Volquez Does The Crime, But Not The Time

Imagine being back at high school. It’s the last day of term and you set off all the fire alarms. The principal reads you the riot act, and suspends you for two weeks. But since it’s the last day, you get to serve the suspension during spring break, and so don’t miss a single day of school.

↵Make no sense? It does if you’re a major-league baseball player. The Reds’ Edinson Volquez failed a drug test, and was suspended for fifty games - however, the suspension starts immediately, while he is on the disabled list, recovering from Tommy John surgery. So Volquez will not actually miss throwing a single pitch due to his “fertility treatment” [and if you believe this... I’ll save that for another day].

↵He will not be paid during the suspension, losing a not-insignificant amount, about $137,000, but the core fact is that he is getting off with a significantly lighter punishment than others convicted of the same offense. It’s interesting to contrast this with Cliff Lee’s since-revoked suspension for throwing at Chris Snyder’s head - if that had been upheld, it would have begun on his return from the DL. What makes failing a drug test any different?

↵One MLB official said that “the league does not want to be involved with making medical determinations of who is fit to play and who isn’t..” But as Jim Gardner pointed out, there is obvious potential for abuse. If a player knows he’ll be out for the next few months, he can basically take whatever substance he wants, because any suspension won’t impact the date on which he returns to the majors.

↵Although Volquez is not the first major-leaguer to benefit from this loophole, while it remains unplugged, it’s another reason to doubt any pronouncements regarding the toughness of MLB’s policy.