MLB Sitting On Pins and Needles Again

Two months before the 2009 MLB season gets underway and we already have our first HBP, another black eye for baseball.

This weekend's breaking story that Alex Rodriguez is among the 104 players on the list of positive steroid tests from 2003 once again shines the spotlight where MLB does not want it.

This along with the BALCO/Bonds fiasco has cast a shadow over the game. At this point is hard to even tell who is and isn't clean.

A-Rod will obviously be the biggest name on the latest list but it got me thinking to who may be joining him.

Maybe...

Andruw Jones: His production has flat-lined and this once phenom now is struggling to even keep his batting average above his weight.

David Ortiz: There is nothing suspicious about a player changing cities and sky rocketing to stardom—unless the change came in 2003, right when steroids were rampant in the league and a good hitter transforms into a pitcher's nightmare.

Carlos Beltran: Went from a offensive cataylst leading off, hitting for average, and swiping 30 bags to being the offensive power hitter, something just doesn't add up for me.

On The Fence...

Jeff Bagwell: Falls into the category of "I pray that he's not on this list."  Growing up watching the Killer B's was quite a treat he, Biggio, and later Berkman were a rare combo.  Unfortunately, he fits the mold because the guy is huge. What I'm holding on to is that he's always been a monster, so I'm hoping his name won't be there.

And the last category: If he's on the list I will stop watching baseball...

Ken Griffey Jr.: My favorite player of all time.  If Griffey is on this list, everything I have ever taken baseball to stand for will fall with his name.  In my opinion, if Griffey wasn't injury prone he may have had a shot at Hank Aaron's—I mean Barry Bond's home run record.  He always leaves everything on the field and in his prime I don't know if there was a more pure baseball player that I've seen, granted I never got to see most of the greats play.

What bothers me the most is when I grow up I will never really know who was legit and who wasn't because I've grown up in the " steroid era."  My grandpa and my father get to tell me about all the great players they got to see—DiMaggio, Yastrzemski, Aaron, the list is endless. 

Now I'm not saying that there aren't great players today. What I'm saying is that its sad that there'll always be that "yeah, but what if..." in the back of my mind.

Honestly, I wish there wasn't this list of 104 players. I wish A-Rod wasn't on it. I can't stand A-Rod, but for the integrity of the game, I wish that no one would be on it.

But that's not reality.