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Alex Rodriguez got his suspension significantly reduced and so did Eliézer Alfonzo.

Why? Are we supposed to take his word as gospel? For all we know the reduced suspension could have been on a technicality or some negotiation and not because of the sob story claiming ignorance. People lie all the time when caught and this is no different. He obviously was breaking the rules and tried to cover it up and got caught. Why should we believe him now? Maybe he is telling the truth, maybe not. I just find it hard to believe cheaters and liars but that's just me.

It's not productive for a MLB player to do this at this point in the season. What's the end game? lose 3 or 4 or 10 pounds of water weight TEMPORARILY by dehydrating yourself with a diuretic just to march out to the mound in mid 90's Weather depending on where your location and feel like total crap? comeonnnn. Does anybody really buy that? The only reason to do this is to cover up something else your taking. Anyone that has sweated out before an anticipated drug test for a job knows what i'm talking about. There are literally hundreds of websites claiming to sell remedies that will cleanse your system in such a fashion.

I mad at the guy for making such a stupid mistake when we needed him the most. I think a lot of us share that sentiment.

He may have made a compelling case but it doesn't mean he wasn't trying to cover some other substance.

I don't understand the commentary in this thread. Diuretics are not weight loss pills. Period. An athlete in the MLB, the NFL, NBA, NHL taking a diuretic is not trying to lose weight but trying to cover up something else they've been taking. Diuretics cause excessive urination and purging of fluids from ones system which no professional athlete in their right mind would subject their body too. This whole debate is phony baloney. The guy was likely cheating and taking something else. Diuretics are in fact quite dangerous and are typically taken by people with edema (excessive fluids) due to liver failure, kidney failure, congestive heart failure, etc.

I agree. This front office has put itself behind the eight ball. I don't know what they are going to do next season, but they aren't signing any of those guys mentioned above.

THANKYOU! Finally someone that knows some of the science behind the substance and is not twisting this and making excuses. That drug is designed to induce excessive urination hence the term diuretic. Diuretics are not diet pills. They are used to reduce fluids in patiences suffering from kidney disease, liver disease, heart failure, etc. The only reason an athlete would take such as substance is to cause excessive urination and cleanse the body of some other substance.

I think the important distinction is that us (the fans) do not have a say in what the team does. I remember plenty of us fans being upset when Polanco "got popped" but again it's not our decision at the end of the day what the team does simple as that. For all we know the Twins may overlook this hick-up and sign him for 2020 but it doesn't change the fact that he screwed up royally and cost them dearly in their chances to win a world series title.

I appreciate your insight on this and your professional experience but you are speculating. These players know the rules and they have agents, lawyers and teams of trainers adressing their health, nutrition, etc. He's no longer the poor kid from DR with zero resources or he's just plain dumb. He's now 30 years old and has made millions and millions of dollars as a professional athlete. He knew the rules, the risks, but got caught, simple as that. No sympathy from me.

Complete speculation. I'm not giving Mike a pass. He knew what he was doing and he screwed over the Twins in doing so. My opinion, kick him in the rear end on his way out the door after this season. If there was a slight chance in the post season for this team he just ended it with his selfishness. There is no way this team stands up to the Astros with their starting pitching now, not against Verlander, Cole and Miley. That smells sweep all the way. If Mike hadn't gotten suspended he would have started game one or two against the Astros IMO. Berrios is not pitching like an ace and hasn't for months. Gibson is dealing with long term illness which will limit his abilities if not sideline him the rest of the season. Perez is Dr. Jekyll Mr. Hyde and basically a one trick pony for the most part. Odorizzi can't pitch more than five innings in any start. Checkmate unless the Twins capture lightning in a bottle somehow in these last 20 games with Thorpe, Smeltzer or Dobnak. But i'm not holding my breath that happens. Sorry, Big Mike is not a team player via his actions. On top of that what a huge fail by the front office in not acquiring another starter if they knew this suspension was possibly coming, unless Mike somehow withheld it from the team (pure speculation on my part). I mean they had to have known this was coming right? You would think that acquiring a starter would have moved up to number one priority on their list. The fact that they walked away wIth ZERO starters after the trade deadline is just inexcusable. The queston now is can this team deal with this (and i'm not talking about what they do in the post season, because that's pretty much a write off now). Do they have enough gas left with their remaining starters to hold off Cleveland and a surging Tampa team right on their tails in the wild card? Don't forget that Oakland is right behind them as well.

What that really boils down to is that this is not a situation where you have a guy using a PED to try to improve performance. He took some over-the-counter diet pills to try to lose weight. We can call that stupid and the results for the team are significant, but we should not say this is a player trying to cheat. Playing Devils advocate, you don't know this for certain. It may be true it may not be true.

Yes, for the most part it's been a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde group.

I agree. If he keeps up the trend then it is absolutely a good thing. It will take time.

I don't know if i call it a transformation. He's still striking out at near career highs and still not walking as much as did in 2105 which was 15.8%

I'd like to see more of Thorpe and Smeltzer in Gibson's absense possibly Perez slot too if he continues to falter.

Would really like to see starts go to Graterol and Thorpe.

Makes no sense to me either. Schoop has the hot hand not Arraez. Baldelli might be great at creating a laid back, relaxed, comfortable, loose environment for his players but apparently he is not watching the stats of his hitters that closely or simply ignoring them. You would think down the stretch here with Cleveland following closely that Baldelli would be hunkering down and paying close attention to the stats to try and squeeze every last win out of this team to put Cleveland away. It's decisions like this that make me question his decision making. With bases loaded down 6-10 you have to go with the hot hand (Schoop). Regarding Perez, after he gave up the homer to Ronny Rodriguez why did Baldelli not pull him? Certainly after Dixon's double you pull Perez by then right? The objective is to try and win a very winnable game instead of allowing your team to go down by 6+ runs and basically handing it away. I don't buy the reasoning that all the relivers were spent from the night before. Just don't buy it.

I've seen enough of Perez.

It's really too late now to try and work someone else up to a starting role and be effective, although i was really hoping to see Romero (which didn't happen) and maybe Lewis Thorpe. Other than adding Brusdar Graterol or Jorge Alcala as additional BP arms I don't know what else there is for this team to do down the stretch other than try to get the big four (Berrios, Odorizzi, Pineda and Gibson) ready for a series against the Astros. Hopefully Perez finishes strong and is another option because Gibson is really grinding away here down the strech. The other major concern is Berrios. We need this kid to get things straightened out in his final starts because other than Pineda and Odorizzi the rest of the starters have really struggled in the second half.

HAHAH i just noticed the Squirrel at the top of the webpage next to Daily. LOL

Yep and the Twins could have drafted him.

Forget TC Bear we have Rocket B Squirrel.

The Squirrel is like Rain man, bringer of good fortune to the Twins.

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