Would You?

That question has a few different connotations, but the context I'm using it in is "Would You Take Steroids"?

I see that the Angels have traded Gary Matthews Jr. to the Mets (Angels agreed to pick up most of the $23 million owed, leaving the Mets having to pay about $2 million) and it got me thinking about this question.

GMJ is a great example of why baseball players got caught up in the whole steroid/HGH thing. He was a decent major league baseball player, exceptional defensively but with little pop in his bat. He wasn't due a huge superstar contract guaranteeing him financial security for life, so (as the rumor goes) he started taking HGH, bulked up and increased his home run and rbi totals right before his contract expired. He became a "wanted" free agent and the Angels gave him a 5yr, $50 million dollar deal and, viola, he's set for life!

Now I don't know whether he actually took HGH, but all the signs point to it. His name showed up in an investigation of a bodybuilder showing an HGH package going to a "Gary Matthews Jr." and he showed up on the Mitchell Report. If you go to baseball-reference.com his numbers increased substantially his last couple years in Texas. Then he shows up on the Mitchell Report and his numbers plummet again (although in fairness to him, he suffered "injuries" and his play time was limited with the Angels).

Here's my point. If you were GMJ would you have done the same thing? It's easy for me to sit here and say "steroids are bad, they ruin the game, distorts the numbers, blah, blah, blah...." but being honest? I probably would have done it..... Here's the deal. It's one thing if your natural talent is getting a huge contract giving you more money then you could possibly spend in your life and you still took steroids (I'll use Bonds, Arod, Clemens, McGwire here as examples) ... but if I'm a marginal player back in the early 2000's and major league baseball wasn't testing for it and you can increase your numbers and get a huge salary, why wouldn't I do it? It's not like I was going to the Hall of Fame anyway and if I can set myself up for the rest of life? Again, being honest here, to me, that's a no brainer.

Now the people that took steroids I absolutely would not vote them for the Hall of Fame but I don't blame anyone for trying to "get an edge" and set themselves up for life.

So tell me,

"Would You"?

Bill