I was very surprised to see Seattle Mariner Ryan Franklin was tagged for using steriods. MLB is trying to pretend it's serious about dealing with this problem, but that doesn't match up with the penalty: a 10-day suspension. It's too bad because I've always been a Franklin fan.
Case in point: Tyler Hamilton, one of America's top cyclists, former Lance Armstrong team mate, and possible Tour de France contender was given a 2-year suspension for a first time blood doping/EPO result, in a case where not even the United Cycling International folks were unanimous that the results were correct (and of course Tyler is denying it with all his might, but who's not?). TWO YEARS! For a guy who's 34, that's basically the rest of his career. Add to that the fact that (a) there aren't many top-notch pro cyclists to go around and (b) the small size of cycling teams, that's a big hit to Phonak, and a big hit to Tyler, whether it's true or not. Also note that blood-doping is a short-term boost, unlike steriods who's effects are much more profound.
My point is this. Cycling had it's day of reckoning with drugs in the 1998 Tour, and has been heavy handed in it's attempt to quash the problem, which likely still exists in some form or another. That Major League Baseball, with it's large teams with larger farm systems and therefore generally replacable players, doles out 10-day suspensions for this kind of thing is just comedy. Here's a sport who everyone agrees has been totally trasnsformed by steroid use and has players lying to Congress about it (sorry Rafael, it wasn't a Viagra test...), but they still lack the spine to really make a statement that it's not tolerable. Banning a few players for a season or two would not have a major impact on the teams or the sport, and would send a clear message. Maybe it's MLB that needs some of Rafael's little blue pills?