Bill Plaschke: Baseball cheaters are still unbeaten

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New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who has not played this season while recovering from hip surgery, was suspended until after the 2014 season by Major League Baseball over allegations of use of performance-enhancing drugs. Rodriguez will be allowed to play while his suspension is under appeal. (Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)

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Texas Rangers right fielder Nelson Cruz, the MVP of the 2011 American League Championship Series, was suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball for using performance-enhancing drugs. (Tom Pennington / Getty Images)

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Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun was suspended 65 games on July 22, 2013, for violating Major League Baseball’s drug policy. (Rich Schultz / Getty Images)

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Oakland Athletics pitcher Bartolo Colon was suspended 50 games in 2012 after testing positive for synthetic testosterone. (Reed Saxon / Associated Press)

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Detroit Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta, a two-time All-Star who helped the club get to the 2012 World Series, was suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball for using performance-enhancing drugs. (Leon Halip / Getty Images)

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The San Diego Padres shortstop, who had a career-high 44 stolen bases last season, was suspended 50 games,/a> by Major League Baseball for using performance-enhancing drugs. (Charles Rex Arbogast / Associated Press)

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San Diego Padres catcher Yasmani Grandal was suspended 50 games in 2012 after testing positive for a high testosterone level. (Lenny Ignelzi / Associated Press)

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The New Yankees catcher, who has played parts of six seasons with the team but only 17 games this season because of injuries, was suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball for using performance-enhancing drugs. (Brian Blanco / Associated Press)

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Seattle Mariners catcher and designated hitter, who hit .260 with 15 home runs last season, was suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball for using performance-enhancing drugs. He was sent to triple-A on May 20 and has since been sidelined with a torn meniscus in his left knee. (Stephen Brashear / Associated Press)

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Former Baltimore Orioles designated hitter Rafael Palmeiro was suspended 10 days in 2005 after testing positive for a steroid. (Chris Gardner / Associated Press)

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Former Seattle Mariners outfielder Matt Lawton was suspended for 10 days during the 2006 season after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs while with the New York Yankees. (Ed Andrieski / Associated Press)

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Former San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Guillermo Mota was suspended 50 games during the 2007 season for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs while with the New York Mets. He was issued a 100-game suspension in 2012 after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance. (Jeff Roberson / Associated Press)

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Former San Diego Padres center fielder Mike Cameron was suspended 25 games in 2008 after testing positive for banned stimulants. (Lenny Ignelzi / Associated Press)

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San Diego Padres pitcher Edinson Volquez was suspended 50 games in 2010 after failing a test for performance-enhancing drugs while with the Cincinnati Reds.

(Jim Rogash / Getty Images)

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Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez was suspended 50 games in May 2009 for violating baseball’s drug policy. While with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2011, Ramirez avoided a 100-game suspension when he abruptly retired following another drug policy violation. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

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Philadelphia Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz was suspended for the team’s first 25 games of the 2013 season after testing positive for an amphetamine. (Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)

By Bill Plaschke

Aug. 5, 2013 1:28 PM PT

It’s nice of baseball to finally nail drug scammer Alex Rodriguez, as officials announced Monday afternoon that they had suspended the highest-paid player in baseball history through the 2014 season.

It would have been nicer if, shortly after the announcement was made, he wasn’t still putting on his New York Yankee uniform and preparing to play in his first game of this season.

It was also nice of baseball to suspend a dozen other players for 50 games -- essentially the rest of the regular season -- for their role in the Biogenesis performance-enhancing drug scandal.

It would have been nicer if the two most prominent names on that list, Texas’ Nelson Cruz and Detroit’s Jhonny Peralta, didn’t have a potentially rich free-agent winter awaiting them after they serve their time. By then, their bodies will be rested and the suitors will be knocking.

It was nice of baseball to once again throw a big sweeping roundhouse at its steroid problem. It would have been nicer if that punch had actually landed. Once again, in trying to clean up the game with the efficiency of an umpire trying to clean home plate, baseball has just kicked more dirt on itself.

So Rodriguez is gone, but not really. So Cruz and Peralta are gone, but they’ll be back richer -- and maybe even bigger -- than ever. So what about this makes any sense to anyone except those in the shameful baseball player’s union, whose fight to essentially keep drugs in the game has been its most notable achievement since the creation of free agency.

If baseball is certain that a player is dirty, whether through a positive test or overwhelming Biogenesis-like evidence, then why is he still allowed to play again? Ever? And why is that player also allowed to appeal and continue playing like Rodriguez?

If Pete Rose was banned for the life because it was determined that his gambling affected the integrity of the game, then why doesn’t the use of PEDs fall in the same category? In fact, by all competitive definitions, steroid users are cheating the game far worse than Rose ever could. Rose never won a game from the dugout, but Cruz and Peralta have won games at the plate, while Rodriguez even won a world championship that way.

If baseball doesn’t have the heart of a lifetime ban, then maybe it could institute a lifetime change. Allow a player to keep playing, but take away all of his service time. Therefore, guys like Cruz and Peralta can’t turn their 50-game suspensions into a two-month courting sessions. Turn Cruz and Peralta into contractual rookies again, with rookie minimum salaries.

Not that the bad guys would go broke. Cruz’s steroid use has helped him earn more than $20 million in his career. Peralta’s juicing has squeezed nearly $30 million out of his employers. And, of course, Rodriguez has been the most highly paid fraud in sports history, making more than $300 million with the help of his supplemental friends.

In the end Monday, Rodriguez became the perfect symbol for baseball’s impossible drug enforcement policy. He has spent an entire career using steroids to rank fifth on baseball’s home-run list, steal three MVP awards, sign the two biggest contracts in baseball history, and win one World Series. Yet now that baseball has finally caught him, it still can’t get rid of him.

ALSO:

Nelson Cruz, 11 others suspended by MLB

Alex Rodriguez suspended until the 2015 season

A look at the MLB players suspended in the Biogenesis scandal