Alex Rodrigez Scandel

Should Alex Rodriguez be banned from playing Major League Baseball?

Matthew E. Davis

TUI University

Table of Contents

Pg. 3 Introduction

Pg. 3 Background

Pg. 4 Utilitarian

Pg. 5 Deontological

Pg. 5 Conclusion

Pg. 7 References

The question posed in this case assignment was “Should Alex Rodriguez be banned from playing Major League Baseball?” To better understand that question and to put this into perspective, we should first review the circumstances that lead to the scandal, and the repercussions afterward.

Background

In a February 7, 2009 article on SI.com, Selena Roberts and David Epstein of Sports Illustrated reported that Alex Rodriguez had tested positive for two anabolic steroids, testosterone and Primobolan, during his 2003 season playing for the Texas Rangers. The same season in which he captured his first American League Most Valuable Player award, broke 300 career home runs (hitting 47 that year), and earned one of his ten Silver Slugger Awards. The information had been part of a government-sealed report detailing 104 major league players (out of 1200 players tested) who tested positive for performance enhancers during a 2003 drug survey. Approved by the players themselves with the promise of anonymity, the survey was conducted by Major League Baseball to see whether a mandatory drug testing program might be necessary. At the time, as the result of a collectively-bargained union agreement, there was no penalty or punishment for a positive test. Because more than 5% of the samples taken from players in 2003 came back positive, mandatory testing of major league baseball players began in 2004, with penalties for violations. The 2003 test results were supposed to remain anonymous and the samples destroyed. However, a coded master list of 104 players was seized during the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) investigation, turning up in a 2004 federal raid on Comprehensive Drug Testing's facility in Long...