Phillies Bullpen Takes a Big Hit...

[JMU DJ]

J.C. Romero has officially been suspended for 50 games next season for testing positive for a banned substance... xnonono2x

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/28515597/

[bluehenbillk]

Sounds like a pile of crap, I can't see how this would hold up in a court if it went that route. "Yea, you can take the stuff, and then oops we know you already took it but it's illegal now"????

[whitey]

CHEATERS!!!!

just kidding. Sounds like Romero got the extremely raw end of the deal on this one. Unbelievable that MLB can be so stubborn with some of this ****.

[JMU DJ]

Yeah... I always thought a banned substance was something you needed to have your trainer obtain from Balco or oversees and personally inject into your arse while saving the needles and DNA samples for future litigation not something you can buy over the counter from GNC.

[93henfan]

Romero is paying the price for baseball's complete ineptitude. Selig let half the league juice from the mid-90s through the early 2000s, allowing decades old records to be broken, in the name of boosting ratings/attendance. Then he gets some heat from Congress and FINALLY institutes something resembling a drug policy. Now baseball appears to be overenforcing, leaving common sense by the wayside, just so it can say "See, we're enforcing now!".

Again, we're all just speculating at this point. Let's see what the real story is once it's finally released.

50 games is a helluva suspension. We'll be one middle reliever down until almost June.xeekx

[GannonFan]

Geez, what an embarassment for baseball and the player's association. They tell these guys that what they are using is fine, then later it comes out that what they used wasn't fine, and then they decide to come down hard on the guys and hit them with a 50 game suspension, just so they look like they are treating the drug-issue seriously. And it's 50 games rather than 25 because Romero said he wouldn't claim it was his fault. Only a sport run by Selig could be screwed up in this manner. And I thought the player's union in baseball was fairly strong. xrotatehx

[aust42]

Romero is paying the price for baseball's complete ineptitude. Selig let half the league juice from the mid-90s through the early 2000s, allowing decades old records to be broken, in the name of boosting ratings/attendance. Then he gets some heat from Congress and FINALLY institutes something resembling a drug policy. Now baseball appears to be overenforcing, leaving common sense by the wayside, just so it can say "See, we're enforcing now!".

Again, we're all just speculating at this point. Let's see what the real story is once it's finally released.

50 games is a helluva suspension. We'll be one middle reliever down until almost June.xeekx

Aren't you being a bit harsh on Selig? Didn't the Players Association resist implementing drug testing for years? I never understood all the hubub of the "steroid era" of MLB. Athletes have been using steroids since it was first synthesized in the 1930's. If anyone thinks baseball players just started using steroids in the mid 90's because their precious home run records were broken their naive. Baseball should have dealt with it like the NFL did. The NFL acknowledged steroid use, banned it, implemented policies, testing and penalties for non compliance and that was it. No one cared. MLB made a big fiasco of it, by keeping it in the headlines for half a year, resisted calls for banning and testing and then Congress gets involved. Just ridiculous. xoopsx

[ngineer]

I don't the loss of JC for 50 or less ( I believe it will be reduced) games is huge. A middle reliever is a lot easier to replace than a closer or set up man. I think they'll be able to plug the hole adequately until he returns.

[whitey]

I don't think MLB will reduce the suspension. Have they reduced a performance enhancing drug suspension before? I can't recall them doing that.

That said, missing a lefty reliever for 50 games shouldn't be a major issue. There are more arms out there and surely the Phillies have a couple lefty relievers in AAA (either rookies or re-treads) that will have the opportunity to step up the first couple months of the season.

[JMU DJ]

We shall see... I think... along with numerous other, that Romero is getting hosed here. If they can overturn the supplement suspensions in the NFL, perhaps they can use the same argument here. Yes, middle relief is easier to replace than a starting pitcher or a Chase Utley, but Romero is an elite middle relief pitcher. He was one of the keys in the "bridge to lidge." It's a big loss for a bullpen that was one of the best in the MLB last season. I believe the phillies can find an adequate replacement, but will he be a Romero? When our bullpen came in with the lead, I was rarely scared (except for the Flash Gordon episodes) that the pitchers were going to blow the game.

[GannonFan]

In the end, he'll be back by June 1st (that's when the 50 games is up). Sure it's a big loss, but it's just two months and he'll be plenty rested to go the rest of the way. And he only misses one series of interleague and only misses 5 Mets games. The Phils will be just fine.

[ngineer]

I see Happ or Kendrick possilby getting used there. And Eyre (sp?) they picked up late last year from the Cubs could help alot.