Fear Factor: How to get rid of steroids in MLB

When it was announced last week that Robinson Cano had been suspended 80 games for using performance-enhancing drugs, the dark cloud that is steroid use once again loomed over the game of baseball. 

Cano, an established superstar and eight-time American League all-star, is just the latest of many MLB players who have been suspended for steroids over the last decade plus. Although steroid use has declined since its peak in the late 90s-to-early 2000s, the problem somehow still exists in the game. 

Why is this? How can the MLB still not find a way to stop its players from cheating? A growing opinion blames it on a lack of fear. 

"If there's no fear in the game, there's going to be no way of stopping this," said Nick Swisher on FOX. Swisher was a teammate of Cano's on the Yankees from 2009-2012. 

And he's right. If players aren't afraid of what will happen to them if they us steroids, why would they stop?  

The MLB first announced random drug testing in 2004, with a penalty of just 10 days for offenders. The policy eventually evolved over time to become more strict. 

The 50-game bans that we saw from 2006-2013 are a thing of the past, as MLB's anti-doping policy now gives out an 80-game suspension for all first-time offenders. Other than Cano, recent violators that have faced this punishment have included Ervin Santana, Dee Gordon and Starling Marte.  

Perhaps the most infamous steroids suspension to date was that of Alex Rodriguez, who missed the entire 2014 season serving a 162-game suspension. He was originally supposed to be banned for 211 games but continued to play in 2013 while appealing. The three-time MVP would return to play the season following his suspension but was chased out of the game in 2016 after a lack of production mixed with unpopular public opinion about Rodriguez (who had been accused of doping before). 

But after all this, here we are in 2018 with players still choosing to use performance-enhancing drugs. The guys who get caught are just the ones who the public is aware of. Who knows how many players continue to dope and have never, and will never, be caught. 

At this point, some guys could have passing PED tests down to a science. 

They have no fear about getting caught. Fear—we're back to that magic word that Nick Swisher and so many more have brought up. What can MLB do to strike more fear into their players? 

An 80-game suspension seems like a lot, and it is. Robinson Cano will lose $11 million while serving his suspension. However, once it is served (before the end of this season!!!) he will go right back to playing and earning the rest of the money in his massive contract. 

A half-season isn’t that long to be out of the game. It is similar to a guy having to go on the 60-day disabled list and is much shorter than the time it takes to recover from Tommy John surgery. 

A more effective policy for the league would be a suspension that will take a player out of the game for an extended period. My suggestion is that first-time offenders should be suspended for the duration of the season in progress, and all of the following season. 

For example, Cano was suspended on May 15, 2018. He would then be suspended for the rest of the 2018 season, as well as the entire 2019 season. Cano would then be permitted to return to his team on the first day of the 2020 season calendar. 

Yes, this is harsh. Extremely harsh. But why shouldn't it be? 

I'm aware that accidents can happen, and there have probably been at least a few players suspended who shouldn’t have been. But it appears that every guy who gets caught doping is a broken record—it isn't their fault. 

In the case of Cano, he said that "After undergoing dozens of drug tests over more than a decade, I have never tested positive for a performance enhancing substance for the simple reason that I have never taken one." 

Is he telling the truth? My guess is as good as yours, but every player who gets caught using steroids can't be innocent. Mark Teixeira, another former teammate of Cano's on the Yankees, said he was "not surprised" to learn of the suspension. 

Back to my new rule. 

By keeping Cano out of the game until 2020, it would not only cost him a huge amount of salary but would also put him at a disadvantage when he returned. 

Nearly two seasons is a long time to be away from the game, especially missing the entire cycle of Spring Training. However, that's what would make the rule effective. 

Players certainly wouldn't want to be away from the game that long, especially unestablished ones who do not have the luxury of a long-term contract like Cano does. If a player is in the last year of his contract and is forced to miss all of that year and the next, it would significantly hurt his free agent stock when it came time for him to seek a new contract. 

Therefore, it would create fear. 

Yes, there are flaws in this theory, in that a player being suspended in April and having to miss almost two full seasons is much different than a player being suspended at the end of September and virtually only having to miss one year. But, the rules that MLB has in place now obviously aren't deterring players from doping, so why not try something new? 

Obviously second-time offenders should be given a lifetime ban. That is 100% reasonable. Even if guys make "mistakes" and are given a second chance, there is no reason why they should be able to make the same mistake twice and continue to be able to play baseball. 

Until we can go at least a full year, hopefully more, without players getting suspended for PEDs, MLB should continue to revisit ways to keep steroids out of the game. Perhaps it's something as simple as a change in the way players are tested (but if that was the case you would think they'd have figured it out by now). 

Whatever the case, steroids make not league and the game as a whole look bad, and are a recurring problem that needs to be solved before foolish things such as pace of play.