April 1st, 2025

Another season, another casualty. Jurickson Profar has been suspended 80 games for testing positive for performance- enhancing drugs. More specifically it was a type of substance that tries to mask the presence of other banned substances. I guess we can take a long look at his 2024 season and question whether he was using the substances last year. Was his breakout season even deserved in the first place? It was a walk year for him and he could have been boosting his numbers for a bigger paycheck.

I am pretty fed up with these players getting away with this. I know they are not paid during their suspensions but I feel like it is time to increase the penalties for these jokes we call honorable athletes. Teams are created by the front office and their analytics team and all of their hard work can be thrown away by the selfish actions of an individual player. Some may view a half-season ban as a worthy penalty but I think it should be a full season and that’s the Strike 1. Two strikes and you are out for good. No questions. That’s all, folks.

The Braves looked like a pretty well-rounded team with Profar’s resurgence filling the void left by Ronald Acuna’s injury. I had them picked to win the National League East Division. It is a slap in the face to the organization and the fans when they get caught cheating. The real casualties in these penalties are the fans. Selfish players looking for money while breaking the rules. If Rob Manfred could deliver a respectable punishment, we would not have these issues. His ego must be enormous. He kicked Trevor Bauer out the league for challenging him when it came to pitchers using illegal substances to create spin that the Houston Astros were clearly getting away with. It is time to start the real punishment against these players that choose to cheat. Start kicking players out for the right reasons.