Deflecting Blame Towards Major League Baseball Or The Padres For Fernando Tatis Jr.'s Steroid Suspension Is Laughable

Sean M. Haffey. Getty Images.

I like to consider myself extremely pro player when it comes to Major League Baseball. Owner/League/Org vs. player I'm siding with the guy on the field most if not all the time. The Fernando Tatis Jr. steroid saga has me feeling a different way. This wave of retired players coming out of the woods to defend Fernando and put the blame on Major League Baseball has me perplexed. First there was David Ortiz of all former players getting upset over the way baseball announced the news. Then Fernando Sr. got in the mix blaming a bad haircut along with MLB for destroying his son's image. Now you have Edwin Encarnación calling out MLB for making an example out of Tatis.

So it's baseball's fault that one of their stars took steroids? It's baseball's fault that Fernando Tatis Jr. refuses to show any signs of maturity whatsoever? The guy took PEDs and got popped, end of story. His 80 game suspension was announced just like any other steroid suspension. I don't understand where the disconnect is here because no one is singling out Tatis. The fuck was MLB supposed to do, silently suspend him? He broke the rules and has to suffer the consequences, simple as that. No one cares for the ol' "I took something and didn't know what was in it" excuse. Best thing you can do is genuinely own up to your mistakes and show you can learn from them. 

Then there's Pedro. Now before I get to him deflecting part of the blame I do wanna point out that he began his rant calling out Tatis for fucking up. The way his thoughts were spreading around social media yesterday made it seem like he was giving Fernando a complete pass for taking steroids and that's not the case. There are a few clips from this conversation and it'd be dumb to not include the beginning where he does put blame on the Padres star. 

Here's where Pedro loses me and you'll see the rest of the crew here wasn't having it.

How in the world are you gonna put blame on the Padres here in anyway? Do you want them to bug Fernando's home and put 24 hour surveillance on the guy? You want a Padres official tailing the shortstop everywhere he goes? The guy was injured and secretly took a steroid behind everyone's back in an attempt to get healthier. How are the Padres supposed to control that situation when he's away from the team? You'd think giving someone a 14 year $340 million commitment would warrant some kind of understanding they'll be responsible and honest with everything they do off the field, especially what they put in their bodies. It's been well documented that steroids have long been outlawed in this game with zero forgiveness. Honest mistake or not, there's no excuse for putting an illegal substance in your body.

For whatever reason everyone wants to blame the Padres, MLB, and/or the system itself, but not Fernando Tatis Jr. It's like there was a mass email sent out by Fernando Sr. to all the DR retired guys to take this stance. Interesting enough none of his teammates have sided that way. Wonder why? Oh I know! They all witness the immaturity of this dude every day. From the Machado screaming match last year about him being too selfish to Fernando getting in multiple motorcycle accidents and not telling anyone until he showed up to camp. Maybe it's just his fault guys? 

It's CRAZY to me this "point the finger" match is still going on. You know how much better he'd look if Fernando just admitted he was frustrated with how long the recovery time was taking and took the steroids to get back on the field as quick as possible? Admit it was the worst mistake of your life and say you're going to change how you handle yourself moving forward. Shed a few tears in your press conference and sell it to the world that you're truly sorry. That's all you need to do to start churning things in the right direction. This deflecting tour from everyone else is just sad. Own up to it, apologize to your teammates/coaches/executives face to face, and move on.