narwhalattack

Ryan Braun is a smart guy. If he claims that he was taking a medication and forgot to get approval, I will have a hard time believing him. Steroid use destroys a ballplayers reputation and chances of getting into the Hall of Fame. Someone of Ryan Braun's caliber should be taking every step possible to preventing a positive test. I hope this story updates soon so all the speculation and rumor can stop Well if it's not a PED, he can't necessarily be labeled as a cheater. Of course you are right in being skeptical, though, but aren't some ingredients in medicine a little bit inconspicuous? I don't think it's blatantly obvious.

I'm rying to keep this part of my brain locked away, and remain optimistic, but every "win now" move makes it more & more difficult. If we win back-to-back division titles, and maybe even make a World Series, then going through a rebuilding period won't be as hard to stomach, but it would be terrible to miss the playoffs and miss the opportunity to trade away some very marketable trading chips to rebuild on the fly this year. People like to speak of "the weak NL Central." The Cardinals and Reds should be very good this year. The Cubs won't be good, but they have some talent and aren't "gimmie" games. The Astros stink, but no other division has a 6th team and they'll be gone soon anyway. The Brewers have a talented team this year, but it's very possible that through July (much of the time playing without Braun), the Brewers could be third in the division. If that's the case, I would rather "sell" and get some good young talent than play for the hope & prayer that we turn it around in the second half. As Robin19 alluded, Melvin has not been a seller in the recent past, even when it looked like he should sell. If we're down in the standings I'll be hoping for a big selloff this year, and instead we'll probably trade some of our prospects for a band-aid which won't be enough to push us to the playoffs. I guess I'd look at this year as: Division Title/Playoffs > selling at deadline > missing the playoffs and letting some or all of Wolf, Greinke, Marcum and K-Rod walk If the market is good enough this year, and our trading chips could bring back enough return, I'd probably even trade in a "decent shot" at a playoff appearance to avoid seeing that much talent walk away for nothing, and having us in major rebuild mode (with little payroll flexibility) for the next few seasons. That's what I'm afraid of. Melvin's gonna be so obsessed with winning that he's gonna trade for some band-aid "proven veterans". He's always had an obsession with proven veterans with decent track record. He even stuck with Suppan for 3 years.

At least if it's medicine related(and Braun forgot to seek approval from MLB), he can be criticized more for stupidity than for cheating.

What illusion? They've made the playoffs 2 of the past 4 seasons and in 2007 were an Aramis Ramirez homer away from ending tied for the division title.Sure, it's not an illusion, but...What about the farm system? They've absolutely demolished the farm system to get it this position. Yes, the Brewers managed to compete very well in the process, but how long will they keep it up? Eventually they'll have to replenish the major league rotation with the farm system.

For the upcoming draft I'm hoping that the Brewers go with the HS route. Perhaps a HS arm or two, along with a couple of HS bats. One thing I don't like is how this club always want to keep the illusion of being in contention, hence shelling off prospects for expensive vets and not allowing rookies to play. The FO never wants to admit that they're not contending.

I'm a little wary about extending Marcum. Because he is an extreme junkballer, he needs to rely on changing speeds and pinpoint location to be successful. I'm not entirely sure how long he'll be able to keep that up. If he becomes a little off in terms of location and difference in speed, then he's gonna get hit HARD. Plus, his mechanics isn't the cleanest one out there so he's also an injury risk. As for Greinke, his stuff can give him room to make mistake and his mechanics are clean.

One player that interests me is Lewis Brinson. He seems to have the potential to have solid tools across the board, but is still very raw. Seems like a good high-risk, high-reward type of player.

1) Wily Peralta 2) Jed Bradley 3) Tyler Thornburg 4) Taylor Green 5) Taylor Jungmann 6) Caleb Gindl 7) Jorge Lopez 8) Nick Bucci 9) Brook Hall 10) Scooter Gennett 11) D'Vo Richardson 12) Cody Scarpetta 13) Yadiel Rivera 14) Drew Gagnon 15) David Goforth 16) Orlando Arcia 17) Michael Reed 18) Chris McFarland 19) Jimmy Nelson 20) Danny Keller 21) Hunter Morris 22) Kentrail Davis 23) Max Walla 24) Ruben Ozuna 25) Santo Manzanillo

If it is down to Toronto and Seattle, I think Toronto has the edge because they still would have money to spend and have the players to be competitive. Of course if Seattle is desperate enough and decides to give Fielder a gargantuan contract, it may be different. But I doubt they'll contend even with Fielder. Ichiro's not gonna last forever, and soon it'll be down to Ackley and Fielder. And considering how the Angels and the Rangers are, they're not gonna catch up. But then again, Anthopolous is scared out of his wits to offer a contract that lasts for more than 5 years, so it may be pretty even between Seattle and Toronto. Edit: The Mariners also have Smoak, but it still would be tough to compete against the Angels and the Rangers.

I think we could make a separate thread about a reader driven P50

I'm a little bit skeptical about the Mariners. For one thing, Fielder wouldn't be the only missing piece in the puzzle. They still have other holes to fill. Sure they have a top-notch rotation, but their lineup in general is terrible and they're gonna need more than one offensive catalyst.

If that's true, perhaps the sample was tainted?

You know, if the substance is not a PED, then it would soften the blow even if Braun's gonna be out for a while. His reputation won't be as damaged. Of course the suspension would still have a detrimental effect on the season itself, but the blow won't hurt as much.

At least getting caught using a non-PED banned substance is better for his reputation than getting caught for using PED's.

And you're 100% sure he's a juicer how? Just by believing what some reporters said without there being any arbitration process and without an official suspension given? I'll believe you if and once Braun starts serving his suspension.

This is the flaw with modern journalism. Some journalists today are obsessed with getting the most scandalous reports of people, whether an official verdict has been reached or not. They're constantly bloodthirsty and do not care much about ethics. All they care about is money and fame. If a verdict has been reached and then the news came out, it would be a whole different story.

Apparently there was a second test on the positive sample and it came out negative.

The Rangers are thinking about trading away Moreland to the Rays for Wade Davis.

Well the article you read about Toronto being the leading candidate to sign Prince may have used an unreliable source, and their GM clearly said that he's refraining from giving out long-term deals.

Hopefully not the Cubs.

Well, you beat me to it. So that leaves the Jays, Nats, Rangers, and possibly the Orioles. Maybe the Cubs if the front office is willing to take a huge risk.

I'm not saying that it's impossible for the Rangers to sign Fielder, but I'm saying that 1B isn't an immediate need for them.

Although there's great skepticism that most of those 7-8 teams would be actively pursuing Fielder.

Then that would leave the Brewers, Rangers, Blue Jays, and the Nationals. The Rangers already have Moreland so 1B isn't much of a priority, although they might go after Fielder just for the sake of having more offensive production. The Nationals already have LaRoche and Morse, although they could move Morse to the outfield and move LaRoche to the bench. The Jays could use another power hitter to compliment Bautista, but their GM already stated that he's reluctant in giving out long-term deals and said not to expect any huge signings. The Brewers do not have an above-average replacement for Fielder so they have a legitimate reason to sign him. But if he doesn't lower his demands a deal seems unlikely.

Not just that, but you get the impression that teams aren't willing to give out big long-term deals greater than 6 years to players that have injury history's or that are on the wrong side of 30 and that are getting older. With Jose Reyes, there were reports that many teams didn't want to go above 5 years for him, because of his injury's. Now there are reports that the Phillies (who have money) who wanted to re-sign Rollins wouldn't go above 3 years when Rollins is seeking 5 years. Sounds like many teams that have money (not that many) are trying to be conservative and smart with the money they have. That could always change, so we will find out more in a couple days, but so far it doesn't look like it. The only team that I can see giving Fielder a 7-8 year contract is the Cubs, but you wonder with a new GM and ownership if they will be smarter and not hand out big long-term deals that are risky like signing Fielder. Are the Cubs even able to spend big this off-season? If the Cubs aren't going after Fielder, then a 6 year deal or less could possibly be enough to sign Fielder which I can see the Brewers doing. I'm a little skeptical about the Cubs signing Fielder. I doubt Fielder is THE missing piece of the puzzle with the Cubs. I would think that they would need other players to turn them into a competitive team.