A thought on some damage control

So the news of Sammy Sosa's alleged placement on The List wasn't exactly news...

Lance:
"That's not that surprising at all. There are just certain guys that you pretty much know without coming out and making an out and out accusation, but it does not surprise me, not even a little bit."

This story is going to be on the front page of baseball sections for a couple of days, and it's going to hit Sosa's chances of making it into the Hall of Fame, fairly or unfairly (that's a debate for another time).

If MLB wanted to do the players on this list a favor, and there is an extremely good chance that MLB is not interested in this idea, then there's a simple way. There are a little over 100 players who tested positive in the anonymous testing that is getting less and less anonymous. Legacies and images are being tainted with every name that comes out in this test, and again, this isn't exactly bad from a fan's perspective, but it's certainly bad for Bud Selig and the H.M.S. MLB.

But if every 4-6 weeks a new name comes out, MLB gets the black eye right along with those players who are exposed. How best to deal with this? Short of modifying the memories of investigative reporters, MLB could just release the whole list. Can you remember, without looking, every player in the Mitchell Report? Of course not. But you can name every single Major Leaguer to get a 50-game suspension - even JC Romero, who quite possibly got screwed by a GNC - this season. And you're going to remember everyone else from here on out.

So by releasing the whole 100-something names, it goes from a national story to a regional story. The New York Media probably won't key in on guys on the list who played in Minnesota, or Atlanta, or Houston. We'll always remember, but by releasing the whole thing, there would be too much information to cover, and the information would overload the ability to cover it on the same level that A-Rod got and Sosa is getting now.

Is this Right? Probably not, but it's the best last chance MLB has to spin some damage control.