In the aftermath of the release of the Mitchell Report, little about Major League Baseball's so-called "Steroid Era" is clear.We know that several prominent players allegedly used steroids and other performance enhancing drugs during a time in which baseball made huge gains in attendance, revenue and player salaries.
We also know that MLB management and the Players' Union apparently looked the other way while alleged cheats like Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Jason Giambi broke records and signed new multimillion-dollar contracts with their respective teams.
But who's to blame for the explosion of steroid use among players?
We don't know, and we probably never will.
Surely baseball fans must be blamed in some way for the swelled heads, arms, and statistics. After all, we were the ones buying tickets in droves and tuning in to ESPN every day.
But what level of blame can we assign to the men who made the decisions to employ those bloated behemoths who were once credited with "saving baseball" after the strike of 1994?
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The Mitchell Report, for all its largesse, contains snippets of behind-the-scenes discussions between baseball GMs that reveal a disturbing trend among high-level officials determined to win and make their fans happy.
The revelations aren't specific, but the prevalence of "juicers" throughout baseball implies a tacit approval of performance-enhancers among MLB GMs.
Take the exchange, detailed in the Mitchell Report, between Red Sox GM Theo Epstein and Boston scout Marc DelPiano.
Epstein asks DelPiano whether former Cy Young Award winner Eric Gagne might have used performance enhancers while pitching for the Dodgers.
DelPiano responds that it's possible, and that Gagne—for whom the Red Sox were considering acquiring from the Texas Rangers—has "a checkered medical past."
But Epstein was apparently okay with the possibility, and eventually acquired Gagne to help the Red Sox win the 2007 World Series.
"Have you done any digging on Gagné?," Epstein wrote to DelPiano in an e-mail obtained by Mitchell. "I know the Dodgers think he was a steroid guy. Maybe so. What do you hear on his medicals?"
DelPiano responded, "Some digging on Gagné and steroids IS the issue. Has a checkered medical past throughout career including minor leagues. Lacks the poise and commitment to stay healthy, maintain body, and reinvent self. What made him a tenacious closer was the max effort plus stuff . . . Mentality without the plus weapons and without steroid help probably creates a large risk in bounce-back durability and ability to throw average while allowing the changeup to play as it once did."
The Red Sox issued a statement after the Report's release in support of Sen. Mitchell's investigation. The statement also expressed a desire to educate players about the dangers of using performance enhancing drugs, and to rid MLB of the drugs.
Funny, the Red Sox didn't seem to care much about Gagne's drug problems when they were looking to shore up their bullpen.
The steroids scandal is sure to rock baseball for some time, but it's still uncertain how fans and MLB front offices should move forward—or if we can move forward at all.
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