This isn't going to be long-winded or anything, but I'm thrilled that Beattie, Flanagan, Perlozzo and whoever else have come to this decision. I wanted him gone last month, but he just kept on being around.
The thing about Palmeiro is that a lot of people always gave him credit for being classy, and if you ask me, it would appear as though that was sort of a total sham. Palmeiro was never cornered like this before, never hounded by the media, never had any real spotlight on him except for hitting his 500th homer (which wasn't even a huge deal) and getting his 3000th hit (which was a bigger deal but still, not as big as a lot of other things we've seen). No one ever really paid attention to Palmeiro. No one cared. He was a year-in, year-out good player, but no one cared. This is why Skip Bayless and others would question his Hall credentials. They had never really given him close attention.
Now he's got it, and we get lying, excuses, and now Tejada injecting him with (according to Tejada) B-12, which is legal. I'm done with Palmeiro. He's a liar, he's a cheat, he's a scam. Palmeiro would be best served to walk away now and forget this, because if he comes back next year with Kansas City or Tampa Bay or Pittsburgh or whatever, it's not going to be any better. There's really no place to hide from not only being a cheat, but now being a rat as well.
Frankly if he's telling the truth (and I consider anything he says to be a stretch at this point), then you can't totally argue it, but what does Palmeiro get out of this? He's a 41-year old ballplayer at the end of his line in all regards. Does he want to bring someone else down with him, or at least go out trying to?
The bottom line is, screw Rafael Palmeiro. I've defended him to some degree this season, but I'm done with that. If this new bit turns out to be as much bullshit as some of us seem to think it is, the only thing he could do to redeem himself is finally give up this charade and just admit that he took a steroid and that it was his decision. Miguel Tejada didn't tell him it was the cool thing to do and stick a needle in his hindquarters while he wasn't looking.
On the other hand, a lot of this just goes to prove Palmeiro is human and has faults that in time will likely be forgiven. Pete Rose is an icon, after all. He isn't quite the ignored saint many had made him out to be. In fact, it doesn't seem like he's anything close to that.