Saunders: A-Rod shouldn’t be an All-Star

Reader LC pointed this out in the open thread last night, but I wanted to expand on it a bit. First, here’s what Halos’ lefty Joe Saunders had to say about Mr. Rodriguez:

Following an offseason of steroid revelations and confessions, Saunders said he would not vote for Rodriguez [for the All Star Game], regardless of whatever compelling numbers he puts up.

As Saunders put it to the Los Angeles Times, “It’s over for him.”

Speaking following Saturday night’s game against Kansas City, flush with his 1-0 victory over previously unbeaten sensation Zack Greinke, Saunders didn’t buy that fans are greeting the returning Rodriguez with a “forgive-and-forget” attitude.

“I think the fans do care,” Saunders said. “Pretty much everybody wants a game without cheating.”

This isn’t the first time an opposing pitcher has blasted A-Rod publicly about his admitted steroid use; back in February Astros’ ace Roy Oswalt said he wanted to see A-Rod’s numbers erased from the record books. I certainly understand the disdain people feel for steroid users, but opposing players coming out like this are walking on thin ice.

Joe Saunders made the All-Star team last year with Gary Matthews Jr. (linked to HGH) on his team. Roy Oswalt has been – or still is – teammates with Roger Clemens, Miguel Tejada, and Stephen Randolph, all of whom were named in the Mitchell Report. Are these two really naive enough to think that they’ve never benefited from a teammate that was using PEDs? We’re talking about a very slippery slope here.

I’m not saying that players who used steroids aren’t cheaters or anything like that, because they obviously are. I’m not even saying that A-Rod should make the All-Star team, chances are he won’t have the numbers after missing over a month with his hip injury. It’s just that people who come out and blast known users need to realize there’s two coins to this PED stuff, and chances are they’ve been impacted in a positive way (stats wise) by a teammate on something they shouldn’t have been. The grass isn’t always greener.