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I won't get me knickers in a twist until I see where BA ranks the brewers farm system. While BA isn't infallible, their whole reason for existence is MiLB and they have many more experienced talent evaluators in their intern pool than ESPN, yahoo, SI, or any other "professional" sports outlet.

I know we are Brewer fans, but Hernandez and Gallardo shouldn't be in the same sentence unless Felix is first and Yo is last and "is a much better pitcher than" is in between. Hernandez is a true top of the rotation elite pitcher and Gallardo is a very nice #2 starter. Any team that is foolish enough to think they are in the same category deserves to be hundreds of millions of dollars in the hole.

The simple fact is that Braun failed a drug test and the "why" isn't public. MLB supported the sample collector and the lab, I don't see anything wrong with that. From the league's perspective a player failed his drug test and should be held accoutable, that's reasonable stance and I don't believe it came with malicious "out to get Braun" intent. The problem with the entire Ryan Braun PED issue to me is that he was outed before the process was complete. It's pretty clear from the Cabrera case, once MLB issues a suspension they have already heard any appeal. In Braun's case they had not heard the appeal then it was leaked that he "failed" a test. It may be splitting hairs, but Braun doesn't fail the test until MLB declares him suspended. Where I fault MLB (aside from their horrendous response to the Das' ruling) was that they should have put out a statement when the leak came out that Braun had not at that point failed a test, then let his appeal proceed through the normal process. If the arbitrator agreed with Braun, nothing needed to ever be said about the process again and if the arbitrator sided with MLB then they could issue the suspension. MLB made an extremely stupid decision to ignore a proper response to the leak that could have made the whole process work better. "Ryan Braun has not officially failed any MLB and MLBPAA sponsored drug testing program" would have been the best one line statement for MLB to release at the time. If pressed by "journalists" they could simply say they will not respond to rumors. Instead, they hung him out in the wind and then when he successfully won his appeal had to attack the arbiter and the process that they themselves chose. I've never been very impressed with the brainpower in the commissioners office and in the MLB offices and this affair has just reinforced my views.

I think you should threaten too hold your breath until they do.....

Unfortunately, one of the greatest problems with the internet is a common belief that somehow because a yahoo or other website/blogger puts something out then somehow that means the info is real or true. i have no interest in hearing Costa's [expletive deleted], but I wonder what Boob would do if he was accused of taking illegal drugs. Let's see, the yellow pages must have a whole section on illegal drug experts. Nope. Well the DEA must have a helpline. Nope. Maybe i can contact a testing agency. Sure, but they have no interest in crossing the people that give them work (see Das, Shyam). So who can i contact. i know, there must be some scientist who knows all this stuff (see previous example). So who's going to help you prove that your innocent. the most likely assistance will come from someone who tries to beat the system and knows ways of preventing and refuting a positive test. It's silly and intellectually lazy to assume that there is a reputable place to go that is well known and are experts in understanding how a test for illegal drugs can be overturned. if they exist they also have a side door entrance where shady **** happens. I guess in this case it's best just to take the punishent, Boob, instead of trying to prove your innocence. Good thing Braun decided to spend a ton of money on lawyers and consultants to get the answer he needed.

I just switched to clear. They offer internet through their 4G cellular network. unlimited download for $49.99 per month. Advertised speeds were 2-6mps. i checked my coverage before switching and I was in the best zone. Since getting it (~30 days) I have routinely hit over 6 every time I've checked my speed at dslreports. the modem that connects to the 4G network has a wifi router for wireless g/n. the only downside is that the wifi signal is weaker than my old linksys s3200. streaming from netflix and amazon usually is HD and i rarely/never have buffering issues. the latency of the connection is very good and my downloads have been faster than with cable modem. you buy the modem $79 so there are no monthly rental fees (last service just started $5 per month lease fee). I am extremely happy with clear 4G and wob't be going back to landlines.....

The original story that came out about Braun was supposedly a leak from a "consultant" that Braun's people contacted. i wouldn't be surprised if Bosch was the leak and the main reason he isn't getting paid is that they (braun & his lawyers ) suspect or kwow Bosch was the leak.

not only shouldn't pitchers hit they shouldn't have to field in case they injure themselves. i propose a deignated fielder, positioned behind the pitcher who fields for the pitcher. the DF can also be useful at the end and beginning of the inning by carrying the pitcher to/from the dugout. Now could the DF also be the designated Wiper or would they need another player to wipe the pitchers butts so they don't injure themselves reaching around......

I think this is a bad deal for the Blue Jays. The best upside to the deal (Johnson) is only signed for 1 year and last year he didn't look recovered from his arm issues. Reyes and Buehrle are on the wrong side of the productivity peak and their deals are backloaded to cripple trade value. in return the Jays gave up young players who were improving and cost controlled all so they could compete for 3rd or 4th place. Sure the yankees looked old inthe playoffs and the red sox are crappy right now so i can see a belief that the AL east is weak right now, but theYankees have the $ and talent to be formidable in the season, baltimore will be competitive again this year and i think the Rays may "bounce back" and will be near or at the top next year. The jays just took on a ton of salary withnot a great chance of seeing the playoffs. silly......

Also someone will pick up a Loe or Parra and say how they can't believe the team let a lefty with 95 MPH heat go or a big guy with sink, etc. If we can just tweak this or that he'll be a great find. And they'd be a pretty uninformed baseball fan as both Parra and Loe have years of stats facing major league hitters. Their stats say a lot more about them than their scouting reports....

It should be noted that Saunders pitched well for Baltimore after they traded for him last year. They reportedly want him back. He also, reportedly, wants to go back. He's from Virginia and likes pitching close to home. Good. Saunders has Braden Looper written all over him. He's Suppan II without the fastball and intangibles.....

Maybe one of the coaches think they can fix him. They should have been concentrating on Axford, Veras, and Henderson and if they were then the have no hope of fixing Leon. Bullpen churn......

a top of the order of Aoki Weeks Braun Hamilton ARam would be very impressive. Do you spend $20m per for 5 years on Hamilton or the same (ish) on Greinke? Hart will likely only be here 1 more year. Gomez is gone for sure next year. Aram is way on the wrong side of the career peak so we will be needing to replace 3 bats over the next 2 years. A pre-emptive move to address the offense IF THE DEAL IS TAILORED IN THE BREWERS FAVOR does make some sense. the upper levels of the farm system lacks impact bats so i could see a hamilton signing makes sense for the current window of being competitive.

Maybe the brewers told him they weren't going to exercise the option. i think Segura showed enough at the end of last year that the brewers felt they didn't need a $4M insurance policy and could get a cheaper backup (Bianhi?)

i'm dancing for joy - in my head.....

The brewers need a top of the rotation SP, not another arm to compete with the younger SP. while Yo is a very good #2 he just doesn't cut it as a #1. Haren has shown the ability to be a top of the rotation starter and he fits much better than a washed up vet FA who will probably need 3 years to sign. adding a starter who can pitch deep into games often will help solve some of the bullpen issues. a rotation of Yo and 4 'young' guys is going to mean a lot of 3 inning games for the bullpen again and any weekness in the pen will be exposed nightly. we need at least 1 high ceiling vet who can pitch deep into games. there aren't a lot of options and i think Haren would be a perfect fit for the cost. if he continues to have back problems we still have depth with young sp.

You don't want to see Jay and Silent Bob dealing outside Tosche Station? I would love to see Jay and Silent Bob acting in a zero atmosphere environment. For all of 15-20 seconds or until they splatted the camera........

It didn't sound like he was too keen on testing the trade market as he doesn't want to give up his young arms. Melvin's on the far side of 50 so his arms aren't young anymore. I would be impressed with his dedication to the team and organization if he did give up an arm to make a trade happen.

Here's a partial look at the uniforms. The Astros new unis are pixelated. Now that's original....

Would like to see how much cash is going KCs way, but a meh reliever for a youngish SP isn't great return. I'd imagine this lowers Haren's value a bit given his injury history. As long as someone signs Lohse ASAP we won't have Suppan III and Wolf II to look forward too.

Anything that wrestles control of the series away from Lucas is good in my opinion. His creative high point was prior to release of SW4 so all he can do is tarnish the brand.... Now Kevin Smith could be linked to SW7 and I'd have to reconsider my opinion.....

For me it was the teams in the playoffs, but since MLB has seen 7 years of consistently poor WS ratings I doubt it's always the teams for most fans. To me the greatest issue with the playoffs is the drawn out schedules. We have a regular season with a few off days per MONTH to a post season where it always seems there's an off day. Tighten the schedule and get away from the travel off days. There's no reason a 7 game series shouldn't be done in 8 days (if it goes 7) and 6 days for the 5 game series. Why did the Yankees/Detroit series start a day before the cards/Giants. Since the Tigers swept and the NL series went 7 there seemed to be a week with only 1 series going. My other beef, which probably doesn't effect the ratings is the continual change of the series locations. A 5 game series should be Home, Home, Away, Away, Home for the higher ranked team and for 7 games - H, H, A, A, H, A, H. The playoffs are huge revenue cows, making the argument that a H, A, H end to the 7 games series is too expensive because of extra travel is MLB pinching pennies. The teams play a 162 game schedule and the best ranked teams deserve the benefit. It was stupid to have the wild card team at home for 2 games to start their series then 3 away.

I think we can all see exactly where this one is headed... I had that feeling in the top of the 5th when Johnson basically left a wild and toast Gio Gonzalez give away 2 runs. I stopped watching at that point because I knew the Cards would come back and win. No point in watching the rest of this disaster of a playoff run.....

I'm starting to believe this league is rigged like basketball. The cardinals have average talent at best once again and they're no doubt going to win it all... unreal. Well there certainly are biases by the umpires. Whether intentional or not I don't know. I gave up watching game 5 of the Tigers/As series when the Tigers scored and it was clear any pitch that Verlander didn't bounce over the plate was going to be called a strike so there wasn't much of a chance the As would score. Verlander is an excellent pitcher, but he doesn't need the umpire calling everything within a foot of the strike zone a strike.

so we are screwed?