2013 Major League Baseball season

Hi folks!! The start of the 2013 Major League Baseball regular season is around the corner. That means teams are playing games that actually mean something and that can help them get to the World Series. Teams have to make the tough choice on who’s going to be on their 25 man roster for the regular season. The players who don’t make the 25 man roster are either released by the team, traded or go down to the minor leagues. Some of the players who play well in the minor leagues during the season get called up to the major leagues because of injuries. Once the minor league season is over, some players get called up to the major leagues when the roster expands to 40 players in September. Teams also have until July 31^st to make trades but there is also a waiver deadline that is between July 31^st and August 31^st.

The start of the regular season is March 31st when the Texas Rangers play the Houston Astros on a Sunday night. Everybody else plays the next day on April Fools. The 2013 All Star Game will be played on July 16^th at Citi Field in New York City. The last day of the 2013 MLB regular season ends on September 29^th.

I believe that there will be a few teams that will catch people by surprise. I believe that the Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners will surprise some people in the American League and I think that Los Angeles Dodgers will surprise some people in the National League

Performance Enhancing Drug Penalties

Hi everyone! Last week I did a podcast on Performance Enhancing Drugs and if Major League Baseball should have a tougher punishment. Earlier this week, Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said that he is pushing for a more strict punishment. He is proposing this punishment to Major League Baseball and the players’ association. Selig says that one of the reasons for a proposed tougher punishment is that players are allegedly trying to get performance-enhancing drugs through a South Florida doctor. Another reason why Selig wants a stricter punishment is the growing number of players who have been suspended for using performance-enhancing drugs since the punishment was implemented in 2005. There have been 67 players suspended for performance-enhancing drugs. In 2012, 6 players were suspended for performance-enhancing drugs. Selig says that he knows that their probably be a player that will break the rules but he wants the number of player suspension for performance-enhancing drugs to go down. I think it is good that Major League Baseball is trying to correct their mistakes of the past. In the past, Major League Baseball took a hit because it seemed that they ignored the issue when people started to talk about certain players who looked like there were taking steroids or other substances. I think the punishment that they have right now is a strict punishment.  I’m trying to understand what a more tougher punishment would be. Would a proposed punishment be if you test positive for performance-enhancing drugs at first time your ban for life? I think that Major League Baseball should keep suspending players who keep using performance-enhancing drugs but MLB wants to stop the use of performance-enhancing drugs in baseball.