A Steroids Angle

Suffice it to say, I am bored of all the steroids moralizing. Half the league was using, some knowingly, some not.

Getting all high and mighty about David Ortiz is just not interesting.

However, one important result of the "Steroid Era" is that it gave some GMs more credit than they deserved.

People love to talk about Oakland's "Big Three" and Billy Beane's "Moneyball' methodology. Ask yourself this question: How many divisions would Mr. Beane have won without Tejada and Giambi (both huge 'roiders)? Not many.

Being a GM (especially in baseball) is, at its core, a job about deciding who you believe is going to be good for the next 5 years, and offering contracts to those that you think will be.

Steroids bailed out a bunch of GMs from what otherwise would have been terrible decisions.

How many extra divisions did Schuerholz win because of Sheffied's "cream and the clear"? Would he have continued to perform at that level without the steroids? Doubtful.

Maybe the best example is Brian Sabean. He is the worst GM in baseball. His policy is to bestow enormous contracts on old, marginal players (Omar Vizquel, for example). But if you look at his record, it looks pretty good. Mostly because Bonds carried the team on his back for like 5 more years than he should have.

Normally the last few years of a multi-year deal in baseball is flushed down the toilet, as a player who was good at 32, turns not so good at 37.

Examples abound, all over baseball.

Cashman (the Yankees GM) won 2 extra rings by trading gifted (if lazy) David Wells for the roiding Clemens. Two extra rings is a lot. Would Cashman even have a job if he had stopped winning rings in 1998?

This extends to mangers as well. Dusty Baker manages 162 games like they are the 7th game of the world series. He bats guys with <.300 OBPs lead off (h/t Posnanski). he has destroyed the careers of at least two pitchers (Prior, Wood). Aweful. But his time(and record) in San Fransisco (bouyed by Bonds) gives the impression that he has some magical, intangible skill that trumps his inability to understand simple baseball strategy.

Steroids don't taint the game. Baseball is still fun to watch (maybe more so) when the players are on PEDs.

The problem is how to evaluate the EVALUATORS.