The Media Circus That Wasn't

Last Thursday morning, I sat in the Players Club, just beyond the right field bleachers inside Fenway Park. Joined by 50 Cape Cod Baseball League All-Stars, the league’s ten coaches, a few other league officers, we enjoyed a humungous buffet, waiting patiently before the Cape League and its All-Stars were recognized in a pre-game ceremony that afternoon before their game against Oakland.

Then my phone started buzzing. Then it kept buzzing and buzzing. Looking up at the flat screen televisions around the room I realized why. Across the bottom of the NESN pre-game show told how the New York Times was reporting that David Ortiz had tested positive for performance enhancing drugs in 2003. I figured all hell would break loose around the stadium. I was wrong.

After successfully chaperoning the Cape League All-Stars through their pre-game ceremony, I headed up to the press box, making good use of one of the few times a year I’m able to get media credentials from the Red Sox. I was expecting the media level to be buzzing. It wasn’t. It was remarkably calm. And then it hit me. Maybe, finally, reporting on steroids had jumped the shark. Unless someone comes out with all 100 plus names on the much talked about 2003 positive test list, their really isn’t going to be all that much buzz, no shock, no nothing. Sure Dan Shaughnessy will spit out some boring, played out column about how Ortiz should be ashamed and how he lied to Red Sox Nation and how Boston’s two World Series championships are tainted. (In his defense, I never actually got beyond the title of his Ortiz article, I refused to read anything by him a long time ago, but I assume that’s how the column went.)

In the press box, seats we aplenty, the only banter going on was former Red Sox player and current radio/television talking head Lou Merloni explaining how he only hit 14 career home runs. Most of all, there was really no buzz.

While I’ll admit that I don’t often frequent major league press boxes, I do have a point of comparison. Last year, I was at Manny Ramirez’s last game as a member of the Red Sox. There was buzz, there were rumors, there were beat writers talking about where, when, and if Manny Ramirez would finally be traded. First it was Manny to the Marlins, then something involving the Pirates, and it turned out that Manny didn’t get dealt until much later the next day. But there was excitement; it had the vibe of big news. I felt none of that last Thursday.

Even in this era of 24-hour news cycles, while the Ortiz news certainly dominated headlines, it seemed as though everyone, even those covering the sport, seem bored with steroids, especially in the manner that names trickle off this 2003 list and into the public domain. Sure, using PEDs is dirty, but the shock value of steroid news is gone, for everyone.

Has Manny Ramirez Violated His Morals Clause?

Yesterday, I was quoted on behalf of SportsJudge in the Wall Street Journal about fantasy disputes that have arisen from Manny Ramirez's drug-related suspension.

Today, Eriq Gardner of The Hollywood Reporter contacted me about a real world question stemming from this mess: whether the Los Angeles Dodgers could release Manny Ramirez for breaching his moral clause.

Specifically, Section 7(b) of the Major League Baseball Standard Player Contract states as follows:

The [Major League Baseball] Club may terminate this contract ... if the Player shall at any time ... fail, refuse or neglect to conform his personal conduct to the standards of good citizenship and good sportsmanship or to keep himself in first-class physical condition or to obey the Club's training rules.

Indeed, this language is somewhat ambiguous. It is also not all together clear how it applies in conjunction with the specified drug-related suspensions set forth in baseball's collective bargaining agreement.

However, it seems at least possible that the Dodgers are within their rights to void the remainder of Manny's contract ... at least after Manny's 50-game suspension expires.

For more on Manny and his morals clause, see Eriq Gardner's full article on this topic.

Also, for more on the Manny fallout in general, see SportsJudge writer Rob Burckhard's column, The End to Mannywood.

First to Third: The End of Mannywood

Well, it was fun while it lasted. The honeymoon between Los Angeles and Manny Ramirez ended tragically yesterday when it was reported that Ramirez had been handed down a 50 game suspension from the commissioner's office for violating the league's performance-enhancing drug policy. The leftfield section that was branded "Mannywood" out in LA at the beginning of the season was back to being... well... the leftfield section. And, SportsJudge.com founder Marc Edelman has already written about the fantasy implications of all this.

Since February, two of the three best hitters in baseball (A-Rod, Manny and with the exception of Albert Pujols) have admitted to taking something to help their performance on the field or have failed a test. Sure Hall of Famers Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire come before them as having to deal with the stigma of being tied to PEDs. What is baseball supposed to do now? There are still 100 names left on the same list that A-Rod was on.

Baseball can't keep all of them out of Cooperstown, right? Most players who set foot on the diamond from 1993 to now will be subject to intense scrutiny, fairly or not. Baseball, though, has numerous cheaters in the Hall of Fame. Take Pud Galvin for instance, the fifth winningest pitcher of all-time. Galvin was the first player on record to use something to enhance his performance (monkey testosterone in 1889). It was in newspapers the day after he did it and no one cared. He's in the Hall. What baseball should do is acknowledge that PEDs were prevelant during this era and admit these players to the Hall because they were the best that this generation had to offer. They just can't shut out a whole era, can they?

Fantasy Baseball Dispute About Manny Ramirez? SportsJudge Has Answers

Yesterday afternoon in the Wall Street Journal Online, Nando Di Fino predicted that Manny Ramirez's 50-game drug-related suspension would lead to a wide range of fantasy baseball disputes. He also suggested that fantasy commissioners should "mosey over to a fantasy arbitration site like Sports Judge and let a detached stranger make that call on the veto for you."

And "mosey over" they did.

For the past several hours, the SportsJudge Court of Fantasy Baseball has been resolving two types of disputes involving Manny Ramirez -- (1) trade disputes; and (2) active roster disputes.

Trade Disputes Involving Manny:

The SportsJudge team has resolved a few disputes about trades involving Manny Ramirez. As we told the Wall Street Journal in an evening follow-up story, generally, trades made after the Ramirez steroids news broke Thursday were nullified. Those made before would stand. This is consistent with our previous view in the case Commissioner P.K. v. Cartman & The Atlanta Secessions, Index 409-T (June 2, 2007), which held that "a trade shall be analyzed as of the time it is consummated ... any events that emerge subsequently have no relevance."

Of course, one caveat to the general rule would be if a team that traded away Manny before the story broke had access to insider information. Another caveat would be if Manny was traded after the story broke, but at a substantial discount that factored in the knowledge of both parties.

Active Roster Disputes Involving Manny:

The SportsJudge.com team has also received a large number of disputes regarding whether teams may remove Manny Ramirez from their active roster during his suspension. Here, the SportsJudge.com Court of Fantasy Baseball had to review each league's constitution on a case-by-case basis. In leagues that do not have reserve squads or suspended lists, Manny Ramirez's fantasy owners would have to treat him just like any healthy player.

Don't like that outcome? Well, these fantasy owners should have considered the risk of this sort of suspension when drafting their league constitution. It is not as if Manny Ramirez is the first baseball player ever suspended--albeit, he is almost certainly the best player yet to take a 50-game hit.