Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello wants harsher PED penalties

While Porcello acknowledged that MLB is getting “more thorough, more frequent” with their testing, the overlaying issue is that some players will keep using banned substances as long as there are more pros than cons.

Some guys care about things like legacy, public perception, or even a moral code. That’s enough for them to stay away from PEDs. Some guys just care about money. As long as PEDs help them put up the stats that help them get paid more money, those types of players will continue to try to get away with it. If they get caught, so what? They lose some money during their suspension, but the numbers they were putting up prior to getting caught can be parlayed into a new deal down the line.

Take Melky Cabrera for example. He was suspended for 50 games in 2012, shortly after being named MVP of his first, and only, career All-Star appearance. He wasn’t nearly that caliber player earlier in his career, then when he finally has his breakout season he gets caught cheating. Did that end up hurting Cabrera in the long run? Of course not. While some teams may have been cautious of a player coming off of a PED suspension, Cabrera still managed to turn that one All-Star season into a 2-year, $16 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays that winter.

You would think that teams would be wary of giving lucrative contracts to PED offenders, yet it still continues to happen. Perhaps the answer is that there should be an annual cap on the amount a suspended player can make on future contracts. Or maybe they can never sign another multi-year contract again. Would that help negate the incentive?

Next: They aren't all cheaters