Ozzie Guillen Wants 1-Year Suspension For Performance-Enhancing Drug Use

With baseball finding itself stuck in the steroids muck again thanks to Barry Bonds' trial and Alex Rodriguez's admission last Monday, the sport once again finds itself trying to find the right public relations move to make it look like it cares. Bud Selig was floating around the idea of stripping the home run record from Bonds and giving it back to Hank Aaron, but even Aaron realized that was a pretty dumb idea.

If you were to ask Ozzie Guillen -- actually you probably don't even have to ask him -- he'd just tell you that if baseball wants to send a real message about its anti-steroid stance, they should increase the penalties. Something like a one-year ban for anybody who tests positive.

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen suggested that players who violate Major League Baseball's drug policy be suspended for one year rather than the current 50-day penalty.

Guillen said the tough penalties would make a statement to fans that baseball is serious about penalizing violators and said people should distance themselves from the past.

Now Ozzie Guillen says a lot of dumb things, but this time he may actually be on the right track. If baseball really wants to send a message then stripping people of their records or putting an asterisk next to their names in a book isn't going to do the trick.

The best way to drive the point home to the players would be big-time suspensions. It wouldn't stop steroid use completely, but the idea of losing a year's service time and a paycheck would definitely make players think twice.