Melky Cabrera: ESPN's Rick Sutcliffe Shows Stupidity Wanting Giants OF Deported

Everyone has an opinion about San Francisco Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera and his 50-game suspension for elevated levels of testosterone, including ESPN analyst Rick Sutcliffe, who decided to go way off the reservation when discussing the 2012 MLB All-Star Game MVP. 

In an interview with Michael Kay on ESPN Radio 98.7 in New York, Sutcliffe basically said that Cabrera shouldn't be in the United States:

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You know, it makes you mad. First of all, this guy is over here in the United States on a working visa. He broke the law—what's he still doing here? I mean, forget the 50-game suspension from baseball and whether he can come back if they make the playoffs or not, why is he still here? That visa should be taken away, and he should not be allowed to play over here again or work over here again.

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If you are going to get in a tizzy about steroids and performance-enhancing drugs in baseball, that is certainly your prerogative. I don't care one way or the other about it, since there has been no definitive proof that it actually helps you do anything in baseball, but Sutcliffe should keep some perspective here. 

What Cabrera did was dumb because he hurt his team's chances of making the postseason, but other than that, who did he really hurt here? He put something in his body that can have long-term ramifications for him when he gets older, but that's his choice. 

There are varying degrees of breaking the law. If Cabrera did something to physically hurt another human being, or something worse, absolutely: Deport him, and don't think twice about it. 

But Cabrera failed a drug test. How many athletes in the history of professional sports have failed drug tests? Far too many to count.

There is a system in place that punishes baseball players who fail drug tests. It was collectively bargained by the union and owners, so Cabrera will serve his suspension, just as so many others have, and then get back on the field. 

Sutcliffe's comments are a clear overreaction to a situation that people always blow out of proportion. When you take a step back and really look at things, a suspension for testosterone is really low on the list of problems baseball has. 

It's not like Sutcliffe is perfect, as he has been on the air after a bender of some kind, yet he was given a second chance.

People in glass houses really don't need to throw stones. 

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