Chicago Cubs: PED scandal on the North side once again?
By Patrick Voss
The Chicago Cubs organization is once again hit with a PED scandal. This time, we take a look at what should be done.
Everyone remembers the infamous 90’s PED steroid era. The Chicago Cubs were also a main focus of the times due to one beefed up Sammy Sosa. A Cubs player who formerly had not knocked in 50 home runs in a season, in 1998 Sosa hit 66 dingers.
Sammy Sosa continues to deny his usage of PED’s. He is a 1x NL MVP, 7x All-Star, 6x Silver Slugger, 2x NL home run leader, and 9th on the All-Time Home Run list with 609. He earned a total of $124,068,000 from contracts in his 18 year #MLB career. #baseball #Cubs #money #cash pic.twitter.com/PvUhYrtSlb
— Cash Flow Sports (@cflowsports) June 29, 2018
Now, the Cubs have a new worry with PED use. The Cubs’ minor league teams are now under scrutiny. Pitching prospect Oscar De La Cruz that plays for the Cubs Double-A affiliate Tennessee Smokies. De La Cruz is currently considered a top Cubs prospect at the moment. The Chicago Cubs’ 23-year-old right-handed pitcher has a record of six wins and seven losses with a 5.24 earned run average in 16 starts with Tennessee.
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Chicago Cubs pitching prospect Oscar De La Cruz has been handed an 80-game suspension by the League. It is a full Major League suspension due to the fact that the Cubs’ prospect pitcher is currently on the Cubs 40-man roster who is on loan to Tennessee.
Where does the league go from here?
The Cubs organization are “disappointed”, yet they are willing to back up another PED user. Scandals have always been dealt with in such a passive manner in the Major Leagues. I truly believe that the culture of not only the Chicago Cubs should change with respect to this PED issue, but also the culture of handling PED scandals throughout the entire Major Leagues. The change needs to happen at the top of the proverbial food chain and trickle down to rest of the league. The Cubs’ prospect is the ninth player to be handed a Major League-type suspension this year alone. And if that was not bad enough, the Minor Leagues have suspended 46 different players this year so far. So, Major League Baseball and the Chicago Cubs, please hear this humble writer’s plea to change now or suffer the overall consequences. No one wants another 90’s-level PED scandal.
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