Dominican pitcher Bartolo Colon has stem cell surgery on elbow. Is this surgery a Performance Enhancing Drug?

Earlier this May, the Dominican Baseball Guy blogged that Dominican pitcher Bartolo Colon had off-season regenerative surgery using stem cells on his elbow.  Do you think this is in the same class as performance enhancing drugs?

Well, first off the Dominican Baseball Guy would say yes.  This surgery is not offered in the United States.  This type of surgery normally uses human growth hormones, but since MLB outlaws these hormones, the doctors used Colon's own stem cells from his back.  Sounds pretty similar to PED to the Dominican Baseball Guy.

But, the procedure is not illegal, under MLB rules.  So, the Dominican Baseball Guy cannot chide Colon for breaking MLB rules.  Much like in the pre-steroid era, Colon is playing within the rules, even though it may not be in the spirit of the game.

And most recently, the doctor who performed the surgery has said that up to ten pitchers have inquired about the surgery.  It is obviously against the spirit of "no PEDs."  Let's get this figured out and into the next MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement please, before we have a post-stem cell era.

Colon is from Altamira, DR.  He is in his 14th big league season this year with the Yankees.

 Colon with the White Sox in 2009, by Keith Allison on Flickr