On Thursday, the Dodger leftfielder became the first superstar to test positive for a banned performance enhancing substance under Major League Baseball’s new drug-testing policy. As a result Ramirez, one of the best right handed hitters of his generation, will spend the next 50 games of the season watching from the bench.

Although the announcement of Ramirez’s positive test may come as no surprise to the legions of fans that have become conditioned to view every statistical feat through steroid colored glasses, the question remains: why would Manny cheat? Going into the 2009 season, he was a surefire hall-of-famer with a resume that included twelve all-star appearances, two World Series rings, 500+ home runs, and nine silver slugger awards.

Well, perhaps Manny had been cheating all along. In a sport that rewards performance with lucrative contracts that feature crooked numbers followed by a trail of zeros, Ramirez definitely had a financial incentive to juice. The same holds true for Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, and any other professional baseball player over the past 10 years. In fact, the beginning of the steroid era can be traced back to the late 1990′s when the salaries earned by the highest paid players in the league began to dramatically outpace the average Major League salary.

Compiled using data from USA Today

When viewed in this light, the steroids epidemic in baseball begins to make sense. From 1999 to 2009, the highest paid player in Baseball was associated with steroids in some way. Five of the top ten highest paid players in the game in 2007 turned out to be associated with steroids as well. When all that stands between a ballplayer and a ten-fold increase in salary is a needle, should we be surprised if some of the players choose the money over the morals?

If, in fact, Major League players are using steroids because of financial incentives, the league’s current attempts to end the steroid era will not work. As Manny’s test results have proven, the drug testing policy works as a detection tool – which is good.  At least now fans will know where to draw the asterisks in their Bill James Handbook.

But, Manny’s suspension may have also proven something else:  the MLB drug policy is not working as a deterrent.

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