TheCouga23

I have to admit...it would be a pretty clever move to instantly jolt your testosterone levels to absurd levels as soon as you got knowledge of a coming test...and then later use it as evidence that the testing process doesn't add up. You don't have time to clean out your system, but it probably takes little time to suddenly add a ton more. MLB will still probably suspend you, but at least you've created doubt in the public's eyes...which is a much bigger deal from Braun's perspective. I'm definitely not saying that this is what happened, but if you get notice of a test and you know you're not clean, trying a move like this is better than the alternative. I'm not sure how possible this would be, and what the side effects would then be as well, but it's definitely something somebody could try as a last resort. I'm the last person to care though. If he got caught, than there's a punishment...50 days and a loss of close to $2MM in salary. He's not some sort of god in my eyes...he's just some dude doing anything he can to get ahead, and if he owns up to the fact that he tried to cheat and comes back clean and leads us to another division title after "serving his time," I'll still like him as much as I do now.

...on a more serious note, if Braun comes back from this and continues to mash, people won't think much of it. Its not like he turned himself into a human meatball like McGwire or Giambi. I know steroids work for skinny players as well, but it gives him slightly more legitimacy that the former. I guess I don't really care much, other than having him miss 50 games is going to suck. Steroids don't turn quadruple A players into All-Stars...they take people who are already pretty good and give them a slight edge. Bonds, McGwire, and Pudge were all fantastic hitters before they even bulked up. If Braun can come back and mash, people won't forget, but it will become less of a big deal. One thing's guaranteed though: this definitely marks the end of "Beast Mode"...which now could be seen in an entirely differnt light... ;-) (hopefully that's not "too soon")

Y'all are overlooking the most obvious exlaination: Braun is just four times more alpha than your average player.

There is absolutely no way we sign Fielder. K-Rod accepting arby only makes it more of a slam dunk that we won't. He's as good as gone. Only a matter of time. It's already been reported that the payroll won't go over $95 million. K-Rod will put it up to $80 million minimum, and then we will struggle to fill the roster and keep it under 95. Signing Fielder is virtually impossible now. Only way to make it happen would be to trade away not just one, but probably 2-3 high paid players. Won't happen. I don't know. I don't think the Brewers are going to let one season's budget dictate who is on the team for the next 5-6 years...at least I hope not.

I don't really see this as a huge disaster. It's only one year, and between Axford and KRod, the average we're spending on both of those guys would be like $7MM apiece. I think together, they'll provide that much value. We were going to spend at least $3MM on Hawkins anyways, and KRod is significantly better. Not $10MM better, but still. I feel like we're going to re-sign Fielder anyway. Melvin's been bluffing and playing hardball all along. Going after Rollins and/or Aramais were as much of a decoy as a backup plan. The truth is that there isn't another team out there that has a shot at the playoffs any time soon that wants Fielder besides the Brewers. I don't think Fielder's the type of guy who would take a few million extra to play on a losing team. He wants a ton of money...otherwise he would have never hired Boras as his agent. But he's got to be thinking about going back to the playoffs as well, and no team with playoff hopes next year is really all that interested in him. The Blue Jays are the closes thing, but other than that, the Mariners and the Orioles are the only other teams I've seen expressing serious interest.

The most surprising thing about this is K-Rod's ego is fine with being a setup man for an entire year. Melvin is playing hardball with Boars re: Fielder...not making any offers that Boras can shop around to drive up the price, pretending to be moving on, etc. There doesn't seem to be much of a market for him, and the Brewers had already given Fielder a decent enough extension offer last year. The Yankees, Red Sox, Tigers, Phillies, Diamondbacks, Reds, Braves, Rangers and Angels all have their 1B/DH positions pretty much filled, and the rest of the contending teams like the Giants don't have Fielder-like money (ironically, in the Giants' case, because they've been royally screwed by another Boras contract). Even marginal teams like the Royals and Indians pretty much have the position filled. LOL @ the Orioles and the Mariners getting into a bidding war with us and handing out crazy enough money that Fielder would turn down another shot at a World Series just for an extra few million. I can't help but wonder if Boras advised K.Rod to accept arbitration just to smite us...for not playing along with his little games where we can give out an offer and he can claim that his infamous "mystery team" has outbid us, and thus we must raise our offer lest Fielder go elsewhere. This doesn't seem to be the best decision for K Rod.

Luis Gonzalez or Kenny Lofton would be my first two choices here. They both had pretty good seasons last year despite their age, and both wouldn't break the bank. This team needs veteran leadership as well as a LH batting LF. Luke Scott is definitely a risk. He hasn't played a full season yet in the majors, and he will be 30 next year. And will the Astros even want to trade within the division?

I wrote them all down, but I wasn't a member of this forum when the season started. This may not be the proper thread for it, but so far if the season ended today, 6 of my 8 playoff teams would be in the playoffs with the only other two (the Philadelphia Phillies and the Yankees) a game or less out of the wild card. Here are my preseason record predictions:

I predicted 86 wins and 1st place, too. I still think that is pretty reasonable. This is the first time this group is playing under this type of pressure, and they are mostly very young. It's much different to play in the minor leagues under the radar of the national media, or on a major league team that a .500 record would be considered great. With the ammount of talent this team has, it might take a year like this for them to get used to the spotlight. Before the season began, I predicted 86 wins, and I wasn't even figuring in the Braun and Gallardo factor, and their hot start. I now think that talent-wise, this is probably a 90-win team. But I think the pressure really is getting to them. Everyone is trying to do too much. They are impatient at the plate. They are getting out of their game. This is why I wish they could acquire a veteran bat to hit behind Fielder to kind of take some of the pressure off the young guys, but the fact is, no veteran bat was available to fit on this team. Whether they make the playoffs this year or not, I think this will be a good learning experience for a team that is clearly the team of the future in the NL Central. Unfortuantely, the free agent market this offseason is pretty sad, so I'm not expecting a veteran bat to come unless it be via trade. But I think next year, this group will have better learned to deal with the pressure of being in first place.

***** the Cubs. There, I cursed them. ("*****" violates guidelines. Please give What kind of language is not allowed? a reread.)

The Tigers are the best team in baseball right now with Rogers back and Miller taking Maroth's spot in the rotation. When Zumaya and Rodney come back from the DL in a few weeks, they will be even tougher. Coupled with that, the Tigers have a fairly easy schedule the rest of the way. I wouldn't be shocked if they won 100 games.

God I hate the Cubs. I want to set a "roach trap" for their fans somewhere near Wrigley and get like an acre of stickey paper and place a 24-pack of Old Style cans and a sorority girl with too much makeup and a little beer belly in the middle of it. Then after I get bored of watching these klutzes that get inebriated after three beers trying to paw at ugly but prissy girls and cheap beer, just throw the paper into the lake and be done with it.

Change the logo full time to the old MB ball & glove logo. I bet merchandise sales would double. Everyone I know loves that logo, even non-baseball fans. Then perhaps we could get a national following as the little guys taking it to the big guys. Everyone understatnds that we can only shell out about a third of what the Bankees shell out to build a winning franchise. That storyline could sell.

Hmmm, I think I like it with the underbars above it better... http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

Test. I'm testing out my new signature. Go Brewers!