDs in the NFL, but work ourselves into a lather about PEDs in baseball. How many people were calling for the Pats to cut Edelman last summer?

I'm not surprised that a boderline player used some variant of HGH to recover from an injury. My assumption is that most players in that situation use something, and some (most?) are more careful to ensure they stay on the "clean" side of the testing rules, while others are oblivious and get caught.

I get that he broke a rule and he'll lose a half-season of salary. Probably enough of a punishment in and of itself.
 

JimD

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Were people really counting on him to be a serious contributor? I was hoping for it but not to the point where it would have been a crushing blow if he faltered yet again.
 

YTF

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IMO there was no great hope attached to Wright. Some hope, but not great hope. I liken him at this stage in his career to any other reclamation project that the Sox pull off the scrap heap. He's had some measure of success in the past and you hope that maybe there is something left in the tank after missing time due to injury or something that can be tweaked that will help him rediscover what once was and that he can contribute in some meaningful way. The only difference with Wright and some of the other reclamation projects is that he was already under contract and on the roster.
 

uk_sox_fan

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Why does this make a difference to some people? Cheating is cheating. It's somehow less of an offense if a less talented guy is cheating instead of the more talented guy?

Barry Bonds and Manny Alexander are the same in my book.
The hate (from these quarters at least) stems from the domestic abuse allegations last year. Getting caught using PEDs reveals an alarming lack of self-awareness. The context matters here.
I feel like my post was fairly nuanced and addressed both these posts but you cherry pick a line from me and carry on with the hate without responding to the whole. Of course context matters. But do you really believe with 100% certainty that this is all so black-and-white? Anyone accused of violating substance abuse should be tossed out the door in all circumstances? Anyone that is accused of non-violent domestic abuse should be forever vilified? We know very very little of the details and facts of these cases - shouldn't that matter? Or is everything a litmus test that you're either for PEDs and wife-beating or against it and so in order to show our bonifides we need to hurl our hate and scorn at the latest person brought to our attention?

I mean I think paedophiles are some of the lowest of the low, but if an 18-year old is convicted of having consensual sex with a 17-year old because his state has strict legislation that says essentially 'the age of Consent is 18 and therefore this is a adult-child relationship and therefore rape' I'd defend the kids. Would you really take your 'the law is the law' attitude and lump him together with some of the worst animals in society?
 

Cesar Crespo

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I feel like my post was fairly nuanced and addressed both these posts but you cherry pick a line from me and carry on with the hate without responding to the whole. Of course context matters. But do you really believe with 100% certainty that this is all so black-and-white? Anyone accused of violating substance abuse should be tossed out the door in all circumstances? Anyone that is accused of non-violent domestic abuse should be forever vilified? We know very very little of the details and facts of these cases - shouldn't that matter? Or is everything a litmus test that you're either for PEDs and wife-beating or against it and so in order to show our bonifides we need to hurl our hate and scorn at the latest person brought to our attention?

I mean I think paedophiles are some of the lowest of the low, but if an 18-year old is convicted of having consensual sex with a 17-year old because his state has strict legislation that says essentially 'the age of Consent is 18 and therefore this is a adult-child relationship and therefore rape' I'd defend the kids. Would you really take your 'the law is the law' attitude and lump him together with some of the worst animals in society?

I didn't vilify anyone. I just said his cheating is the same as Barry Bonds cheating. Personally, I could care less if players are on peds. I just don't see the difference. Manny Alexander's cheating could have stolen a job from a more deserving player who wasn't. Bonds would have been in the league whether he was on PEDs or not. If anything, the first is worst.

I'd say it's laundry but I know it's not. For whatever reason, people don't care if scrubs are cheating. If you are actually good though, you are the devil incarnate.