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I interviewed Natalie yesterday, she simply blew me away with her honesty and her candor. Please enjoy... http://www.baseballintheblood.com/?p=186

Close represents Derek Jeter and Ryan Howard, and was just recently hired by Mark Teixeira, following Teixeira's split with Scott Boras.

Real Housewives bugs the heck out of me.

http://s.ecrater.com/stores/68455/49a44ee4f14f9_68455b.jpg

We were at the game Thursday, and the one that was called due to rain on Sunday. I'll post some photos when I can, I loved the experience!

Loose interpretation of the impact on a man's body, with the ingestion of three times more testosterone than any other man has ever shown...

This is why I never believed Braun "did it." MLB has been testing players for PEDs for several years now, I don't know exactly how many, but for this discussion, let's go with 8 years. Ryan Braun's urine sample tested for a level of testosterone that was THREE TIMES higher than ANYONE had ever tested for. While you consider this, don't forget, this would include any player who has been caught, and has served a suspension under this program. What do you suppose was the recorded speed of the most egregious speed limit violator on I-90 over the last eight years? I'm sure the actual speed was much higher, but since we play nice here at Brewerfan, let's say that fastest speed was 100 MPH. If a driver passed you on I-90, going three times faster than the fastest speed recorded in the last eight years, or in this case, 300 MPH....do you think you would have suspected this fella was speeding even without the help of law enforcement? Yes, of course you would...you would notice that this car was moving much faster than all of the other cars, even the naughty cars...you could see that for yourself, even if no one ever showed you a reading of the car's speed. OK, so we're supposed to believe, that while Ryan Braun got no bigger, or stronger, or faster, or had any changes in mood or demeanor, he somehow DID have three times more testosterone in his body than any other MLB player has had in their body over the last eight years. Not only do I find that completely implausible, I doubt it's scientifically possible. Testosterone is intensely powerful, it produces a swift and measurable result, which is precisely why cheaters use the stuff. It completely defies logic to think that someone could cram THAT MUCH of the stuff into their body with no outward signs of it...in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it caused something on the level of cardiac arrest or stroke. I realize, challenging the positive test result in itself would put the player in an almost "no win" situation, because the player bears the burden of proof...you'd get a highly scientific version of "is too, is not"...you'd also get a 50-game suspension. This is why Braun's team chose to attack the testing method, or in this case the chain of custody...and guess what, an independent arbitrator upheld the appeal...for reasons none of us have heard yet. The bottom line is, for me, it is the test result itself that made me believe this was a "not guilty." Anyone with any understanding of hormone therapy would know...you simply cannot put a "fly me to the moon" level of testosterone in your body, without showing outward signs of it...testosterone is much more powerful than that.

Bob Costas on the MLB Network... "Here, I think, the combination of factors has raised true reasonable doubt about Ryan Braun's guilt, and since Ryan Braun is such a likeable person, as Matt mentioned, camera friendly, well-spoken, I think he's going to get past this."

Follow me for a minute... This player has been tested time and again without issue, he shows no obvious statistical spike, no physical or emotional changes...then suddenly he tests for a testosterone level that's literally twice the level any player has ever tested. This, at a point in history, when several people have been caught cheating and subsequently admitted their guilt. This player is tested again, showing no issue, while also showing no sign of a masking agent, and then we learn the sample was collected on a Friday, in St Louis, during the playoffs, but not delivered to Fed Ex until the following Monday. Seriously, folks, is ANYONE going to tell me there's no "reasonable doubt" in this picture?

I talked to Chipper Jones today. I see him once a year, and I always tell him to get himself traded to Milwaukee. When I said it today, he said, "You guys have a really good third baseman now, Aramis is really good." I agreed, then I said, "Well, can you play first base?" He gave me a "Hell yeah!" Then, I said, "Braun was framed", to which Chipper replied, "I sure hope something's wrong with that, he's one of the really great guys." We talked about Ryan for a minute, and what the chances are of him avoiding suspension, he posed with me for a quick picture, and I was on my way. Chipper really does seem to like Braun, and he absolutely does hope this whole thing blows over and goes away...I just thought I'd share that.

The Case for Larkin

One thing that keeps getting skipped over, but has never added up for me... The reports are that Braun had an insanely high level of testosterone, and that the testosterone was shown to be synthetic....but he is said to have taken a banned substance, NOT a PED, which synthetic testosterone most assuredly is. I believe there are key details that have yet to be leaked in this case, because, as ridiculous as this explanation may seem, it is simply not possible to have sky high synthetic testosterone in your body, unless you ingested synthetic testosterone. HGH, for example, DOES NOT introduce synthetic T into your body...it causes your body to produce more of its own natural T. If you took a PED, that's what you'd have in your body. If you took a banned substance, yes, it may cause you to have high T levels...but you can't get SYNTHETIC T into your body without ingesting exactly that. This makes no sense...Braun did not take a PED, but he somehow managed to have an unbelievable amount of T in his body, which was synthetic...that, right there, appears to be a contradiction. I have no knowledge at all when it comes to the testing process, but I do understand hormone therapy...this is some very strange math.

Does anyone still want to argue on behalf of the good people who first reported this story? If you still can't see why confidentiality is a big deal, and why major media outlets have absolutely no business reporting partial truths, speculation, or just plain inaccurate "tips"...so far, we've got STDs, thyroid disease, and "He's been cheating since college, and I know a guy who knows a guy who knows it", among other things. The truth is...no one reading this knows what Braun tested positive for, and no one here can even say with certainty that he did have synthetic testosterone in his system. Braun has been convicted of nothing. Braun has been suspended for nothing...and just look at the circus. If you believe Braun is guilty because someone reported that he had synthetic T in his body, then you must also be believe that he simultaneously did and did not test positive for a PED, and that he's got a medical condition which is at the root of all of this...because those things have been reported too. Thank you to the "journalists" who spewed out fractions of an actual story...PT Barnum had nothing on you.

Can anyone help me with this? We have a report that Braun did NOT test positive for a PED, but that he did test for a banned substance. We have a report that Braun had synthetic T in his system. Does that not seem contradictory? Wouldn't synthetic T be considered a PED? Braun obviously tested positive for something, which set this whole thing off, I'm not suggesting otherwise, but isn't it possible that at least there has been some very bad reporting on this subject? I realize someone could take a "banned substance" that would lead to increased T production by the body, but that would not be synthetic T. How is it possible to not test positive for a PED, but to then show synthetic T in the body?

Does anyone know whether MLB classifies synthetic testosterone as a PED, or if it's considered a "banned substance?" To me, it is clearly a PED, I just don't know if MLB calls it one. One of the things that really has me puzzled on this thing is, there's a report saying Braun had synthetic testosterone in his system, which was discovered after the initial, sky-high testosterone reading. Well, we also have a report saying Braun did not test positive for a PED, that he tested positive for a banned substance. If synthetic T is a PED, and if he did not test positive for a PED...the report saying he had synthetic T in his body is a false report. I've thought a lot about this, as I'm sure most of you have, and the truth is, at least at this point...I believe Braun. You just don't get a sky-high testosterone level without some outward signs that things have changed. We've all seen it many times with players from 10-15 years ago...very obvious physical change following massive hormone ingestion. If not this, there would be mood and emotional changes...you just can't blast testosterone into your body and not have major impact...there's a reason you can't buy the stuff in discount stores. If he did it, we don't know what he did...we haven't been told what substance he tested positive for. There's a ton I don't know about PEDs, but I do have some knowledge of hormone therapy, which I outlined a couple of pages back - IF Braun "did it", I believe he would have had to have started taking something within days of being caught, otherwise there would have been noticeable changes either in his body or his game performance. This is always possible, he may have done it within days of being tested, but if he did actually have sky-high readings of something, it actually makes me skeptical that he could have just started something. To get a huge reading would either take time to build the substance up in your body, or you'd have to absolutely blast your body full of the stuff in a few days...which I just don't think you could do without showing outward signs of change - for instance - cardiac arrest. It doesn't add up to me, but of course, there's a lot we don't know yet.

I figured it would take three years, and I guess this is the price you pay for filling holes via free agency. I wish it was two years, but that wasn't very realistic...if it had been four years, I would absolutely hate it. I don't mind adding Aramis to the lineup, I think he'll help this year, but I don't expect him to hit like he did last year for three years...there will be at least some buyer's remorse before this contract expires.

ninja33 is right...there's just no way Braun can pull "TRT" out of his pocket after a positive test result and claim innocence. It's testosterone, of all things, you'd have to be cleared by MLB to use it before hand, and if that happened, they'd never make an issue of a positive test, because he'd have an exemption for it, and everyone would just say, "He's going to his doctor, to change his regimen, and get back within normal levels." Allowing exemptions for one stimulant or another is one thing, but flat-out allowing players to blast huge doses of testosterone would completely contradict anything they might call a "testing program." I simply don't buy TRT in this instance, not for one second. If that's what Braun did, he didn't even do it well, and oh, by the way, testosterone has a CIII classification as a controlled substance...the same as a narcotic would have. If there are doctors, pharmacists, athletes, etc out there dumping this stuff...it will not end well.

Bnowell, if Braun went with "I'm hypogonadic"...I would lose respect for him immediately, and I'd know he was lying. Read through that list of symptoms and think about Ryan Braun for a second....that's not him. A hypogonadic man has a loss of energy, a loss of muscle mass, increased body fat, particularly "belly fat"...Braun is not hypogonadic, and if he was, MLB would know he was taking prescribed T, and under a doctor's supervision, the synthetic T would not blow him up to extraordinary levels in his bloodstream. If Braun ever says he's using TRT to treat hypogonadism...I will never believe another word he says.

The reason I don't believe this was abuse of TRT is, if the reports are true, a closer look at the T in Braun's failed test showed it to be synthetic. Honestly, this would be harder to do than using something like HGH or Chlomid. HGH and Chlomid do not introduce synthetic T into the blood...they cause increased production of natural T by the body. If you blasted insane amounts of synthetic T into your body, your brain would recognize the elevated levels, and would turn off your own natural production of T. This means, you'd have to start blasting away with T, HUGE doses to get a sky-high reading...huge enough to cause the reading in the first place, and then to override the subsequent decrease in natural production. To have a crazy-high reading of synthetic T, you'd have to be loading mammoth amounts of synthetic T into your body....and believe you wouldn't get caught. Now, come on, you'd have to be really stupid, or really arrogant to think you could pull that off at this point. This wouldn't even be sophisticated, this is simply piling on HUGE amounts of testosterone, knowing that sooner or later you'll be tested...while believing you won't be caught. Nothing I've ever seen, heard, or read about Ryan Braun would lead me to believe he'd try something so foolish. IF, Braun had blown-out levels of synthetic T in a blood test, I don't even see how that could have been caused by a supplement...unless there is some supplement out there that can somehow introduce synthetic T into the blood. We don't have all of the information, who knows what the failed test actually showed, but I don't believe for one minute that Braun could have had crazy high synthetic T, and then normal T in a short period without showing outward signs of the intense changes, and I don't believe Ryan is just plain bull-headed enough to think he could pile insane amounts of synthetic T into his body without failing a test. Honestly, I believe something is wrong with the initial test, or Ryan may have inadvertently discovered a supplement that screws up the testing process. This is not based on emotion, this is based on what I know about TRT...it would be hard to get to the levels he seems to have tested at without being just plain dumb.

Bnowell, it's just not as simple as that. It depends on what form you use, for what length of time, and how your body responds to it. Could a man use TRT to blast his testosterone levels sky-high? Yes, but if he did, there would be signs that he had done so....mood changes, etc. If you were to do this, and then stop, odds are you'd have impaired your body's own ability to produce and regulate testosterone production....causing a crash...not a simple return to normal, but a crash to below-normal testosterone levels. This would be accompanied by a loss of energy, loss of focus, possible memory issues...some men literally become house bound. The one way I could see Braun using TRT, would be if he had literally just started to do so when he was tested...only a few days. Maybe he did, but I really think either a botched test, or an oral supplement which impacts test results are far more likely. My guess...not guilty, or he took some form of supplement that he didn't realize would cause a positive test....the information we have is very thin, but I don't believe this was an out and out attempt to cheat. This stuff is just too powerful, if his T levels were extraordinarily high, someone would have a clue long before they called a doctor.

I have knowledge of TRT, and believe me, this isn't making any sense to me. There are multiple forms of TRT...use of Androgel, which is topical, absorbed through the skin...use of Testim, a cream, also topical, pellet implants, which are placed under the skin, releasing testosterone into the bloodstream, testosterone injections, human growth hormone injections (this causes the body to produce testosterone), and Chlomid, which is a female fertility drug, which also causes testosterone production in men. Not every lab uses the same measuring scale, but the most common method considers blood testosterone levels of between 300-1000 to be "normal." This is a wide range, as you can see, and levels vary widely from one man to the next. If you use the cream, gel, or injections, your body decreases its own production of testosterone...the artificial testosterone floating around in your bloodstream registers with your brain, which causes your brain to stop signalling the testes to keep producing....your own system shuts down, which among other things, causes testicular atrophy. If someone intentionally spiked their T (testosterone) levels to an extraordinarily high level, which seems to be where Braun was measured...that man would be risking mood swings, fits of rage, all kinds of issues...not the least of which would be an increase of estradiol, or E2, which is a form of estrogen. When a huge load of T shows up in the blood, the body uses what it needs, then converts the excess to E2...among the fun and games can be gynecomastia, or breast growth in men. To swing from a very high level of T to a normal level of T in a hurry, you'd have to be blasting something into your body, and then stop cold. I have no idea what the blood levels on Braun were, and I suppose it's at least possible that you could blast T for a few days, happen to get tested just then, and then stop (though that seems an extraordinary set of circumstances to me). Honestly, I think something's amiss. If a man blew his T levels through the roof, and then quickly came back to the normal range...I would expect to see mood issues on the way up, and quite possibly on the way back down, perhaps accompanied by lack of focus, loss of energy, memory fog...all sorts of things. Testosterone is exceptionally powerful. Men who use the topical applications are cautioned to wash their hands, to avoid passing even trace amounts on to those they come in contact with...and also to leave a t-shirt on during "special moments", to avoid T absorption by the lady in their life. My two guesses...a screwed up test result, or the consumption of a substance which would cause a screwed up test result. We really don't have much information, but if it's true that Braun's level was sky-high, and then normal, within two weeks, I doubt it was through intentional hormone absorption.

Right now, I'm upset that this was reported at all. It's in the process of appeal, which is to say, nothing at all has been decided.

The Brewers' lineup is set beyond first base and third base right now. They could go with McGehee/Green at 3rd, or McGehee/Gamel at first...so I thought I'd look at some options, to see how they compare. I have no idea what any of these guys would cost, and I have no idea if team management has any interest in any of them beyond Aramis. Three year averages, with 2012 age... Cuddyer - 22 HR, .277 average, .807 OPS, 1.7 WAR, age 33, 2011 Salary - 10.5M Pena - 32 HR, .216 average, .815 OPS, 1.7 WAR, age 34, 2011 Salary - $9,959,996 Ramirez - 22 HR, .288 average, .840 OPS, 1.3 WAR, age 34, 2011 Salary - 14.6M

Given the remaining options, this was the SS I wanted. Furcal has simply been hurt too much in recent seasons for me, especially given Weeks' history right there next to him. No, the Brewers didn't just sign a game-changer at SS, but yes, they absolutely did just sign a defensive upgrade, which works for me. It's not a huge commitment in either years or dollars, and it should provide at least a defensive upgrade...seems like the smart move to me.

Users bug me. People who simply will not do for themselves, but who always find a way to get someone to do it for them...really get under my skin.