Ron Washington: “I Feel Sorry” For Colon

Old school baseball guy that he is, Rangers’ manager Ron Washington is never happy to see a player’s season end early, particularly due to a violation of Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment agreement. But there’s little doubt that Bartolo Colon’s 50-game suspension will only hurt the A’s already slim chances of catching the Rangers in the race for the AL West crown.

"I feel sorry for both [Colon] and Cabrera, because I always had respect for them," Washington told the Rangers’ official website. "He was the veteran that was holding that young Oakland A's staff together. They'll get over it, but I think initially it'll affect them because it'll put added pressure on other people. Melky, I thought he was an offensive juggernaut in San Francisco."

As Washington suggested, Colon was the unquestioned veteran leader of a very young rotation in Oakland, and a pretty good one at that. Colon was 10-9 with a 3.49 ERA at the time of his suspension. He would’ve pitched tonight for the A’s but, instead, he’s very likely done for 2012.

"All I can say is to not mess with Major League Baseball. They will get you," Washington said. "That just shows that the drug program is working. I don't think people are just trying to beat the system in baseball. They're trying to beat the system everywhere. I don't care what they've got in place, there will always be people trying to beat the system."