Comments on: Dave Dombrowski on Miguel Cabrera: “We have an issue”

By: Jonny 5

Jonny 5 — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 13:29:15 +0000

I’m sure somewhere in the signed union agreement as well as the player contract,comitting crimes involving alcohol/drug abuse clauses exist. If not, in some other language then. In other words, I’m pretty sure there is some sort of contractual leverage that the team will have in this case. Behavior unbecoming etc… Could they DL him if he doesn’t comply?

By: seeingwhatsticks

seeingwhatsticks — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 00:24:44 +0000

Agreed. Had friends that had serious drug problems and no amount of talking or threatening or rehab will do any good until the individual decides for themselves that they have a problem and want to fix it. As a friend you can either take them as they are or walk away and hope they get the message and clean themselves up. Forcing someone into rehab might help in the short term but that person will relapse and go right back to what they were doing until they decide they don’t want to be like that any more.

I hate blaming the media or the teams or the leagues for the problems of individuals but it really doesn’t help send the message that alcohol addiction is a problem when the two biggest advertisers in this country are alcohol producers and car manufacturers. Every sports stadium and arena in the country is plastered with beer ads, and every game you watch is filled with commercials for alcohol. We joke a lot about drinking in this country and laugh a lot of the problem off but like I said up above alcoholics are more likely to cause physical harm to other people than any other kind of addict. And it’s not close.

By: seeingwhatsticks

seeingwhatsticks — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 00:13:48 +0000

Come on, no one treats alcohol as a substance of abuse in cases like this. Doesn’t matter that more people abuse alcohol than every controlled substance combined, which is too bad because alcoholics are far more likely to harm others than most drug addicts.

By: bigharold

bigharold — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:54:54 +0000

Because the baseball players union is ten times more effective than the football players union. This is evidenced by the MLB players union has never lost a fight with their owners. The only serious concession they given the owners in the last 30 years was the PED testing and even that wasn’t until after some very dramatic and heart rendering testimony by parents of kids that committed suicide where the blame was placed on steroids. The union was afraid if they didn’t give a little Congress would pass laws that would be even more stringent along with draconian penalties for thise caught. And, considering how screwed up that got with names being leaked of the 2003 “survey” test I wouldn’t count on MLB players union to be so amenable in the future.

Contrast that with the NFL players union who are about to get locked out, .. again.

By: bloodysock

bloodysock — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:44:40 +0000

Agree. How many people do you think talked to Steve Howe?

By: bigharold

bigharold — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:42:03 +0000

I don’t know about the “real world” but I’d guess the ML players union wouldn’t allow the Tigers to force him to do anything. Which on some level is too bad.

If all he does is squander his baseball career and the accompanying fortune it would be bad enough. Clearly Cabrera needs help but, unless and until he see it that way even forcing him would likely be a waste of time.

It would be nice if somebody could help him before he blew his chance at MLB and I think the union should be very proactive in that effort. It’d be better if they figured out a way to help him before he hurt or killed someone.

By: seattlej

seattlej — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:34:13 +0000

I don’t think that comments from somebody else will really work for people with substance abuse problems… at least not anyone that he doesn’t know at a very personal level (wife, children, etc.). I think the motivation needs to be intrinsic. I’m certainly no expert, but from the reports it seems that Hamilton hit a point that was about as low as a person can go and still make a full recovery. I’m guessing that that’s where a lot of his motivation comes from. Hopefully Cabrera doesn’t need to hit the same low point before he wakes up and gets the issue under control.

By: seattlej

seattlej — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:30:48 +0000

Considering that Cabrera being involved in “baseball activities” didn’t really work all that well the last time he fell off the wagon, I’d have to guess that they need to think hard about rehab. He also seems like the kind of talent that can show up on opening day without much preparation and be fine in a baseball sense. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

By: bloodysock

bloodysock — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:26:52 +0000

Arrest affidavit:

http://www.edaveryreport.com/mlb/miguel-cabrera-faces-dui-charge/

By: trevorb06

trevorb06 — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:19:45 +0000

Dombrowski should really try to talk to Ron Washington about how they help Josh Hamilton, maybe even see if Hamilton would be willing to have a player to player talk with Miggy. Guys usually are open to that sort of thing. They’re all in the game together.

By: jamie54

jamie54 — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:15:21 +0000

NFL has Goodell dishing out punishment why can’t MLB do the same? He needs to get punished in the pocketbook. He’s only sorry since he got caught otherwise we’d have never heard about it.

By: largebill

largebill — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:07:46 +0000

Craig,

Are you sure there is no recourse for MLB in this case? They do have a substance abuse policy, alcohol is a substance and I think a reasonable case can be made that he abused that substance. Beyond that, unless I’m mistaken, didn’t he already attend some kind of alcohol treatment program?

By: The Baseball Idiot

The Baseball Idiot — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 22:00:46 +0000

Do you know the law on this? Can employers make an employee go to rehab as a condition of their employement, if it is affecting their job performance?

And if Cabrera doesn’t go, could he be in violation of his contract?