Oh absolutely. They ate it up and made tons of money and it made baseball popular again. It is clear they still don't care when you have these rules that aren't even followed all the time (see: Ramirez, Manny). I'm not trying to blame anyone and say it is the players' or the owners' or the league's fault, I'm just saying that I do not trust the stat lines like these power increases. That could mean that I discount a guy that doesn't deserve it, but I don't care.
If the MLB and the MLBPA were serious about cleaning it up and keeping it clean, it would be one and done. But they are not. There is still an incentive cheat. You can get caught once and still get a $100 million contract. You get what, 60 games? Second offense you get a full season. But at that point you've already made $100 million and you've played for ten years so who cares. You get a year off to spend with your family. Maybe retire, or maybe sign a new contract and play a couple more years off steroids (or on). Best case scenario you finish out your career with a ton of money and no one remembers you. Worst case scenario you get a third strike and you are banned...but you've still made a ****-ton of money. If I were a guy that was close to the bigs, I'd be juicing all the time. If I were in the bigs and someone was threatening my job (cough...Galvis...cough), I'd be juicing big time to keep my job or at least get a fat contract somewhere. The temptation is there and there a new ways to beat tests and new drugs and new everything. I think it is still a big problem, just not as big as it once was.
