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Dontrelle Willis, Khalil Greene, and Justin Duchscherer. What do these three names have in common? Well, to start, all three are professional baseball players. Willis and Duchscherer pitchers, Greene and infielder. All three are on different teams than the one they debuted with. And all three have been diagnosed with anxiety disorders and depression. I have a theory that will seem far fetched and off the wall. I will be ripped apart for it by some, but i think some may find i have a good point. I'm not trying to accuse anyone. I'm just going to throw out the facts. We'll start with Willis. 8th round draft pick out of an average baseball college. Didn't have amazing stats at the start of his career. He was traded in a deal involving the cubs. the cubs gave him and some other prospects up for a couple major league pitchers, as happens every year at the deadline. Willis gets a callup at the end of 2003. He performs well. Wins Rookie of the Year. Makes the team in 2004 and has a good year. He seems to be a future stater for the Marlins. 2005 comes around. 22 wins. Considered by some to be the best young pitcher in the game. Ace of the marlins for years to come. Then 2006. He drops off some. Has a few injuries. Doesn't live up to the massive hype, but still has an above average year. 2007 he declines even more. He gets traded to the tigres with cabrera. Has a hideous year in 2008. He was even demoted to the bullpen at some points. He keeps getting hurt and sucking it up. The Tigres don't know what to do. He gets sent all the way back to SINGLE A. 2009 is no better. He is continuing to struggle and nobody knows what to do. he has been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.

Now for Khalil Greene. Great college player. Tons of potential. Average minor league stats. made it to the majors in 2003 in September. Didn't do so great. 2004 he was great. Finally got adjusted. Second Place in ROY voting. Slowly declined each year after that, getting injured more each year. After 5 declining seasons in San Diego he gets traded to St. Louis. He struggles and is diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.

 Justin Duchscherer. Average college player. Gets drafted. Plays a few average minor league seasons. Gets traded from Boston to the Rangers. makes a quick debut and performs terribly. Gets traded to the A's. Suddenly has amazing minor league numbers, gets a callup and does well in the bullpen. Pitches there for about 2 years. Gets moved back to the rotation and does great. Leads the MLB in ERA and makes the all star game. then slows down. they try him in the bullpen and he struggles. He's always had injury problems, so he is placed on the DL and found to be clinically depressed.

Now lets look at the commons. All 3 had average minor league stats at first. All struggled a little at the beggining, which is common for rookies. But then they took off. Whether it be due to getting adjusted, like willis and greene, or a new role like duchscherer. All three had a good season or two, the only downfall being injury. Then all three began to decline quickly,seeing more and more DL time. Willis and Greene were traded and continued the decline. Duchscherer saw his role switched constantly. All three eventually were diagnosed with anxiety and depression. All three made quick debuts in 2003. Willis was ROY. All three played their first full season in 2004 and performed well abouve average. 2005 all were great. In 2006 Greene's power increased. Willis and duchscherer pitched great. In 2007 all declined. 2008 Duchscherer pitched great while the other two declined. Then the trades and all fell apart.

Steroids were rampant amont players in the late 90's. They continued into the early 2000's when testing was just beggining.  In 2003 primitive testing was institued. The first offense was a warning. This didn't phase players on bit. It wasn't until around 2005 that the league started coming down hard. What does this have to do with these three players who have been diagnosed with mental disorders? all started their professional careers off slow. they suddenly took off for about 3 to 5 years. Once 2005 hit, all began to decline. Duchscherer saw one good year in 2008. Other than that he declined with the other two at the same rate. In the end, all were diagnosed with anxiety disorders and depression.

It has recently been argued that anabolid steroids can cause depression. These three players were hot when steroids were rampant, fell off when testing took off, and are now depressed. I think there's a connection here. I don't want to accuse. I'm just saying it looks rather fishy to me. I would like to know what other people think. It could explain the rapid decline for Willis and Greene after their stellar rookie years. both were expected to save their franchises. And Duchscherer was a minor league nobody. an average prospect at best. He moved to the pen and had initial success, but it wore off. Then he had one good year and disappeared. I think my point deserves a look due to the evidence. The evidence doesn't prove that any of these three players used performance enhacing drugs. But i think it's a possibility. What do you think? I'm up for constructive criticism and a good debate. It does'nt even have to be a debate. If you agree that would be cool, or if you'd just like to say something. All comments are welcome as long as they aren't attacking