Will Baseball's Mitchell Report Tell the Whole Story?

In response to the public's decreasing tolerance for steroids, Major League Baseball commissioned a panel to investigate the sport's recent history with performance-enhancing drugs.

Much like when Commissioner Bud Selig picked friends and cronies to author the Blue Ribbon Panel on Baseball Economics in 2000, Major League Baseball again turned to friendly faces to issue what should have been a non-biased report on an important matter.

Selig chose former Senator George Mitchell to conduct this report. Mitchell has an impressive resume, having served as Senate Majority Leader and having been instrumental in the reauthorization of the Clean Air Act and the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, to name just two of the many highlights of his career.

But Mitchell is also heavily involved with the Boston Red Sox. The team's official media site lists him as the sixth person in its Front Office Directory, under the heading "Officers", where he has the title "Director". It is an open question if he has a financial stake in the team (Mitchell said he did during a 2004 interview, while Selig said in October of this month that he did not.) but even without an equity share of the team, there is no doubt where his primary allegiances lie.

The investigation by Senator Mitchell has been a slow and (hopefully) methodical one. It has stretched over two baseball seasons and now appears to be ready for public consumption. Rumors have the report being delivered this week, possibly Thursday.

At this point, if anyone knows the findings of the report, they are not talking. Allegedly, even Selig does not know what information will be contained in Mitchell's findings. We do know that the Senator has asked to speak to both former and current players, including 11 members of this year's free agent class.

We do not know if Mitchell asked to speak to any of the owners about what they knew and when. I hope that he did. Because if Mitchell did not investigate how complicit ownership was with the proliferation of PEDs in Major League Baseball, his report is at best flawed.

It is important to know how much ownership was aware of PED use by its players because if teams knew that their players were using illegal substances and did nothing to stop it, they have played a giant part in creating the Steroid Era. Management has been quick to take the high ground in this crisis in order to score public relations points, but it is unknown how legitimate that position is.

Mitchell is already dealing with the appearance of a conflict of interest by heading this investigation. If he did not actively seek out his colleagues among Major League Baseball "Officers", we will know for sure that this conflict of interest is more than an appearance. The report will immediately be neither fair nor balanced.

Another troubling aspect of this report is the level of cooperation Mitchell has received from the government. Former Mets clubhouse attendant Kirk Radomski was arrested by the FBI as part of a sting operation by IRS special agent Jeff Novitzky, best known for his BALCO busting ways.

Radomski reached a plea bargain with the government, where he admitted to distributing steroids and laundering money. As part of his plea bargain, Radomski agreed to cooperate with the Mitchell investigation.

Anyone concerned about the government over-stepping its authority should be outraged that a private investigation should merit such significance.

Somebody within Major League Baseball has enough influence with the Federal Government to make Mr. Radomski's testimony in front of a private investigation be worthy of inclusion in a plea bargain.

I love sports but it frightens me that Major League Baseball has that much pull.

And there's been absolutely no outrage about this from our supposedly liberal media. This is the equivalent of the government offering Joseph Hazelwood a plea bargain if he testified to a panel investigating Exxon hired by Exxon's Board of Directors.

Everyone is looking forward to the Mitchell report. We are going to find out a lot of previously unknown information on an important issue and the potential repercussions are staggering. We've already seen retroactive suspensions handed down by the Commissioner for prior PED use by Jay Gibbons and Jose Guillen this fall.

If the Mitchell report lists names (likely, but not definite) we could see a ton of suspensions and likely litigation between the players and owners in what has been a peaceful time in labor relations for the sport.

I want to know which of the millionaires cheated. And I want to know which of the billionaires looked the other way and didn't ask any questions as long as the money was rolling in.

I encourage everyone to read everything they can about the Mitchell report. But read it with a critical eye. Because if no mention is made of the role of ownership in this crisis, there is no way this investigation can stand as the final verdict on the Steroid Era.

Sources:

Doug Pappas: Blue Ribbon Silliness, Part 1

Academy of Achievement: George J. Mitchell

Boston Red Sox Front Office Directory

Newsday: George Mitchell has big supporter in Bud Selig

AP: Mitchell asks to speak to only 11 free agents

MLB.com: Former Mets employee pleads guilty