Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander went off early Friday after NL batting champion Dee Gordon's 80-game suspension was announced. And suddenly MLB and its players' union found itself at the intersection of due process and free speech.
According to Yahoo Sports, Gordon's suspension was announced only after he dropped his appeal over testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
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Enter Verlander, via his Twitter account: "This PED (s—) is killing me. If u test positive u need to not play. You shouldn't be allowed to effect games while appealing."
The All-Star and Cy Young Award-winner has a point, one that many have voiced while wondering when or if players would — or even could — self-police the situation: "If I'm clean, and you're dirty, then that's not fair."
And, yet, MLB and the MLBPA have collectively bargained a system that affords a player who tests positive the right to continue playing while appealing his suspension.
Given how strict baseball's drug-testing program is, it's clear both sides want to err on the side of caution before bringing down a half-season hammer as MLB did on Gordon.
