Sox' Williams: It's fraud
White Sox general manager Kenny Williams on Thursday didn't express much sympathy for Los Angeles Dodgers star Manny Ramirez, who was suspended 50 games by Major League Baseball after failing a drug test in spring training.
"My reaction to Manny is not an isolated reaction," Williams said. "It's the same as any reaction I've had to all these guys. I think it's fraud. You enter into a deal with a certain understanding, a certain expectation of past performance and projection of future performance.
"From my perspective, if I enter into a deal with a player with those assumptions, it's incumbent upon them to be above board with everything, and if they're not, I think it's fraud."
Williams said Ramirez has no excuses.
"Major League Baseball has put forth a drug enforcement initiative that is outstanding," Williams said. "It has broken ground in sports. And it has been simplified to the point where if anyone has questions about this coffee that I'm drinking now, then you can go to a trainer (or) conditioning people. If they don't have the answers, they will very shortly get you the answers. So there is really not too much excuse, as far as I'm concerned."
Ramirez's suspension is another black eye for a sport that has seen other big-name stars (Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire) face the music.
"I'm not going to judge anyone," Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski said. "I don't know the situation. It's just a bad situation for everyone involved."
Jim Thome and Ramirez were teammates with the Cleveland Indians from 1993-2000.
"I know about as much as you guys (media) do," Thome said. "I was coming to the ballpark and heard what had happened. If anything, it shows that Major League Baseball is trying to clean our game up and do the things they have to do. That's really all I will answer on that."
White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen agreed with Thome on MLB taking a hard stance.
"Unfortunately, it happened to one of the best players we have, to me the best hitter we've had in the last 10 years," Guillen said. "But the players have to be aware now that this is not a joke. This is for real and we have to be aware of that."