Comments on: Romero Suspended 50 Games For ‘Negligence’ In Taking Drug

By: Jospeh Haylett

Jospeh Haylett — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 10:03:49 +0000

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By: J cole

J cole — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 03:22:45 +0000

This is amazing. Shows how great the players’ union protects it’s players (isn’t that the purpose of a union?). Having met Romero prior, I think he is as honest as possible about this. Getting two seperate opinions. If he is being punished, shouldn’t the players’ union be held responsible to some extent for leading the players to believe that those supplements were safe?
Just as a Phillies fan, I am really upset because of the great success the team had this year, and Romero had, it now has a cloud about it. It wouldn’t be philly otherwise.

By: tarheelphan

tarheelphan — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:43:23 +0000

This is indeed a tricky issue. To call these supplements “FDA-regulated” isn’t quite accurate and I feel horrible that Romero has to be the one to illustrate the gigantic black hole in regulation. Congress intentionally made it difficult for the FDA to police these supplements when they passed the DSHEA in 1994. Only AFTER one of these supplements has been shown to contain an illegal product or cause illness or death can they step in (like the supplement that killed that Orioles pitcher a few years ago). If Congress wants to have hearings, they might start with some soul searching for allowing products like 6-OXO Extreme to be on the market.

By: Mike B.

Mike B. — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:13:35 +0000

KB, you’re absolutely right. I’ve been short of temper lately, and I’m also new to the world of internet fans and sites like this. I’m sorry everyone; it doesn’t take a lot to set me off these days.

I still stand by what I said about the time Romero’s missing. 50 games is a lot for a team, but it’s not as devastating because he isn’t a position player or starting pitcher, and this year we actually have bullpen depth to counter the loss. With that said, if this suspension had come in the first fifty games of last year, the Phils would have been done.

I wonder if his missing time will mean he’s available more to pitch after his suspension. Like, instead of his normally pitching about 60 games from June to October like he did last year, I wonder if he’d still be able to pitch 70 or maybe even 80 games after he comes back because of less wear and tear on his body from not having pitched the first two months. 70 doesn’t seem unreasonable to me, as long as he keeps himself in pitching shape.

By: DAVE

DAVE — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:28:19 +0000

No, no one ever cheats. It’s always someone else’s fault. Blame MLB. Blame the drug administration. Blame the GNC store. Blame the company that made the supplement. Blame the nutritionist. Anything to shield blame away from those beloved Phillies players who can never do anything wrong or immoral.

CHEATERS!

By: rob

rob — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:10:49 +0000

One reason that performance enhancing drugs are banned in professional sports is so that young athletes don’t use them. Since 6-OXO sounds like it’s available off the shelf to just anyone and is currently completely legal, not only are Romero and the Phillies getting screwed, but the whole thing amounts to a lot of free publicity for 6-OXO.

With all this noise about it, the kids are going to sweep this stuff off the shelves! Good work keeping the kids clean, MLB!

By: NJ

NJ — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:35:33 +0000

I’m a little behind here but can someone please tell me how the suspension will hold up on appeal? If he was tested and found guilty of using a substance then legal two months before players were notifide it was band how can the suspension be held up?

If he isn’t available for the first third of the season- Joe Biemel behind Scott Eyre, problem is that creates a roster clog when Romero returns…

By: joshua

joshua — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:32:34 +0000

^^ I agree. it’s just 50 games and he’s a reliever, it shouldn’t matter much.

By: KB

KB — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:55:14 +0000

Get over yourself Mike B. If this story was about Sanchez or Feliciano, the Phils’ trolls would be all over the Mets blog saying the same things. Remember the Mets clubhouse employee that plead guilty to distributing banned substances? Yeah, the Phils trolls were coming out of the woodwork on metsblog.com. Welcome to sports fans on the Internet. Stop crying and get over it.

That said, I feel sorry for Romero. All accounts indicate he was trying to do the right thing, but didn’t take the crucial step and check with MLB. Ouch. Looks like he is being a scapegoat and that sucks.

By: Grrrumpy Miner

Grrrumpy Miner — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:21:07 +0000

Phil…first of all as a Mets fan,I have no comment on the JC Romero situation.Is he wrong? Not for me to answer for I am not a judge or jury.Bottom line,Phils have nothing to worry about.Treat this situation like an “injury” and have him do extended spring training.The Phils pen is a strong pen and will be just fine.So certain people should stop whining because it is what it is.

By: Brooks

Brooks — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:13:46 +0000

The actions of the MLBPA are unfounded, unfair. When they realized that there are some traces of banned substances on OTC supplements sold at stores to the general public, that they themselves once had sanctioned, instead of publicly accusing (by implied punishment, there is the implication of guilt) Romero of any wrong-doing, they instead should have publicly denounced this drug and privately contacted the players who were found to have used this drug alerting them of the new developments and that they should cease usage immediately or face stiff consequences. Instead, they chose the path that makes them look the ultimate fool, especially when they optioned to Romero if he admits guilt (guilt of what?) his suspension will be reduced.
How childish.
This is a man who made a decision, based on facts, based on acknowledgement from his trainers to continue a plan that would in good faith assist him in his daily training rituals. This foolishness needs to be stopped in its tracks. Bud Selig needs to be deposed and Romero exonerated. But it should not stop there. Court action should be initiated against the MLBPA policy makers for slander, even if implied.

By: Mike B.

Mike B. — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:05:03 +0000

*takes deep breath* Okay sorry about that folks. I was just blowing off some steam. But seriously, what real baseball fan would troll in another team’s blog just to cry havoc when they see a rival team’s player got suspended? Sure, I’d revel privately in whatever misfortune would befall the other team, but I’d never taunt a fan of said team – God knows they feel bad enough as it is, and we, as Phillies fans, have all been there.

But I digress. Phillies Phan SC and all of those who think J.C. will be reprieved, I don’t see that happening because a) MLB hasn’t had a name in a long time and think they need to be doing something, b) God forbid Selig actually do what’s right, but he won’t because it’ll look like he’s abandoning some principle which he claims to hold dear even though everything that happened in the 1990s suggests otherwise, and c) MLB is just going to come up with some bull**** answer that Mitre was classy and didn’t complain, and they’ll say “methinks he doth protest too much” about Romero compared to Mitre and that’ll be all the reason they need to uphold the suspension.

With that being said, 50 games isn’t as much as you think because Romero is a reliever. If it were 50 of his outings, yeah I’d be worried. If he were a position player, I’d be more worried still. But 50 games will be up on the first of June – I counted the calendar. Yeah, last April and May Romero pitched in 24 games, but it was 20 IP, and back then, we didn’t have Eyre, we still had Tom Gordon doing his best Tim Worrell/Rheal Cormier (2005 edition) impression, and Adam Eaton and Brett Myers were having a duel for the dregs. Eaton won’t be here (I hope), and as long as Myers pitches just two-thirds as well as he did after he came back up last season, we’ll be okay. We actually have a logjam of pitchers for that fifth spot in Happ, Kendrick, Chan Ho Park (was a standout for the Dodgers before getting rocked after going to Texas), and Carrasco. There would never be a better time to try these kids out. Let the race for the last spot be between those four, and the remaining three vie for Romero’s and Seanez’s old spot. The loser goes back to the minors.

By: Mike B.

Mike B. — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 10:18:46 +0000

Mark and mets09, obviously you’re all ignorant of the story if you really think this puts an asterisk next to the banner. J.C.’s named way too many names in defending himself To anyone who thinks he’s guilty, he isn’t. He’s named too many people who can corroborate his story – his nutritionist and the Phillies personal trainer – to be as easily suspected as Clemens or Bonds. I think the only person Bonds ever named was Greg Anderson, and he went in jail for not testifying against Bonds. And Clemens hired a lawyer to help clear his name – shades of O.J. trying to track down the real killers. There’s no way that either the team trainer or JC’s nutritionist would lie about the story because of the legal implications that would bring. And seriously, if you were going to try to cheat, would you really run that by the team doctor? Think rationally for once and get out of here you trolls. I’ve no respect for anyone who comes here just to cause trouble because that shows a type of illiteracy and stupidity common only to the degenerates who try to treat others like they belong in the gutter, when it is they, the classless, who have no hope of seeing anything cleaner than the dirtiest of sewers. Eat sludge.

And who can blame Romero for being upset? You’d think that your nutritionist and the team’s trainer would know what would get you in trouble.

By: Phillies Phan SC

Phillies Phan SC — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 07:44:45 +0000

SJ Mike said it best, “Sucks. Romero is responsible for his own actions, but no cheater.”

I won’t say whether he did it or not, but I will say that he is not a cheater, and I would tend to think it was negligent rather than anything. Romero had no reason to enhance his performance, and if anything, this timeframe is when he had the lousy few games. So if it was for enhancement it backfired…. I also agree that Selig is getting worse and worse and MLB did drop the ball as Tim said.

What concerns me though is that last paragraph (I will copy it in case Tim adds more)

“Considering it was the first time a banned substance was found in an FDA-regulated, over-the-counter supplement – one available to every major-leaguer and millions of youths – that should have sounded alarms. But no one from MLB, the players’ association or the Phillies told Romero that there was a problem with the supplement.”

It is for this reason that the 50 games is excessive. I see this suspension dropping some before March. Just a prediction.

By: Tim Malcolm

Tim Malcolm — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:37:39 +0000

Well it doesn’t look exactly great that Romero had a long string of successful outings in August. Still, his April was flawless, so I’m not putting much stock in that.

By: SJ Mike

SJ Mike — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:35:17 +0000

They got Sergio Mitre also for it.

By: SJ Mike

SJ Mike — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:32:47 +0000

I suspect Romero will fight it and appeal it and has a decent chance of winning. His story seems sincere and MLB is scapegoating him for their messup and confusion.

By: Tim Malcolm

Tim Malcolm — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:31:38 +0000

This isn’t about the others. It’s about Romero and Romero only.

If you’re gonna throw everyone else in there, then you’re talking about everyone in baseball. So I’m just gonna throw out your statements now.

By: Tomato

Tomato — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:31:16 +0000

This plus Burrell’s deal make this a really bad day for Phillies fans.

By: T Marty

T Marty — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 06:30:16 +0000

This just suckin’ sucks. All i can say about this past season was “They” couldn’t take this away from us (WFC), we could always say 2008 was OUR year. i don’t blame J.C. , i read all i could, and so, i assume no one else in baseball has taken this.. furthermore it was in a store. Ugh, this just tarnishes The Perfect Season. So Upset.