J.C. Romero Banned 50 Games Because He Can't Read Minds

Major League Baseball kills me sometimes. They want to get tough on enhancing your performance through drug use, but then a player does his due diligence only to get clipped because the league changes the list of banned substances without giving players enough notice or grace period. Take the case of J.C. Romero, who has found himself stuck with a 50-game ban ... not for cheating, but for "negligence".

Three months after Romero was tested before a Phillies-Mets game on Aug. 26, the players' association sent a Nov. 21 letter to players that stated, "We have previously told you there is no reason to believe a supplement bought at a U.S. based retail store could cause you to test positive under our Drug Program. That is no longer true. We have recently learned of three substances which can be bought over the counter at stores in the United States that will cause you to test positive. These three supplements were purchased at a GNC and Vitamin Shoppe in the U.S."

So what Major League Baseball is saying is this: "J.C., we told you the rules and you followed the rules. But because we just found these substances now we're going to ban you. Sorry, you should have read our minds even before these new substances were even in our minds." So who are the negligent ones here? The player for doing what he's told? Or the MLB machine for changing the rules in the middle of the game and then handing out retroactive punishment? It's the World Series rain delay all over again.

Arm bash: The 700 Level