Suspended Melky Could Still Win Batting Title

Melky Cabrera was on pace to have the best season of his career. He was the All-Star Game MVP and was, leading the NL Battle Title race. Then he tested positive for having too much testosterone in his body, and he was suspended 50 games. Testosterone is not a steroid nor a 'performance enhancing drug.' Testosterone is already in the body, and the MLB allows players to go over the normal amount by four times. Cabrera eclipsed the allowed amount and was suspended the 50 games time first-time offenders get. At the time, Cabrera had a league-leading .346 average, that number still stands as the best in the National League and commissioner Bud Selig came out today and said if nobody passes him the league would not prevent him from winning the title. Some people are obviously up-in-arms about the possibility of a 'cheater' winning the batting title.

What people don't know is that testosterone is not usually used to build muscle. Art Wellersdick of Bleacher Report wrote a wonderful article last month on the topic of testosterone use in the major leagues. He says that players use testosterone in the form of cream for recuperative purposes. He says the cream is used after the game to speed up the recovery process of the body. The testosterone boost that the body receives from the cream is only temporary. This means that the effects of the boost are not seen in an actual game. We as fans don't know when or how much of this cream Melky Cabrera, if he did use cream. We also don't know when the drug tests are in the MLB, either, considering they are random, and, well, not knowing is kind of the point

A quick Google search of Cabrera's injuries shows that he injured his hamstring a month prior to testing positive. Could he have been using the extra testosterone to help get his hammy back to 100%? Possibly. He could also been using extra testosterone the entire year. We simply don't know the facts, and you can't throw stones at something you can't see. What we do know is that Cabrera tried to fake a prescription to avoid the 50-game suspension. This is something that we can throw stones at.

Cabrera's elaborate plan to create a website for a fake drug that he had a prescription for was both stupid and desperate. It tells us that he knew he was taking too much testosterone and that he tried to have a plan in place if he were to get caught. I find this to be worse than the actual use of extra testosterone. Every player is allowed to use testosterone boosts barring the don't go over a 4-1 ratio, and so Cabrera using a little extra is not much of a problem. Trying to cover up the fact that he was breaking the rules shows that he was intentionally breaking the rules. It's one thing to have too much testosterone one time, on one test, and fail it, but it's completely different to fail a test and have a fake website in place to defend yourself.

I believe that Cabrera was using testosterone was its normal purpose of recuperation. Melky Cabrera has always been a big man that just never took working out seriously. If you don't believe me, ask the Yankees and Braves. This leads me to believe that if he took the weight room seriously he would not need extra testosterone to get bigger. His power numbers were not high went he was suspended either, which is another indication he wasn't using an outside source to become bigger. This means that what he did on the field is legitimate and he should win the batting title if no one passes him. It is unfortunate that he tried to cover up the entire thing, but lying should not be a cause to strip him of his on-field accomplishments. Yes, in a few weeks the season will end with Cabrera suspended, but being suspended doesn't vacate your statistics, and his stats could make him the NL Batting Champion.

Reference

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8399074/san-francisco-giants-melky-cabrera-likely-barred-national-league-batting-title
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1309550-why-criticizing-testosterone-use-in-mlb-is-hypocritical-and-ignorant
http://www.rotoworld.com/recent/mlb/489/melky-cabrera
http://aol.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2012-08-19/melky-cabrera-fake-website-ped-suspension-testosterone-giants