Over the first few days of spring training in Jupiter, one running theme has unintentionally emerged - the presence of accused cheaters. They've been the subject of many conversation regarding camp which, after reading Patrick Imig's recent post, should come as no surprise to anyone who follows the Tony LaRussa-led Cardinals.
Today, the 314 Power Rankings looks at the most prominent accused cheaters that are related in some way to the Cardinals spring training.
5.) Mark McGwire - The connection to the team and organization is obvious since he did his most steroid-infused damage while wearing the Birds on the Bat, but his name was thrust to the forefront a few days ago when LaRussa accidentally left him on the roster of coaches appearing at camp. According to Tony it was a typo, but a typo that was the result of the manager sending a personal invite to Big Mac to serve as a spring training hitting instructor. McGwire has not accepted. Hey, if you're going to employ loads of former steroid users, you might as well learn from the master.
4.) Bill Belichick - Okay, full disclosure: I have no clue if Patriots coach Bill Belichick has made an appearance in Jupiter. My guess is that he probably will at some point and frankly, his friendship with TLR, in addition to the allegations of cheating via recording other team's practices and sidelines, is enough to score him the #4 slot on the rankings.
3.) Ron Villone - The book Moneyball was essentially a study on how A's GM Billy Beane was forced to scour the baseball market for undervalued assets due to his limited budget. I'm beginning to think that John Mozeliak has determined that the market inefficiency in 2008 lies with fringe players who were at some point accused of doing roids. Pitcher Ron Villone, most recently of the Yankees, became the most recent player brought into the Cardinals organization that falls into that category, his name having appeared in the Mitchell Report. Villone was signed to a minor league contract in hopes that he may be an effective long reliever. Not real sure the words "performance enhancing" should be placed in front of any drugs that Villone has taken recently.
2.) Juan Gonzalez - Another player who has garnered quite a bit of attention this spring is the previously-forgotten Juan Gonzalez...who was also mentioned in the Mitchell Report. If there ever was a case of guilt by association, Gonzalez is it as his roster of former teammates includes a stint in Texas where he played alongside Pudge Rodriguez (suspected roider), Raffy Palmiero (confirmed roider) and Jose Canseco (self proclaimed roid kingpin). As noted in Derrick Goold's piece in today's STL Today Juan says he's always been clean, but having a prominent role in Canseco's book, Juiced, to go along with a dramatic drop-off in career production never helps one's image.
1.) Troy Glaus - The big third basemen doesn't snag the top spot due to the severity of his allegations, rather because he's the most important to the team. I doubt there are many people who see Ron Villone or Juan Gonzalez playing a large role in the Cardinals 2008 season. But Glaus' production in place of the rapidly declining Scott Rolen is an undeniable key to the season. His tie to the steroid scandal is an accusation lobbed by an SI.com report from September of last year that claimed he had received shipments of HGH in the '03 and '04 seasons. True or not, he's in a place now that clearly has no problems with players carrying steroid baggage.
Is the Cardinals repeated dip into the steroid crop a case of the team recognizing that it's close to impossible to avoid players who have some connection to PED's in today's Major Leagues or is it just a disregard for what some fans view as a measure of a player's character? I guess only each individual fan can make that judgement for themselves.
The real question is - how much money is Barry Bonds looking for?
4.) Bill Belichick - Okay, full disclosure: I have no clue if Patriots coach Bill Belichick has made an appearance in Jupiter. My guess is that he probably will at some point and frankly, his friendship with TLR, in addition to the allegations of cheating via recording other team's practices and sidelines, is enough to score him the #4 slot on the rankings. 
