Via The Book Blog (long excerpt) and BBTF, Bronson Arroyo speaks very candidly about using supplements, even ones not approved by Major League Baseball. He gets to the heart of the matter here:

He says fans and the news media are more concerned with cherished records falling than they are with whether steroids or supplements will have an adverse effect on a player’s health.

“I can see where guys like Hank Aaron and some of the old-timers have a beef with it,” Arroyo says. “But as far as looking at Manny Ramirez like he’s (serial killer) Ted Bundy, you’re out of your mind. At the end of the day, you think anybody really (cares) whether Manny Ramirez’s kidneys fail and he dies at 50?

“You were happy if the Red Sox won 95 games. You’d go home, have a cookout with your family. No big deal.”

And here:

And if Ramirez or Ortiz or any other player was taking banned substances, Arroyo says the notion that teams have ever been concerned with anything other than wins, losses and money is absurd. The St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants sold thousands of seats and won games with McGwire and Bonds, respectively.

“If Mark McGwire is hitting 60 homers, the only thing that matters is his performance,” Arroyo says. “People don’t own teams to lose money. If you ask any owner whether they would rather make $20 million and come in last place or lose $20 million and win a World Series, there’s only one guy who honestly would take that championship: George Steinbrenner (of the Yankees). Nobody else.”

The whole article is worth your time.