However, if the Cardinals were to simply say "We don't want ANY PED users on this team" then they'd have no team.  That is the only way to make sure they don't have any if you follow that policy to its logical conclusion.  It is a simple fact that no one has any clue who all has/will use PEDs at some point.  I mean, Brian Roberts and Gary Bennett were named in the Mitchell Report for crying out loud!  Those are among the most random people to be PED users I've ever seen!  What happens if it comes out that Skip Schumaker(first name I could think of) used PEDs?  What proof do you use to boot him off the roster?  The word of some reporter with an axe to grind?  A guy who worked out with him one time a few years ago in Podunkville Gym?  

I'm not saying that the Cardinals or any other team needs to just throw their hands up in the air on this one.  They need to do whatever they can to educate their players on the dangers of PEDs.  They need to have strict penalties for anybody caught using (failed drug test).  But they can't just start making decisions based on past PED use.  It's the FO's responsibility to put a winning product on the field.  That's it.  No matter what we fans say about "class" or "professionalism" or whatever, that's just a collection of buzzwords that get in the way of objective business decisions.  The Giants went to the WS with Jeff Kent and Barry Bonds on their team, and you didn't see SF fans up in arms b/c they were winning sans class.

For the record, I am a parent as well and see what you are saying about "protecting your kids" and what not.  But that's our job, not the St. Louis Cardinals' job.  Its frustrating knowing that our kids are so hypnotized by TV and the crap they see on it.  But it's my job to explain to them why what they see in unrealistic and innapropriate for real-life behavior.  I'm lucky, b/c my two oldest kids are girls who play basketball and volleyball and could give a crap about baseball.  But if my son ever wants to know why he shouldn't use 'roids, the first thing I plan to do is talk about Lyle Alzado and Chris Benoit.  

BTW...This post is brutal.  I started about 4 sentences with "but."  What is wrong with me?

I have grown so tired of fans trying to take the moral high ground, claiming the Cardinals have a moral obligation to field a PED-free team.  I don't think this issue is a moral or emotional one, myself, but I suppose it is for some people.  However, aside from the problems of knowing who took PEDs, for how long, their legality, and weight of the evidence, these concerns are a mile wide and an inch deep.  I guarantee these "morally conscious" fans you allude to were cheering just as hard as anyone else when Big Mac was hitting monster HRs, when Rick Ankiel was hitting homers last year, and will be cheering along side everyone else if the Cards and their former PED-using players make the playoffs next year (or the year after that, or the year after that).  Stand on your morals if you want and don't watch the team or cheer for suspected users -- but you don't simply get the benefit of standing on a moral high ground by making a post on a blog.  

You can't have it both ways -- you can't make "emotional comments" based on "moral concerns" if those comments and concerns aren't backed up by facts and at the same time complain about other posters arguing against you.  Emotional comments and "moral concerns" don't get a free pass -- they get the same treatment as all other posts on this site; all are open to scrutiny and debate.