What’s that? I can’t play baseball during my ENTIRE Suspension?

The L.A. Dodgers recently had sellout crowds - for their Single-A and Triple-A affiliates. Why, you might ask? Because Manny Ramirez was in town for those games on his 'rehab assignment'.

Rehab? Was Ramirez returning from an injury? No, instead he was preparing to return from his 50-game suspension for testing positive for Performance Enhancing Drugs.

I'm fine with letting players go on rehab assignments - in fact, having a minor-league team in the Cleveland Indians organization not too far down the road from me, it is often fun to see big name players come into town as they recover from a variety of injuries before they head back up to the big leagues.

But a rehab assignment for a player that was on Performance Enhancing Drugs? That sounds like a rehab assignment that should be taking place at a hospital, not a minor-league stadium.

Still, if the Dodgers felt like Ramirez needed to 'work his way back up', that's fine. What irks me, as well as MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, is the fact that Ramirez, as well as other players, are starting these 'rehab' assignments while they're still under a MLB suspension. Unfortunately, loopholes have been found and taken advantage of - and this will continue until at least December 2011, when the current rules for MLB will be reevaluated and agreed upon again.

A suspension should be just that - a player that is suspended should not be permitted to play for any MLB Minor League Affiliate, as the suspension should go across the board. Also, if Ramirez was going to do this 'rehab' assignment to get back in shape anyways, why didn't he spend his entire 50 game suspension in the Dodgers farm system? I mean, if you're going to bend the rules, why not go all out and just do a tour of the various minor-league affiliates of the L.A. Dodgers?

In my eyes, a suspension is a suspension. If you have a MLB contract and Major League Baseball has suspended you - whether it be for Performance Enhancing Drugs, or slugging a player in a bench-clearing brawl - a suspension should carry across the entire realm of Major/Minor League Baseball.

Keep stopping by and see what I'm ranting about next!