From the Windup: Manny Ramirez 'Rehab' Assignment a Farce

From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.

Manny Ramirez was suspended without pay for 50 games for violating Major League Baseball's drug policy earlier this season. This isn't news. His 50 games will be concluded within the next two weeks. In the meantime, he's two games into a rehab assignment with Triple-A Albuquerque. Wait, what? A guy tested positive for a banned substance, is forced to miss 50 games, but he's allowed to play for a major league affiliated organization?

It's in the collective bargaining agreement at the request of the MLBPA. The theory is that if a player has to sit out for 50 games, he won't return in tip-top game shape and then, by the time he gets his timing back, it's more like a 60-game suspension.

My response to that? Don't test positive for a banned substance.

The purpose of a rehab assignment is for a player to work his body back into game shape after suffering an injury. Muscles need to be retrained, players need to make sure their injuries are completely healed and, yes, they need to get their timing back. Here's the thing, though, even when returning from injury, some players don't take rehab assignments and there is a maximum amount of games in which players can "rehab." The timing issue is the biggest one for injured players because they have been sitting around not playing baseball.

Manny isn't injured -- unless a permanent head injury counts -- and he should have been keeping himself in shape on his own. Without any physical ailments, he could have been working out and taking batting practice everyday. And he should have, in order to ensure he can immediately help the team he's abandoned by getting himself suspended.

Instead, he's been granted a vacation and a 10-game period in which he can play his way back into shape. And make no mistake about it, a man with the God-given ability to hit a baseball like Manny doesn't need more time than that. He could have traveled around the world for the first 40 games of his suspension and had himself ready to immediately help the Dodgers' lineup due to this "rehab" clause.

So there's your punishment. You get a 40-game vacation and then get 10 games to work yourself back into game shape, all the while being treated like some deity in the minors.

Obviously, when I mention the word vacation, there will be those who flock to the monetary argument. Manny has lost about $800,000 in wages due to the suspension. Well, his total contract with the Dodgers is worth approximately $42 million. Because of all the deferred money, his technical salary for this season was to be $10 million. Thus, his hit was pretty significant. To put in in the easiest terms for most of us to understand, that would be like having to forfeit $8,000 of a $100,000 salary or $4,000 of a $50,000 salary. I mean, it's not crippling or anything, but any one of us would feel an eight percent hit in income. Let us remember, though, it's not as though someone wrongfully took this away from him. He wasn't robbed at gunpoint. He tested positive for a banned substance. Again: Don't test positive. Plus, I'm pretty sure he'll be fine putting food on the table with $9.2 million for the 2009 fiscal year. Just a hunch.

Another element that bothers me in this whole fiasco is the notion that it's going to take him so long to get back into hitting shape. Manny has plenty of resources at his disposal. He could take 200 hacks off a tee and 200 more off a pitching machine everyday during the suspension to keep his swing consistent. He can hire someone to pitch to him -- at which point he can stay sharp against breaking pitches and changing speeds. Obviously, there is no substitute for an actual game, but, again, don't test positive. I don't feel sorry for someone who brazenly flaunts the rules of the game.

Additionally, it's not going to take Manny too long to feel comfortable in the batter's box. I often laugh about how obvious it is that people haven't played baseball at a high level when making statements that without a rehab assignment it's like a 60-game suspension. You give someone with the talent level of Manny Ramirez four to five at-bats a day for 10 games, and that's like a suspension? He'll be comfortable in the box within four games, tops. You watch, he's about to explode in the minors. By the time he rejoins the Dodgers, he'll be on fire.


And that's the problem. A player tests positive for a banned substance when the players are doing everything they can to convince the masses the game is clean, and the player is given a soft landing as his suspension concludes so he has every chance to become a hero again.

I'm not arguing that a rule is being broken. I'm arguing that the rule sucks. There isn't any better way to phrase it. As a collective entity, the players association has grandstanded and talked a big game about how much they want to clean up the game in recent years. They did allow the first-time suspension to be extended all the way to 50 games instead of 10 (the original punishment), so they are to be commended for that. But if they are so serious about cleaning up the sport, why the soft landing? Make the player suffer through any growing pains at the major league level, not against a bunch of Triple-A players. When he complains he needs this time, otherwise it will feel like a 60-game suspension and that's just not fair, tell him three things: 1) Life ain't fair; 2) Don't test positive; and 3) You're getting paid -- so it's not a suspension.

Not this player's union. Nope, they are making their stand this way:

Don't break the rules. Don't worry about it If you do, though, because we got your back.

Gotta love the accountability. I guess it's still an old boys' club after all. Here I thought they wanted to clean up the game for the fans.