maybe we will know more when Manny has a press conference this afternoon. Will Carroll is reporting that this violation falls under the “other” category in the drug policy, whereby the commissioner can suspend at his discretion. Carroll thinks it fits the profiles of a suspension without a positive drug test.

Based on what has been said, it could be a prescription of a banned substance for a medical condition, but that Manny failed to get a therapeutic waiver from MLB.

Yahoo has the rumor (this sound pretty crazy) that it is a drug (not Viagra or the like) prescribed for a sexual dysfunction.

really big power spikes across a long period of time, combined with clear evidence of steroid abuse. And – this is the key – it has to be unattributable to park effects and the general trend in baseball towards better power numbers. That’s what makes proving anything so difficult, because power numbers spike so frequently, anyways, and there has been a league-wide trend towards bigger numbers. If that’s because of steroids, then anything will be difficult to prove, but, if not, then it shouldn’t be.

Interestingly, I’ve read one guy who claims that adjusted power stats show a general decrease in power over the last generation.

that’s a quality pic

and that’s an issue, albeit a lesser one. That bothers me, too, but not to the same extent.

then explain why players would take steroids if they didn’t even know what affect they have?

Because they’re stupid. Ballplayers believe a lot of wrong things – fastballs don’t really “rise,” and groundballs with topspin don’t speed up when they hit turf. They could be just as wrong about steroids.

They help you recover from injuries faster, let you play a high level longer.

They might help you do that. But if they do, why should we deny athletes medicine that would help them recover from their injuries? Should we ban Tommy John surgery, too?