Braun suspended

[TheBee]

I have no idea who is using and who isn't. I've been burned before with guessing. Last year I posted that after looking at his 2007 AA campaign and his 2011 AAA production, I believed that Chris Davis still had room to grow at the MLB level...that he hadn't maxed out his potential. It is wonderful seeing Davis have this season, and I love rooting for him. I will believe him when he says he is clean, but if he were to get caught, I would be horribly disappointed, his numbers would be ruined, and if he was still with the Rangers doing this and got caught using, I wouldn't want to bring him here to Baltimore. So, I don't want Braun. Character matters. Doing things the right way matters.

[Can_of_corn]

I think that all players get banged up. I think you could DL 60 percent at any time. He has pitched better now that he is healthy.

He has pitched better now that he is in Chicago.

Do you think it was a legitimate use of the DL or do you think the O's tried to game the system?

[weams]

There are eighty current names affiliated with this investigation.

[weams]

You don't fight when the evidence presented against you clearly shows that you can't possibly win. It seems likely that by taking a punishment greater than 50 games for a first time offender that Braun's dabbling in ped's was not a one-time affair. Rodriguez should wish he'll only get suspended for the rest of the season. I think they will absolutely lower the boom on him. Not just for use but for obstruction and possibly more.

And regardless of whether MLB "bought" or "coerced" evidence, it's apparent the evidence was undoctored, convincing, truthful and indisputable. Anything less and Braun and others don't cop a plea and the union doesn't leave them hanging.

Braun was reportedly shaken by the level of evidence that was presented to him. MLB did not even need to make a threat do longer suspension. Braun gladly signed off on the plea to keep that evidence from coming to light. This was a Canceco like involvement on his part.

[Can_of_corn]

An arbiter who deserved to be fired. Braun should be thrown out of the game. The MASN is slow paced has nothing to do with Bud. There is a contract. Angelos isn't going to be ripped off.

I don't know your logic in your arguments in this thread. Bud is doing good with this investigation. Even the union is coming out against the players in this scandal.

Why did the arbiter deserve to be fired? Was the chain of custody not compromised? The arbiter was fired because he ruled against the owners, pure and simple. There was nothing wrong with his decision. Yes Braun got off on a technicality.

The MASN slow pace has everything to do with Bud. It is his job to settle disputes between owners. Do you honestly think this case is so complicated that with all the resources at his command that it needs to take YEARS to settle?

Sorry, paying for testimony and extorting witnesses is not doing good.

You may think that any sin committed in the name of cleaning up baseball is warranted but I don't.

[weams]

He has pitched better now that he is in Chicago.

Do you think it was a legitimate use of the DL or do you think the O's tried to game the system?

I think he had been undergoing treatment. I think the outing that lead to his DL was in part caused by the strain.

[SeaBird]

Braun was reportedly shaken by the level of evidence that was presented to him. MLB did not even need to make a threat do longer suspension. Braun gladly signed off on the plea to keep that evidence from coming to light. This was a Canceco like involvement on his part.

It would not surprise me in the least if Braun, when confronted by MLB, did some chirping about his fellow Biogenesis patrons to get, what in my opinion, is a slap on the wrist and a sweetheart deal.

And it sounds like the evidence they had on Braun pales in comparison to the goods they have on Rodriguez. I'm sure his lawyers are working at a fever pitch as we speak to work out some kind of deal for him. That shoe is going to fall quickly along with the others.

[Migrant Redbird]

I think that it was wrong to have an owner (yeah, I know former) named commissioner in the first place.

Selig works for the owners. It's their prerogative to hire one of their own if they choose. When baseball historians look back on this 50-100 years from now, they may decide that Selig has been the best commissioner baseball ever had.

I know there are a lot of "Selig haters" who have vilified him and can't let go of their long held convictions, but I think they're wrong.

... PED use exploded among players under his watch.

PED usage "exploded" in the sixties, but it became more effective in the seventies and eighties, then made a quantum improvement in the nineties thanks to all the research BALCO and others were doing with the Olympic athletes.

USA Today, May 3, 2005

Former major league pitcher Tom House used steroids during his career and said performance-enhancing drugs were widespread in baseball in the

1960s and 1970s

...

House,... said he and several teammates used amphetamines, human growth hormone and "whatever steroid" they could find in order to keep up with the competition.

"I pretty much popped everything cold turkey," House said. "We were doing steroids they wouldn't give to horses. That was the '60s, when nobody knew. The good thing is, we know now. There's a lot more research and understanding."

... House,... estimated that

six or seven pitchers per team

were at least experimenting with steroids or human growth hormone. He said players talked about losing to opponents using more effective drugs.

"We didn't get beat, we got out-milligrammed," he said. "And when you found out what they were taking, you started taking them."

If we assume that House's estimate for pitchers is more or less accurate and that hitters were doping as much as pitchers, then approximately half of baseball players in the sixties and seventies were using PEDs.

Of course, House is grouping amphetamines with steroids and HGH, but they are all PEDs and they were all illegal then just as they are now. I doubt if it was significantly higher in the nineties, but we really don't know for sure. We have to admit our lack of absolute knowledge in this area. It's possible that Cal Ripkin Jr. and Stan Musial used amphetamines and steroids, for all we know. I doubt it, but it can't be ruled out completely.

... He didn't seem to care about any long term affects of the drug use or the "integrity" of the records. You know why? Because chicks dig the long ball! To your quote in bold. Please, being a Social Worker is a thankless job. This guy is making over 20 million a year. I think that's thanks enough.

Even before Selig took over, the commissioners were trying to discourage PEDs usage, but they were blocked by the intransigence of the Players Association. During discussions last night on MLB, it was pointed out that Marvin Miller was a particularly vehement opponent of any testing or other violation of players individual rights. It took the threat of congressional action before Don Fehr and the Players Association capitulated and consented to an effective (more or less) testing program and severe penalties. (I wouldn't even be surprised to learn that Selig asked Rep. Henry Waxman to initiate those House hearings.)

Now we have the new Players Association chief, Michael Weiner, making statements which represent a sea change from the formerly obstructionist tactics of the union. Last week, Weiner said the union is not going to defend players who are obviously guilty but will urge them to cut a deal with MLB. Yesterday, he said "I am deeply gratified to see Ryan taking this bold step. It vindicates the rights of all players under the Joint Drug Program." It sounds like the union now recognizes that its obligations to the players who are clean outweighs their obligations to the cheaters.

Other steps being discussed: increasing the penalties and allowing teams to void contracts of players caught using PEDs. It won't happen retroactively, so Braun's and A-Rod's guaranteed contracts are still safe, but that may change in the future.

On a related note: Packers QB Aaron Rodgers loses Twitter ?bet? after saying he'd wager his $39.5 million salary that Ryan Braun was clean

Not that Rodgers will ever pay up. I wouldn't. Doesn't sound like the bet was ever formalized.

[Ohfan67]

If the O's got Braun, they could start their own PED O's HOF: Palmeiro, Roberts, Gibbons, Sequi, Grimsley, et al.

If the O's got Braun, then I would puke.

But thankfully there is no way Angelos, DD, and Buck would touch this guy now. I think.

[Tony-OH]

The guy is a total cheater and fraud. He's probably been juicing since college or maybe even before. The worse part was his previous denials. Nothing worse then a guy who stands up and denies everything until the evidence is so overwhelming that he has to come clean. Glad to see baseball systematically removing these cheaters from baseball but they need to start kicking them out of the sport instead of suspending them.

[weams]

It would not surprise me in the least if Braun, when confronted by MLB, did some chirping about his fellow Biogenesis patrons to get, what in my opinion, is a slap on the wrist and a sweetheart deal.

And it sounds like the evidence they had on Braun pales in comparison to the goods they have on Rodriguez. I'm sure his lawyers are working at a fever pitch as we speak to work out some kind of deal for him. That shoe is going to fall quickly along with the others.

They did not need Braun's chirping. He was shocked by the evidence and agreed to the first deal offered that would keep it out of press. The evidence is long term, compelling, and settlement worthy. They are only giving up money and pride. No one is going to prison.

[Guest rochester]

Do you boo Roberts? <a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h367/isestrex/Emoticons/huh.gif" border="0" alt=" photo huh.gif"/></a>

Character my friend, character. If I recall, Roberts never threw someone who lost his job under the bus. IMO, if you screw with someone's life like that there is no character. That is not a thought process that will ever completely change. If someone you worked with got someone else fired through their lying, would you want that person in the cubicle next door?

[Tony-OH]

A-Rod is going to get hit even harder. I hear they have far more evidence on him and also I read somewhere that he interfered with the investigation.

Yeah, you have to imagine the Yankees are just hoping his suspension will come out before he has to be activated. Amazing how he suddenly had a quad injury after going through a full rehab. They don't want him anywhere near the team.

[Can_of_corn]

I think he had been undergoing treatment. I think the outing that lead to his DL was in part caused by the strain.

I think that if he had been pitching well that his injury would not have necessitated a DL visit.

[Tony-OH]

I'm not looking for a Braun on roids. I'm looking for a low cost, low risk, high upside investment tied to what would certainly be a performance based contract tied to routine testing. Unlike Bonds, Braun has owned up to the issue at hand, accepted responsibility, apologized and accepted his punishment. By the way, he's suspended without pay. Not sure he'll put his career at risk again after this. Lastly, the guy has awesome talent and would upgrade LF for us.

Have you seen Braun's contract? What in teh world makes you think he's low cost? Do you think the Brewers are just going to trade him away while eating his salary. I just don't get your points here at all.