Indians Still Keen On Byrd's Option?

A week ago, Paul Byrd's $8MM option for 2008 seemed like a no-brainer for the Tribe.  He kept his ERA under 5.00, made 31 starts, and won 15 games.  $8MM on a low-risk one-year deal would've been an easy decision even for the cost-conscious Indians.

But now we've got a little HGH controversy on our hands.  Ken Rosenthal discusses the situation over at FOX Sports.  Rosenthal is correct in that Byrd never acted like someone who had something to hide.  He didn't disguise his purchase of HGH in any way (though MLB didn't agree with his contention that they'd been informed).  Byrd even brings up HGH in his upcoming book, mentioning that he resisted the urge to take more than the prescribed dosage.  On the other hand, even at the recommended dosage Byrd was "able to recover quicker from pitching."  At what point do we call this cheating?  Is Byrd getting generous treatment because he's a devout white guy?

As Mark Shapiro says, he doesn't have all the information yet.  Nor does the public, of course.  Honestly if the HGH situation somehow causes the Indians to decline the option, Byrd stands to make more money on the open market. 

Comments

[zs190]

I'm tired of people using "I have a disease and needs it" as an excuse.

Paul Byrd debuted in 1995 and only in 2003 did he find out that he has this hormone deficiency that was robbing him of sleep and also making him tired. I wonder how he got by the first 30 years of his life and 8 seasons in baseball and never realized.

Coincidentally he was injured and out for the year that he ordered these HGH, same as Jay Gibbons, Rick Ankiel, and Troy Glaus when they ordered.

I just have a hard time accepting that they all found out they have diseases that needed HGH/Steroids while they were all injured.

[quintjs]

zs190, when else are you going to find out

"hey bill, how do you feel?" - "Fantastic" - "great, we are going to put you through an extensive physical 2hours before game time"

You only find out these types of things when you get tested and you only get tested if something is wrong, I had a friend who found out he had one kidney at age 17. Others have done much later.

You have to separate out cheating use for health use. I hate to say it, but take some of these ballplayers who got Cancer, the Jon Lester's, Mike Lowell's and many more, its probably unlikely they would have passed drug tests during their treatment. Is anyone going to go after Lester?

No HGH ever is just unrealistic and unfair.

If there is a legitmate medical need, like a deficiency, and HGH is naturally occuring, if it is done right, legally under the law, and in conjunction with MLB, then it should be allowed.

[bjsguess]

I like Byrd. Sure hope he isn't a cheater.

I also agree that there are plenty of people who go undiagnosed with problems for years and years. Other people develop problems later in life.

This is just the tip of the iceberg I'm afraid. When the Mitchell report hits it will cause quite a stir.

[King_Buddha]

Jim Cable makes some excellent comments on espn.com: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2007/columns/story?columnist=caple_jim&id=3073796

"Byrd made it clear that he had prescriptions for HGH, but according to the Chronicle story, two of the prescriptions were from a dentist. If you have a pituitary problem or a tumor, would you really get the prescription for treatment from a dentist? And if you needed treatment and were a pitcher with access to the major league medical plan, would you have the prescription filled online? "

I'm afraid we're going to hear a lot of similar lame excuses in the future - all kinds of illnesses that can only be cured by HGH. Probably when asked about the exact details of the disease, it will suddenly become a privacy issue.

Sorry, but how many diseases can only be cured by HGH? If this is the only possible medicine, won't you discuss something with the team docter (who is responsible for protecting the health of multi million investments) and discuss a medical program how to get better?

[Blutarski]

Cleveland picks up his option becauase this will all be forgotten about in no time.

He's good and probably underpaid. The Indians know that a number of teams will give Byrd more money - even now.

[mraver]

If a guy has a cold, he'll recover more quickly (regaining energy, etc.) if he takes Sudafed. Is that cheating, too?

All of this steroids crap is over-blown, especially the constant HGH outings.

[FineHamAbounds]

I really like Paul Byrd and I hope he didn't do anything he shouldn't have. He's been very open about it all and I think he has a lot more character than most of the other people implicated in this kind of thing. "Recovering from pitching faster" is a relative term too, since he might have been recovering faster than he was previously when something made it take much longer than it should have. Most of these guys make me angry when they get exposed as cheaters, but Byrd would just make me disappointed.

[metsfanincincy]

I like Paul Byrd, too. I think people like him becaue he is a throw back and an underdog (rather than the "devout white guy" theory). That being said, I work at a federal crime lab. Half my job is working on cases where people order drugs on the internet and they all have "prescriptions from doctors". It is an absolutely meaningless defense. I hate to say it, but Paul Byrd is a cheater. He took drugs to enhance his performance and it worked.

[jdb1972]

Yeah, gotta be because he's a white guy. Because, you know, that's why Sammy Sosa usually gets a pass and Mark McGwire gets hammered.