It is and It isn't

A big deal, that is.

50 game suspension is about a third of the season. That's a lot of games. That is a big deal. He's by far the biggest star to get popped for PEDs. That's a huge deal. And ESPN gets on its knees for all things Boston, so for them this is like a hot-white-girl-disappearance-for-cable-news big deal.

But ESPN projects (statistically) a minimal effect on the Dodgers' wins total and chance of winning the division.

Assuming that's the case, Ethier and Kemp will have 50 games to show that Manny's presence isn't the reason they're about to fulfill the potential the front office and the fans have seen.

Manny will benefit from getting a "Shaqation," the mid-season stretch of games missed that helps keep an aging superstar fresh for the stretch run. Granted, Manny's is not the result of surgery postponed specifically to ensure such a rest, or injuries resulting from subpar fitness, but still.

More important, Manny will return ready to kill. If last season's post-trade tear was any indication, his desire to prove all doubters and naysayers wrong will be scary (that's me trying to get in Manny's head [admittedly a fool's errand] because any rational person could say such a tear wouldn't prove anything but that he's taking more easily hidden PEDs).

Also, the Dodgers stand to save about 8 mil in salary, though I don't know what they'll lose in ticket sales during Manny's absence. That dough could make the difference for a late-season acquisition.

Does it seem like I'm saying there's only upside here? Yes, that is what I'm saying. Am I getting all Jim Tracy by asking and answering my own questions? You tell me. Am I? I am.

Which is strange, because Lord knows (and so does Mike Brown) that I am Dodger Blues to the core, one sour, worst-case scenario, everything-sucks-and-they're-all-idiots Dodger fan.

I can't explain why I'm optimistic on this one. Perhaps it's because I clung to Manny and Albert Pujols as two HoF sluggers who were just that good, no PEDs necessary. And I still think that's the case.

Perhaps Manny did have ED problems and didn't want the stigma of being prescribed Viagra or Cialis, and his doctor convinced him he had some slightly different condition that HGC could remedy. We know Manny lives in his own world, right?

Maybe I just want to live there, too.