Mark Rogers will have surgery, suspended 25 games for stimulant use

[greeg35]

Calling someone you haven't met a loser for testing positive for anything seems pretty short sighted. Anyway its looking less and less like he's not as much a "loser" as he is an uneducated consumer. As an athlete you have to know what you are putting in your body; but everyone makes mistakes.

[MLS1965]

Calling anyone a looser when you know none of that facts is pretty short sided as well.

[Invader3K]

Calling someone you haven't met a loser for testing positive for anything seems pretty short sighted. Anyway its looking less and less like he's not as much a "loser" as he is an uneducated consumer. As an athlete you have to know what you are putting in your body; but everyone makes mistakes.

This is true, but these guys have a hotline phone number they can call to check if any drug or product is banned. I would think they could easily check with their agent or any doctor as well. The excuses tend to get worn out after a while, and it's not like Rogers has a lot of room for error left in his career.

 

My guess is that his time in the Brewers organization is basically done.

[JimH5]

Calling someone you haven't met a loser for testing positive for anything seems pretty short sighted. Anyway its looking less and less like he's not as much a "loser" as he is an uneducated consumer. As an athlete you have to know what you are putting in your body; but everyone makes mistakes.

Everyone makes mistakes. And the mistake the Brewers made was in wasting a draft pick on Rogers. It was a pretty bad draft, but they still could have had Jered Weaver, Dustin Pedroia, Stephen Drew, Phil Hughes, Huston Street or Hunter Pence instead of a guy serving a suspension.

You choose to look at Rogers' career with disappointment and hope, I choose to look at it as a waste of time and money.

Calling anyone a looser when you know none of that facts is pretty short sided as well.

So what are the facts?
The guy has been in the organization for 7 years, and has produced 10 major league innings.

He failed one substance test, resulting in counseling.
And then he failed another, resulting in a 25 game suspension.


How should I react to this series of facts? Should I shrug my shoulders and say "Oh well"? Should I cheer like a soccer mom on the sidelines and say "C'mon Mark, You can do it!" What's the proper way to react to his career?

You can say whatever you want about Rogers, but what you can't say is that he's a successful major league player.

It's time to drop him.

[greeg35]

How should I react to this series of facts?

 

 

How about not judging him as a person without knowing jack about him or his situation?

Calling him a bust seems fair. I wouldn't yet; less than a year ago he was looking like a possible contributor on the ML team. Calling him a loser is over the line in my opinion.

[SoCalBrewfan]

I don't quite get the emotional reaction. Shame to the team? I don't see it. (Especially since we don't know the details yet.) He broke the rules, knowingly or not, he'll serve his penalty, then you see what follows and move on.

 

I imagine we're paying for his surgery and recovery anyway...seems wise to at least see how he recovers before cutting bait. If he can still hit the mid-90s he'll find a home somewhere; we will need major league relievers going forward so I'd see if he can be one of them.

[jackalope02ca]

2nd offense. Time to drop him. Once can be a mistake but twice suggests he doesn't get it. He obviously didn't learn from the first offense so drop him immediately. And the load of crap his agent is trying to spin is pretty funny. You aren't going to be on many if any medications for carpal tunnel. Unless you have a problem you don't want to tell the rest of the world about. Hope he's invested his signing bonus well.

[derflotr]

Any hope or anticipation I had for him has officially expired. He's been spiraling down the depth chart as it is, so I don't think it's as big of a loss as we may have thought if this had happened before the season.

[jjkoestler]

How should I react to this series of facts?

 

 

How about not judging him as a person without knowing jack about him or his situation?

Calling him a bust seems fair. I wouldn't yet; less than a year ago he was looking like a possible contributor on the ML team. Calling him a loser is over the line in my opinion.

It is absolutely fair to judge him and his situation. He is a public figure in the Milwaukee Brewers system. We aren't talking about his mom, wife, or kids.

 

7 years, a bunch of injuries, and 2 suspensions? He might not be a "loser," but he is incredibly stupid and is pissing away the talent and opportunities that everyone on this board would do just about anything to have.

[YoungGeezy]

2nd offense. Time to drop him. Once can be a mistake but twice suggests he doesn't get it. He obviously didn't learn from the first offense so drop him immediately. And the load of crap his agent is trying to spin is pretty funny. You aren't going to be on many if any medications for carpal tunnel. Unless you have a problem you don't want to tell the rest of the world about. Hope he's invested his signing bonus well.

Lol, sure enough as soon as there is a suspension here comes Jackalope to be one of the first pounding down the door to toss the kid. Huge surprise. One its not drugs, two it is not steroids or HGH. It very well could have been a perscription drug, it very well could have been an everyday GNC product ( over half the stuff in GNC has at least one illegal stimulant in it). Sure there is ways to check what is or is not legal but if the guy isn't using hard drugs or PED's im not going to sweat it. Nor will I go with the people who once again want to throw away another huge power arm. You know cause we have soooo many laying around in our system..... The suspension will end up being like 9 games if I understand it right....big deal. I will continue to root for Rogers. He has battled his behind off. We got to see last season what the kid can really offer if he gets healthy.

 

Biggest thing is GET HIM OUT OF THE ROTATION!!!! Give it up, put him in the pen and let him just let it go for 1 maybe two innings a game. I personally like back end guys who will light up radar at 96-99 with pretty good off-speed stuff. Control is an issue but bullpen is were he needs to be. Brewers never understand this (except with Braddock).

[YoungGeezy]

How should I react to this series of facts?

How about not judging him as a person without knowing jack about him or his situation?

Calling him a bust seems fair. I wouldn't yet; less than a year ago he was looking like a possible contributor on the ML team. Calling him a loser is over the line in my opinion.

It is absolutely fair to judge him and his situation. He is a public figure in the Milwaukee Brewers system. We aren't talking about his mom, wife, or kids.

 

7 years, a bunch of injuries, and 2 suspensions? He might not be a "loser," but he is incredibly stupid and is pissing away the talent and opportunities that everyone on this board would do just about anything to have.

 

Yup..... Guy must be an idiot to have had two Tommy John Surgries and this carpal tunnel issue. He must be actively trying to have these issues to piss away his career... Suspension could have been avoided but I wouldn't say they have helped him throw away his career. Injuries are by far his biggest issue and really that is just bad luck. They happen, we have lost two Ace type pitchers in the lase decade due to issues like this in Nuegy and Jones. Do we blame them that there body just couldn't hold up? It's tuff luck. Jeffress's Suspension were impactful, Roger's haven't been. This one is very minor. More along the line of Kevin and Pat Williams water diet pill suspension because 1 of the 40 stimulants in it happen to be illegal

[Never Outhustled]

2nd offense. Time to drop him. Once can be a mistake but twice suggests he doesn't get it. He obviously didn't learn from the first offense so drop him immediately. And the load of crap his agent is trying to spin is pretty funny. You aren't going to be on many if any medications for carpal tunnel. Unless you have a problem you don't want to tell the rest of the world about. Hope he's invested his signing bonus well.

 

You were proven wrong with your opinion of Jeffress, and yet you still come back with this non-sense again. Without Jeffress, we might not have Greinke. That would be devastating. Rogers could still have a huge impact with the Brewers, even if he is a career reliever. Dominant relievers have high trade value.

 

[DHonks]

wow, people were much more supportive of Jeffress and he had a huge problem with a more worrisome drug.

[jjfanec]

wow, people were much more supportive of Jeffress and he had a huge problem with a more worrisome drug.

Very true. I think Roger's injury struggles are playing a part in people's reactions.

[YoungGeezy]

People always like to overreact in general. It is much easier to be an extremely negitive, glass half empty, doomsday thinker. I mean geez, this is a very minor violation. Yes, still a violation but people make seem like Rogers is a steroid loving, drugged up junkie, who has done everything in his power to throw his life down the drain. That is nowhere near the case. All the guy has done is battle and battle. To me the guy has heart and courage up the wazzu along with still having a huge arm. A few "stimulant" violations isn't going to deter that in my eyes.

 

Someone mentioned him having the talent and opportunity that most of use would die for (or something along those lines) well I think he also has the determination, courage, and heart most of use would die for. Major injury, battles back, another major injury battles back, now this....I bet I can tell you he is going to battle back again. 7 hard years but he hasn't given up.

[jackalope02ca]

 

 

You were proven wrong with your opinion of Jeffress, and yet you still come back with this non-sense again. Without Jeffress, we might not have Greinke. That would be devastating. Rogers could still have a huge impact with the Brewers, even if he is a career reliever. Dominant relievers have high trade value.

 

 

I don't think I was wrong with Jeffress. And I don't think I'm wrong with Rogers either. I seriously doubt Jeffress couldn't have been easily replaced in the Greinke deal to still get it done.

 

Just a general comment as some have alluded it could be prescription drugs and don't see that as an issue. Prescription drug abuse is comparable to cocaine abuse or heroin abuse in many cases. I'm not suggesting this was the problem as we will never know. However prescription drug abuse kills people on a fairly regular basis.

[And That]

Prescription drug abuse

...is a ridiculous assumption. You have no evidence. You're just trying to make this fit your cause. It's asinine and defamatory.

I'm not suggesting this was the problem

Of course you are. Otherwise, you wouldn't have brought it up.

[JimH5]

I'm not going to speculate at all on what he tested positive for. I don't know what's on the banned list--and I don't know what he tested positive for the first time.

 

To me, it doesn't matter.

 

He had already failed one test and had undergone counseling for that. Besides the 25 game suspension (which is no small thing), he's next facing 80 games, which is a huge thing.

 

I would say that means he is either too reckless and casual about his future, or that he's just defiant toward authority, or that he's an addict, or that he's too stupid or lackadaisical to check out supplements or medications that he takes. Wouldn't one of those things have to be true? What else is there?

[And That]

I would say that means he is either too reckless and casual about his future, or that he's just defiant toward authority, or that he's an addict, or that he's too stupid or lackadaisical to check out supplements or medications that he takes.

Would you use one or more of those descriptors for Mike Cameron? Is Mike Cameron reckless, defiant, an addict, or stupid?

[JimH5]

Fair enough. . .I guess reckless, but I get your point.

 

And I'm a total hypocrite about this, as I will give a much longer leash to someone who has established himself than to someone who is tied for 314th in team history in innings pitched.

 

Go Mark Go. . .

 

Though part of me is still saying Go Away.

[mothershipconnection]

wow, people were much more supportive of Jeffress and he had a huge problem with a more worrisome drug.

 

The defense of Jeffress seemed more in response to some who acted like he was a meth addict, when marijuana is not anything like "hard" drugs.

 

Without knowledge of what Rogers tested positive for, it can't be said that it's less worrisome than pot. Many stimulants can cause heart problems; pot causes you to act like a moron.

 

IMO, Rogers' problem, like Jeffress' is stupidity and not drugs. To know you're going to be tested and can get in huge trouble, all over a drug you likely are not physically dependent upon is moronic.

[DHonks]

mothership, Jeffress even admitted he was dependent on pot. There's a myth out there that pot isn't addictive...yet people crave it.

[mothershipconnection]

There's also wide belief that Mountain Dew will make your manhood smaller, menthol cigarettes contain fiberglass, and chiropractic adjustments cure viral infections. The degree of "dependence" one can have for marijuana is nothing at all similar to dependence on common drugs of abuse. Evidence of it being some life-ruining addiction are anecdotal and not backed by rigorous science. Withdrawal from "hard" drugs and drinking can kill you (alcohol is one of the most fatal withdrawals), or at least make you wish you were dying. I'm not saying pot use is like having hankerings for Taco Bell, but it's much closer to smoking cigarettes than snorting coke.

 

What else is Jeffress supposed to say to save face after a third failed test? "I had no biological need to do it, but I like it a lot and I just thought I could keep getting away with it"?

[LouisEly]

The degree of "dependence" one can have for marijuana is nothing at all similar to dependence on common drugs of abuse. Evidence of it being some life-ruining addiction are anecdotal and not backed by rigorous science. Withdrawal from "hard" drugs and drinking can kill you (alcohol is one of the most fatal withdrawals), or at least make you wish you were dying. I'm not saying pot use is like having hankerings for Taco Bell, but it's much closer to smoking cigarettes than snorting coke.

For some people. Also depends on your definition of "life ruining". If your definition of "life ruining" only means living in the gutter on skid row begging for your next hit and does not include unambitious, no desire to have/keep a good job/career, living in your parent's basement, not saving for retirement, and generally underachieving, fine, but my definition does. Yes there are people who are very productive members of society who smoke marijuana regularly. There are also people who drink and use "hard drugs" who are very productive members of society as well.

 

I think the issue that Jim and others may be getting at is that there is a perception - depending on what this "stimulant" really is - that this "drug" is more important to Rogers than rehabbing and becoming a successful pitcher. We don't know that; but being a repeat offender means you didn't learn your lesson, either because you are ignorant or because you don't care. It's the possibility that Rogers might not care that is concerning.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

I wonder how long the 25 game suspension will carry into next season. This could end up being a blessing in disguise because it gives us more time to see what we have in Rogers and I believe we are allowed to give him some rehab starts in the minor leagues after his suspension is over.

 

All of the talk about him being a loser is shameful. People make mistakes and he was in a very competitive environment having a tough season. Hopefully he gets back on track and has some value next season.