Jobu reacts to Melky Cabrera’s 50-game PED suspension.

We got some shocking news from the world of baseball on Wednesday afternoon, as it was announced that All-Star and newest MLB darling Melky Cabrera has been hit with a 50-game suspension for PED usage. Allegedly, the Melkman, had extremely high levels of testosterone in his system at the time he took the test. On one hand, it’s pretty shocking and disappointing. On the other hand, Melky has suddenly become one of the best hitters in the league after playing his way out of two organizations, so I guess it’s not that shocking.The rumor that Melky had failed a test first began circulating a few weeks ago, when Andrew Baggarly ran a story about Melky denying the rumor, and then ran another story apologizing to Melky for not confirming the rumor before writing about it. At the time, Melky had categorically denied the rumor, which probably made Baggarly feel bad enough to write the apology… Maybe Melky should run a story somewhere apologizing to Baggarly?

That being said, Melky did do one good thing in this whole controversy. Once the news leaked of his positive test he issued this statement:

“My positive test was the result of my use of a substance I should not have used. I accept my suspension under the Joint Drug Program and will try to move on with my life. I am deeply sorry for my mistake and I apologize to my teammates, to the San Francisco Giants organization and to the fans for letting them down.”

I mean seriously, how many guys admit this? He didn’t blame B-12 shots, he didn’t wag his finger at other teammates and he didn’t Ryan Braun it by blaming the person issuing the test. That being said, no one should truly be commended for admitting they cheated after they got caught, but that’s the one thing that might save Melky’s career (remember what admitting things did for Andy Pettitte and Jason Giambi?).

This suspension has a ton of implications around the league. First of all, it’s a black eye for baseball because Melky was named this year’s All-Star Game MVP, and helped the National League clinch home field advantage in the World Series. If he’s not on whatever he’s on, does Melky hit that home run? Does the NL win? Maybe. But maybe not, right?

Second of all, the Giants might not be a playoff team anymore. Melky was basically the best hitter in the National League. While they still have Buster Posey, and newly acquired Hunter Pence, it’s hard to recover from losing the league’s leading hitter and your team’s best table setter. Melky’s act isn’t just costing him 50 games. It might be costing the team, and the city that has embraced him, a shot at the championship. That’s basically unforgivable, especially since Melky admitted that he cheated. The fans can’t blame the league or the person who administered the test. They can only blame Melky.

The biggest effect of all, however, will be felt by Melky himself. Not only is he suspended, his reputation is pretty much ruined. It couldn’t have happened at a worse time either, as Melky is slated to hit free agency come the end of the season. With the last two seasons, he was looking at possibly a huge contract. A batting title and consecutive 200+ hit seasons at age 28 would have led to a very big deal for Melky. I even had thoughts of my Yankees letting Swisher walk and bringing Melky back to man right field. Now, is that all squashed? It will be, unless Melky uses the next two months to tell his entire story to everyone, and convince GMs that it was a one time thing, and he has truly learned from his errors. Were his breakout seasons fully the result of PEDs? Melky will have to prove that wrong. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him now have to take a one year deal somewhere to prove himself all over again.

One interesting side note came from former steroids kingpin Victor Conte, who tweeted that Melky didn’t fail a steroids test, he failed an IQ test, because the T/E test is apparently the easiest one to beat. Maybe Melky wanted to get caught? Or maybe he’s just an idiot. Either way, he has let down a lot of people with this mistake. I hope, for his sake, that he can make lemons out of lemonade and somehow work his way back.

Featured image courtesy of: Jeff Roberson/AP