While MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is "eager to take on all sorts of interesting issues," he finds himself "right back where he used to be, dealing with drug cheats," according to Juliet Macur of the N.Y. TIMES. The issue "just follows him around," with Mariners P David Rollins, Braves P Arodys Vizcaino and Twins P Ervin Santana combining for "three doping positives in recent days." Manfred yesterday said that he was "so surprised that players were using stanozolol that he had made sure the sport’s investigative arm began searching for a possible connection among the three positives." USADA CEO Travis Tygart said that the recent positive tests "showed that baseball's out-of-competition surprise drug tests were working" (N.Y. TIMES, 4/7). On Long Island, Anthony Rieber notes stanozolol is an older steroid and "considered easier to detect than some of the newer ones." Manfred said, "It really is hard to explain. The drug involved is one that's not particularly hard to catch. ... Performance-enhancing drugs are one of those issues where you have to stay vigilant. Things happen that you don't expect, but we have a great testing program, a great investigative capacity. If players take the risk, we feel we can catch them" (NEWSDAY, 4/7). Meanwhile, a Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE editorial addresses Santana's suspension under the header, "Play Ball! But Play It Without Steroids." Santana's transgression "can’t be blamed on Twins management." The editorial: "While we, like most Minnesotans, will still root for the Twins, and continue to appreciate the team’s irreplaceable spot in the state’s culture, we strongly support this suspension as well as MLB’s overall approach to steroids" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 4/7).
