Ephedra: Setting the Double Standard in Minor Baseball on MLN Sports Zone

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Guinea Pigs Down on the Farm

Not everyone down on the farm is happy with the minors being a “testing ground” for the bigs. This rings true especially in triple-A, where the players are just one step away from the majors.

“There is precedence for doing things at the minor league level that are not done at the major league level,” triple-A International League President Randy A. Mobley told MLN during a discussion of league policies on things like steroid testing and the anti-tobacco policy, where inconsistencies have caused controversy in the past.

“Hopefully there will be a day when we see consistency in some of those things from the majors to the minors,” Mobley continued. “I don’t know that those things affect someone playing in a minor league city any differently they affect someone playing in a major league city.”

Branch Rickey agreed with Mobley.

“I’m always supportive of policies and practices which are consistent between Minor League Baseball and Major League Baseball because I don’t think we should be training the athletes in the minor leagues under one set of criteria to perform and in the major leagues under another set of criteria,” Rickey added. “So, I like to see policies and practices which are uniform.”

One Team, Unequal, With Injustice For All.

It is unlikely that Rickey, or IL President Mobley will be handed policies and practices that are uniform.

All major league teams have a 40-man roster. After spring training, 15 players are assigned to the minors but, for all intents and purposes, remain part of the major league 40-man roster.

These "teflon 15" players are protected by the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and not subject to any testing. The remaining players on the same team that are not under the CBA are subject to testing.

This means, at any given time, that one player on a team will be able to use ephedra, while another player on the same team may not.

Is a Ban Really Warranted?

No one is really sure how widespread the use of ephedra is in baseball, majors or minors, as there are no definitive studies on the subject. That leads to a wide range of speculation.

“Have you looked at our athletes lately? I mean they’re chiseled. These guys are high performance, high workout, high trained,” Rickey stated. “If ephedra is used to control weight, how many guys do you think we have with weight problems? Less than 1%. I would bet our athletes that are worried about controlling weight are less than 1%.”

The Eastern League’s President, Joe McEachern, has a different point of view.
“A lot of guys in the major leagues are coming out publicly and say they’ve used [ephedra]. Often times young players will do whatever they feel is necessary and in their interest to achieve the big league level,” McEachern stated. “If there are major league guys doing it, I would be surprised if there are not a significant number of minor league guys doing it.”

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