A season removed from their own star slugger being popped for PED usage, the Texas Rangers met with player union officials on Monday in Surprise, Ariz., to discuss several topics with perhaps the most notable one being penalties for PED users.
Two Rangers made their stance clear, as relief pitcher Jason Frasor and new backup catcher J.P. Arencibia both said they'd support stiffer penalties for players found guilty of PED use. Currently, a first-time offender gets 50 games (see Nelson Cruz), while a second-time offender gets 100 games (see Manny Ramirez) and a third-time offender gets a lifetime ban from the game.
“Heck yeah, I want them stricter,” Arencibia told the Star-Telegram. “I know what I do is USADA [U.S. Anti-Doping Agency] approved. I worked hard to get where I’m at. They can test as much as they want. If they want to test every day, other than it being a pain in the butt, it’d be worth it.”
Arencibia said one of the topics addressed was differentiating between PED users and guys who might test positive because of things like cough medicine, allergy medicine or decongestants.
“That’s what they’re working on,” Arencibia said. “Trying to find that middle ground. Everyone wants strict rules, but also want the guys who make a mistake as far as taking a cough medicine to not be punished as much as a guy taking steroids.”
