Manny being Dirty

In case you missed it, Manny Ramirez was suspended 50 games yesterday for violating MLB's drug policy. Apparently he was caught with a female fertility drug in his system (in addition to unnatural testosterone). Manny claims his doctor prescribed him this drug for a "personal health issue".

Many were surprised at this news, and one of the reasons boiled down to this: If Ramirez was a juicer, how on earth did he manage to not get caught all of the years leading up to now? Manny may be the smartest hitter in the game, but he certainly isn't an Einstein in any other field.

I obviously have no information about Manny's past or present, but I do have a theory: Follow the money. I'm not going to say Manny never juiced as a Red Sox player, but I wil say he received new motvation to juice as a Dodger. While with Boston, Ramirez was playing under an 8-year, $160 million contract, with team options to make it a 10-year, $200 million one. You may recall that Manny acted like a spoiled teenager when the team refused to make a decision on the option before last season, all but forcing a trade to LA and voiding those team option years.

For the first time in 8 years, Manny was playing for a contract. All of a sudden, a switch flips, and Manny begins destroying the National League. Along comes the offseason, and all of a sudden, Manny's not getting many offers. He's looking for a 4-year $80-100 million deal, and no one's going above 2 years. Whether it's his age, his atrocious defense (yes, atrocious, the Monster protected Manny and made him look like merely another bad outfielder 81 times a year), or the stunts he pulled to get out of Boston, teams weren't biting. In the end, Manny signs a 1 year deal with a player option for next season.

Guess what? It's a contract year again, and with Manny running out of time to get his last big deal, there motivation to squeeze every last drop of talent out of his body that wasn't necessarily there during his first 7 years in Boston.

On the other hand, it's not like Manny was caught with simple steroids or amphetamines in his system. He was caught with a hormone that gets the body back to producing testosterone naturally after a steroid cycle. It stands to reason that to know how to use the more sophisticated stuff, you've already gotten comfortable with the simpler ways of the juice.

We'll never know if Manny became a juicer or simply got caught this season (well, unless SI gives him the ARod treatment), but his motivations certianly have shifted these last 2 seasons...unless you believe Manny isn't all about the money, and if that's true, I've got some B-12 shots and flaxseed oil to sell you.