Canseco should take note that Mitchell, an Irish catholic, was instrumental in establishing the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland without his background affecting his judgment. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and received an honorary knighthood from the UK.

He is also half Lebanese, but served as a special envoy to the Middle East under Clinton and now Obama, and received praise from the head of the Anti Defamation League for his fairness and judgment.

Keep in mind that Mitchell has served prominently on many boards for many companies and has held numerous positions within public service and that his consultant position for the Red Sox was comparatively insignificant, but spelled out in his report.

His report did not claim to be a complete list of steroid users, but it did represent an exhaustive list of names of players, for whom corroborated and documented evidence from the available sources, including Brian McNamee, linked to the purchase and acquisition of performance enhancing drugs.

I don't doubt that there were Red Sox players, who used steroids, that didn't make the list, just as I believe there were other players from every other team, who weren't found out. But I do not believe that Mitchell withheld information or refused to investigate a trail in order to protect the Red Sox or Marlins. His reputation in higher matters is too valuable to risk over this study.