Jeremy Jeffress Suspended!

Serious, yes.
How serious?
It's relative now isn't, yet

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I wish I didn't know now what I didn't know then
I wish I could start this whole thing over again

Here's the story from Baseball America. It sounds more like a recreational drug, but who knows. Whatever the case, hopefully he gets things together off the field.

Brewers’ Jeffress Suspended
Posted Aug. 30, 2007 7:21 pm by John Manuel
Filed under: Suspensions

The Brewers’ top three prospects entering the year were Yovani Gallardo–check–Ryan Braun–check–and Will Inman, since traded to the Padres. No. 4 was Jeremy Jeffress, the flamethrowing prep righthander whom the Brewers drafted in the first round in 2006.

Now Jeffress, who was finishing his first full season at low Class A West Virginia, has been suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball after testing positive for a drug of abuse in violation of the minor league drug prevention and treatment program. Jeffress was 9-5, 3.13, and had struck out 95 in 86 innings for the Power. West Virginia is headed for the South Atlantic League playoffs, and Jeffress was slated to be the team’s No. 2 starter.

“It’s a very unfortunate thing,’” Power pitching coach John Curtis told the Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette. “We’re very concerned about him. Whatever the suspension is for, hopefully it’s getting better and he can come back and be a better human being and a better pitcher.”

Jeffress is the second high-profile pitching prospect suspended this year for a drug of abuse, following Twins righthander Anthony Swarzak.

quote:

50 games is a pretty steep suspension so this must have been something pretty serious.

That's the automatic suspension for first time offenders.

I thought that was the steroids rule. Does that apply to other "drugs of abuse", like amphetamines, etc.?

quote:

Originally posted by Midlo Dad:
I thought that was the steroids rule. Does that apply to other "drugs of abuse", like amphetamines, etc.?

The way I understand it is no matter what is in your system, if you flunk the test, it's 50 games.

If I'm wrong, I'm sure someone will let us know.

MLB's definition of "Drugs of Abuse". I can't tell how old this is, and although there is a section on punishment, it seems to specify punishment for a positive steroid test. I was also under the impression that the 50 game suspension was steroid specific. I just remembered that Neifi Perez was suspended for amphetamines. He has been suspended twice. His first suspension was for 25 games and followed his 2nd positive test. The second suspension was for 80 games. Apparently the first failed test gets you a warning.


2. DRUGS OF ABUSE AND STEROIDS
All Players shall be prohibited from using, possessing, selling, facilitating the sale of, distributing, or facilitating the distribution of any Drug of Abuse and/or Steroid (collectively referred to as “Prohibited Substances”).
A. Drugs of Abuse
Any and all drugs or substances included on Schedule II of the Code of Federal Regulations’ Schedule of Controlled Substances (“Schedule II”), as amended from time to time, and all Schedule I drugs listed on Addendum B attached hereto, as amended from time to time, shall be considered Drugs of Abuse covered by the Program. The following substances and their analogs are covered by the Program, their Schedule classification notwithstanding:
1. Cocaine
2. LSD
3. Marijuana
4. Opiates (e.g., Heroin, Codeine, Morphine)
5. MDMA (“Ecstasy”)
6. GHB
7. Phencyclidine (“PCP”)
8. Ephedra


http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/downloads/joint_drug_prevention_...ent_program_2005.pdf

I believe Perez is/was in the majors.

I was referring to the minor league drug policy which, I think, is an automatic 50 game suspension for first time offense and 100 games for second offense.

I also believe the minors test for many more substances than the majors.

quote:

Originally posted by FrankF:
I believe Perez is/was in the majors.

I was referring to the minor league drug policy which, I think, is an automatic 50 game suspension for first time offense and 100 games for second offense.

I also believe the minors test for many more substances than the majors.

Good points, I always forget that the rules are different for major and minor leaguers.

Has anyone ever heard what "drug of abuse" was involved?

Hopefully this is a step of the right direction for Jeffress.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=723213

Have heard through the grapevine that the recreational drug was marijuana. And it has been an issue in the past.

As per the rules the team is not allowed to reveal the name the drug

Since he's come clean about it publicly, I guess that doesn't matter any more. The good news is, he's fessed up and hopefully is genuinely cleaning up. You just hate to see a kid with all that potential squander it. Hopefully this means he won't be squandering it, but getting back on the road to success.

Then he could be a good role model for how to clean up your act and go onward and upward.

Well, so much for those hopes.

http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/messages/chrono/15760050

Looks like he's determined to self destruct.

It is too bad what the cheaters have done to baseball. No number from the steroid era matters. This year's A-Rod numbers, this year's David Ortiz numbers, this year's . . . are the numbers that count. McGwire, Sosa, Bonds, A-Rod, Manny . . . The "great hitters" of the last 20 years are all in doubt, at the very least. What are we to make of Ibanez, Pujols, and Howard? I know, I know, there was recent controversy when a blogger asked that question of Ibanez, but it is a question that is begged by the evidence. The fan should trust no one, and unless he has a stake in the game, he may want to consider taking up the PGA Tour as his spectator sport of choice. It may be the last refuge of the drug-free athlete (though I am sure we could dig up some dirt there, too).

MLB, the NFL, the NBA . . . are all pretty much a joke right now, full of the best athlete's money can buy and drugs can build. Ugly. If Pete Rose can be banned for his misdeeds, which may or may not have had a direct impact on the outcome of games, then any drug cheater should be banned from the game, as their cheating, if they played, definitely had a direct impact on the outcome of games.

Easy, Hobbs! Let's not forget that amphetamines have been used for YEARS, and Mike Schmidt admitted using them. There have ALWAYS been guys who have "cheated". Part of the problem is our elevation of these guys to god-like beings. They're kids, in many ways, just trying to compete. If it is all about the money then we would NEVER find them in college and high schools, yet we do every day. It's about wanting to win at all costs, not just about the money. As for non-performance enhancing drugs, who cares? No one tests our congressmen, doctors, or judges. Why are professional athletes being held to a higher standard than the average Joe? We have guys creating our foreign policy who aren't tested, but a guy who "hits a ball real good and stuff" needs to be off of the weed? It just seems silly to me.

While smoking marijuana might be illegal... Is there anyway that it could be considered a performance enhancer?

Jeremy is not cheating baseball, he is cheating himself.

That said, it would be very interesting to know how many professional athletes have smoked marijuana. I'm afraid if we added that to the mix, there would have been many more suspensions involving star athletes.

Baseball needs to clean up the most urgent concerns involving PEDs. (IMO) They could easily handle things like marijuana or alcohol abuse, in house, without making a national example of someone and 100 game suspensions.

In the meantime I hope Jeremy quits smoking that stuff! He is a good kid and has a lot of talent and needs to figure this out.

Man, 100 games is a lot. The next time it's all over!

Yes, let's clarify, both issues were with marijuana and not PED's or anything like that.

I would bet a huge % of pro players have used marijuana at one time or another, or regularly for that matter. After all, a large % of people in the age 18-35 cohort do, and I wouldn't expect ball players to be any different.

I don't know that I agree with MLB's policy insofar as it treats marijuana on par with PED's. What's next, under age drinking? Or "of age" alcoholism or DUI's? All are against the law, after all.

The two things that come to my mind, though, are (1) proponents of legalization of marijuana are always saying it's not addictive, but (2) despite that, Jeffress returned to use even after being suspended once and knowing that he was being tested periodically and thus risking the 100-game suspension. Man, you've got to want it pretty bad to take a high risk gamble like that.

I'm no psychologist, but I've seen people who seem determined to mess themselves up in life many times, and this fits that pattern. I don't understand what makes people do these things, but I know that there are people who seem determined to self destruct.

I guess what I would tell Jeremy is, the next time you feel you need help to unwind, have a beer or two (but then stop). He's 21 now, so that should be OK with everyone. The lifetime ban may be a stupid policy but you don't want to become the poster child for getting it changed. I doubt very seriously that at this stage of the game, Bud Selig wants to be out there championing fourth chances for marijuana users.

That's a real shame re: Jeremy Jeffress. I would argue that marijuana is more of a performance handicap than an enhancement, but to risk your career just seems crazy.

Captain: Yes, amphetamines have been around in the game for many years, and yes, they do enhance performance to some extent (though in a very limited way when compared with the impact of steroids and HGH on performance). Remember Bret Boone, Brady Anderson, and that whole host of 189 pound-one-year-and-220 pounds-the-next-year wonders? Use, perform, collect. That is, use PEDs, perform as you have never performed before, and collect the big, free-agent payday. Who cares what happens after that? The game from about 1990 to 2005 was all fraud. The dominant players of the era either have been proven to have used, or face strong evidence of having used, PEDs. Anyone hitting like Ibanez is this year, after his record over his career, will face these questions. No one should trust baseball again--ever.

My comments had to do with PEDs, but as for marijuana use, it does cheat the game. A player who uses it cannot possibly perform at his natural peak levels. It impacts the respiratory and circulatory systems, and it clearly impacts the brain. A player who uses it cheats those who expect him to be mature and professional enough to assume the responsibility to being at his best at all times. That is what being a professional player is all about. And no one can tell me that our major college athletes in football, basketball, and more and more, baseball, are not professionals. To argue point that would be laughable.

Marijuana use is a criminal offense. Until the laws are changed, it should be enforced as such. It is a terrible thing that these people think that they are above the law because they are athletes. Their use leads to use by others. Kids think that if a pro athlete can perform on drugs, then they can, too. Wasn't it Doc Ellis who claimed he pitched a no-hitter or something like that while on LSD? Wow, like that is some sort of badge of honor. It is a disgrace, and he should be ashamed.

Ultimately, this is ALL ABOUT THE MONEY. It always will be. Big time money invaded college sports long ago, and it has taken over the games. College football and basketball were lost long ago. Baseball will follow soon enough, as ESPN and its advertisers take control of the College World Series. There is alot of money to be made in college baseball, and it can only corrupt the game itself (what is the root of all evil?).

So before all this money "invaded" sports, no one used performance enhancing drugs? It has been around the Olympics FOREVER, and there has never been much money in advertising for archers and weightlifters. The point I am trying to make is that we will NEVER rid any sport of PEDs. The testing and rules are a joke. Since the drugs stay ahead of the testing, we are treating this like we treat laws against texting while driving and wearing a seatbelt. They are "feel good" laws.

As for drugs in general, many of our HOFs were alcoholics. Babe Ruth drank beer during prohibition, so using many folks' logic, he should be treated as a deadbeat drug user. It was illegal, just like pot, yet no one cared and he became an American hero! So the difference between this kid and Babe Ruth is that marijuana hasn't been legalized yet, right?

Many athletes are young people who make mistakes, end of story. Trying to hold them to a higher standard than other kids is an effort in futility. I attended W&M with tons of kids who smoked pot, and many of them are doctors, lawyers, and businessmen. I guess their parents should be ashamed of them since they ruined their lives. Think of how successful they would be if they hadn't smoke pot.

captain--have fun with all that relativism.

Certainly! You have fun constantly being let down by a society which is imperfect. So, you didn't like the Babe Ruth argument? He should have been in jail along with half of baseball at the time, don't you think? You're probably right, absolutism is much healthier.

Many if not most of the Old Timers in the HOF cheated in one form or another not to mention other crimes


Marijuana is a recreational drug which is on the list

Elements in many over the counter as well as prescription drugs are banned--waivers can be gotten for these instances---I know I have been on precription steriods in heavy enough doses that if I were tested I would fail.

I have a question: are the pro leagues, MLB, MILB, NBA, NFL and NBA educating the incoming players well enough ?

Also many of these drugs are legal , some even over the counter, in homelands of the foreign players

Seems to me that you either use the drugs or you don't (sort of like the proverbial, you are pregnant or you aren't--you can't be sort of pregnant). If the law or baseball regulations prohibit the use of a substance, then a player who uses it violates the law or the regulations. It is black or white, not gray. So what if you have an entire history of law-breakers, violators, and cheaters--it does not make cheating or breaking the law right today.

I'd say, yes, throw out all the cheats and law-breakers. Don't idolize them. Let those who can abide by the law set the example for the next generation.

Have we become such a weak people that we ignore criminal misconduct and cheating?

There used to be an old Steve Martin joke about how to control the feared population explosion: "Death penalty for parking violations."

The point being, we should punish misconduct, but you have to keep the punishment proportional to the offense.

I personally don't see why baseball needs to punish marijuana use more so than what the criminal justice system does. What is baseball's interest? Perhaps the team has an interest, if it feels the player gave less than 100% in exchange for his paycheck, but that is a matter that could be resolved by standard contract language. There's just no reason for baseball to add to what the courts do.

PED's are different, because in addition to being a crime, there is an impact on the game itself and the integrity of wins, losses, statistics, etc.

So, I disagree with MLB imposing mandatory suspensions for the kind of thing that gets other people a misdemeanor conviction and a few weeks of community service. We don't need MLB to be our police. In fact, if our elected legislatures set punishments where they think they are sufficient, who asked MLB to step in and make the punishment way out of proportion to the offense?

That being said, whether or not the rules are just or fair, if you know what the rules are and you violate them anyway, you dug your own grave.

Next time, Jeremy, just have a beer or two.

Didn't Geovany Soto of the Cubs use marijuana during the World Baseball Classic? This was during one of the largest national events, I don't believe anything happened to him however... Is the MLB policy flawed?

I think the MiLB policy is stiffer than the MLB policy right now, due to collective bargaining. I think the Commissioner's office is trying to acclimate players to stiffer drug testing from the bottom up, and in all likelihood this will be a big issue when they renegotiate in 2011.

Exactly, Midlo! Society tells us what is "acceptable" or not. Drinking alcohol was once illegal, but society told us, "Nah, don't worry about that law. It's stupid." MLB is telling us that beating one's wife is not as important as smoking marijuana. Others include, tax evasion, throwing at batters' heads, drunk driving, etc. We want to act "holier than thou" when it comes to marijuana, stimulants ('illegal coffee'), and other non-PEDs, but MLB tends to slap the wrists of wife/mistress beaters and drunks. I would MUCH rather see baseball suspend players for hitting women or driving drunk over suspending them for smoking pot or using amphetamines. If Brett Myers hits his wife in the face he gets nothing, but if he smokes some weed he gets a suspension. What are we really trying to teach kids?

This is not a zero sum game. We are not limited to punishing EITHER wife beating or marijuana use. We CAN choose to regulate BOTH.

Sure, there is a graduated punishment scale proportionate to each specific offense. But this is a matter of policy that may be changed (as both Midlo and Captain point out). I am saying that it makes sense to punish both the marijuana law-breaker AND the PED user. The marijuana law-breaker may not enhance his performance, but his performance is affected by his marijuana use. Therefore, it has an impact on the game. Among the offenses discussed here, only wife-beating and drunk driving would seem to have little, if any, impact on the game (you can argue that both have a psychological impact and could have a physiological impact if, say, the wife beater broke his hand when hitting his wife). But why not punish all of these offenses (yes, punish them aside from what society does for the law-breaking)?

This is not about being holier than thou. Absolutely, we all sin. But no one is holding me out as a paragon of virtue for kids to emulate. My photo is not plastered all over baseball cards and magazines and newspapers. Parents don't spend $300 to take their kids to see me work. Part of the deal for these prima donnas is that they accept the limelight. If they commit a crime, why should MLB want them? If I commit a crime, does my boss want me around? It seems to me that any employer would not want a criminal running around the clubhouse, representing the team to the public.

Take Manny Ramirez. A 50 game suspension. A loss of income for a time. But he comes back and is hailed as a Dodger messiah and the fans bow down, Joe Torrey bows down, and the media bow down. Yet, nothing he has accomplished or will accomplish in baseball is without stain and taint. He cheated, just like Sosa, McGwire, and Bonds. His accomplishments are just as meaningless.

A professional athlete is, by nature, an example for youth. Please don't put my grandchildren in the position of having the media tell them how great a marijuana user is. It is bad enough that our President was a cocaine user. Do we have to tell our grandchildren that athletes who use drugs are great?

I am wondering when BB teams will start taking civil action to recover money from these offenders. draft a guy high and he turns out to be a junky. They wasted a draft opportunity on a guy who gets suspended. Wonder if there is a legal argument there ?

Please leave our President out of this discussion. That was a cheap shot.

People don't see Manny as a cheater because he used a womens fertility drug... The common fan has no idea if it helps or not.

rhobbs

There is areal world outside---you might want to visit it

The rules may be black and white. Fair enough. Any player should be familiar with the rules and the consequences. But the severity of the offenses are not equal -- shades of gray abound. Should youthful experimentation forever ruin a career? We are living in a bubble if we don't think kids will experiment. I'm not condoning it. Jeremey Jeffress obviously has a greater problem than mere experimentation.

Anyway, here's a little story about one of baseball's greats. A friend of mine was 10 years old, attending a Washington Senators game. Mickey Mantle was hanging around the fence. My friend had his card and asked for an autograph. Mickey Mantle looked at him and said "Get lost kid." My friend got rid of every Mickey Mantle card he had. Didn't take much to change his opinion of a great player.

He probably had a real bad hangover that day.

Exactly Midlo Dad. A REAL bad hangover.

Hobbs, you are missing the point. You can tell YOUR grandkids whatever you think is right... I will too! My point is that SOCIETY, the sports world, media, tells us all we need to know about these athletes and these offenses. We can say we are "cracking down", but no one asked any questions when the records were falling all around us. We didn't care.

We can say that pot smokers are of little moral character, but society doesn't punish these guys. It's a joke anymore, just like alcohol consumption became a joke. Once again, you can preach whatever you want to your family. I would rather my kids have a realistic view of society and sports, and these athletes ARE GREAT at their craft. Elvis was evil, dancing was evil, alcohol was evil, homosexuality is evil, marijuana is evil, yet we had Elvis, had Babe, have Luganis, have Bob Dylan and the Beatles, etc. These are not bad people, and if people really cared about "evil" deeds, THESE people woundn't have become famous.

And any father who says, "You should be like (fill in the blank)" is making an egregious mistake. It is why I don't have autographs, didn't have posters on my wall, and couldn't have cared less about meeting Jerry West, Barry Bonds, etc. People often let you down, and my dad was my idol. Oh yeah, my dad turned down a trip to Woodstock to SURF... Don't think for a second that it didn't occur to me as I got older that my parents, who met in high school, "waited", or that my dad never smoked pot. I'll still never be the man my father is.

Enjoyed the banter, rhobbs! Yes, I am incorrigible, I know. My wife makes sure I know!

Hey I once turned down an invite by the Rolling Stones to a house party when I sold guitars in Harrods. I wonder what went on there.