fondybrewfan

Yeah that is way to much money. Best defensive catcher in the game but you don't pay $15 Million a year for good defense and adequate offense.

Local team pulled a huge upset in the opening round. Oakfield beat Fall River in a 2/15 matchup.

Braun shouldn't have to prove that the chain of custody issues resulted in an error in the testing for purposes of his appeal; however he really does have to prove that to win over the public. Whether or not he really cares what the public thinks outside of his teammates and the state of WI is anyones guess. I just hope the Das written ruling is leaked; everyone says its going to stay confidential but for a case like this I think it will get out somehow

I didn't mean to imply that I actually prefer yahoo's and ESPN's method of reporting on this case. I still find it extremely odd that this information is out there and no other outlets has even mentioned it. Even if ESPN has pulled crap in the past I have to believe it would be of some interest to them and they would report on it. Thats all I meant. Carroll seem like a legitimate source and he knows what he is talking about; but I am just a little hesitant in accepting his article as fact. I am sure someone has passed his article on to Passon or F-Wade and even though those two are against Braun I still think they would address it or at least say there sources dispute that claim.

Of course the test was ruled invalid; but even that seems pretty questionable given that at this point because the error wasn't that outrageous and there has been no proof that the sample was tainted, that it wasn't properly stored, or that it was degraded when it got to Montreal. Maybe the only reason Das ruled in favor of Braun was because the sample was kept at the guys house for 44 hours; if that really is the only reason that is incredibly weak in the absense of any kind of proof that the sample was tampered with, incorrectly stored, etc. Maybe just the fact that the sample sat there for 44 hours was enough for Braun to win but it certainly doesn't instill any confidence in me that Braun didn't do anything. There needs to be something more. I know the chain of custody thing has beem hammered home here quite a bit and it certianly is good cause for winning the appeal; but it does nothing to show Braun's innocence because there has been no evidence at all the the chain in custody breach resulted in altering the outcome of the test. Sure Braun can't 100% prove that it altered his test but at the very least inquiring minds would like to know how it is possible that the 44 hour window changed the outcome of the test. To this point only Will Carrol has attempted to go down that road and I don't buy that other media organizations aren't pursuing that angle purely for sketchy reasons. If they had reason to believe that Will Carroll's info was accurate I am sure they would run the information. The Carroll stuff has been out for 3-4 days now and there has to be a reason no one else is reporting on it other than it doesn't fit there story profile.

So what is the over/under on wins for them this year? Man they are going to be bad I am going with 65 but I could very easily see them under 60

IMO it is becoming increasinly unrealistic to suggest that anyone knowingly tampered with the samples. With no new information coming out recently in support of Braun it is becoming increasinly hard to believe that he didn't get off on a techniciality. I still hope there is some missing info here; and if there is I don't know why Braun hasn't addressed it yet.

Passan really ripped into Braun again with his most recent column. However the more and more I think about the situation the easier it is for me to at least understand where these guys are coming from. I have me reasons for believing Braun is innocent but it would be extremely easy to be on the other side. There aren't a whole lot of facts in Braun's favor other than actually having the suspension overturned. There is no way the collector is going to say anything of significance or anything that he already didn't tell the arby panel. It will be pointless

So there is a possibility that one of the lawyers that Braun reached out to initially was the one that leaked the info to ESPN? If that is the case that guys career is over; you can get disbarred for breach of confidentiality can't you? I really hope that Braun just has another monster year in 2011 which will make it easier for people to fathom that he has been clean. A couple of years of continued MVP caliber play and this offseason's story will only be an afterthought. Everybody has forgotten about Arod already. Braun will have to be the far and away easy choice to win MVP in the next couple of seasons though; if it is close like last year you damn well know the other guy will win.

Dino? The guy is clearly in the Italian mob

Not terribly suprised MLB is continuing to insist that the collector did nothing wrong. They already lambasted the ruling they might as well keep piling on. It is also painfully obvious which side of the ruling Jeff Passan is on

Man we just really need the arbitrators written ruling to get leaked. Obviously leaks haven't exactly been desired in the past but getting the exact reasoning for Das's decision would go a long ways towards clearing up the unknown issues. Who knows if that ever gets leaked although it would make sense that Braun would want to do it if it is especially damning of MLB

They need to figure out a way to completely take the courier out of the equation. FedEx just needs to show up at the park at the designated time every day. The samples need to be stored in a temperature controled vault within the stadium that has security cameras watching it 24/7. Only a very limited # of individuals would have access to the vault although I don't know who should all have access other than the sample collector.

Well if they know the guys phone number; it is only a matter of time before they show up at his house. Sooner or later the guy will either have to disappear or speak. I understand the guys unwillingness to become a public figure though. His life as he knows it will certainly be changed forever. If he gets exposed and it turned out he didn't intentionally do anything or atleast wasn't a blubbering idiot I will feel bad for the guy. On the otherside if it is proven that he was willfully negligent or acted with malice I hope he gets whatever is coming to him

And if it was, is it possible the sample was somehow contaminated? Baseball would argue that the jar was triple-sealed, but doubt wasn't sealed out. Someone close to Braun said there was evidence of deterioration in Braun's sample but not the other five samples taken that playoff weekend. MLB people deny that is the case, though even if it's not, there is still plenty of room for doubt. There is a nice little nugget from Braun's side

I think Braun referred to the collector as "him" during his presser

I originally thought Braun was guilty; while I tend to think he is innocent as of today no one can be 100% sure. There will always be that doubt unless the collector comes out says he tainted the sample

Like Braun indicated earlier they asked medical professionals how easy it would be to tamper with a smaple and they were told very easy if the person was motivated. If this guy really wanted to mess with the sample he could have done it. How is anybody's guess at this point but professionals said that it could be done.

Should there identies stay hidden - yeah will they - no chance If they do find him and it is determined the sample was tampered with I hope the guy gets prosecuted

I sure hope the Das Arby Ruling will be leaked because you know that that document will exactly lay out Braun's argument. Since Braun will get that memo I am sure it will somehow get leaked. I also thought the press conference was well done; very well spoken. I was really hoping for more details that Carrol had aluded to or other details about the collector but I imagine that will come out in time.

Well my question is how could keeping the sample at room temperature transform the sample into a a monstrously high positive test? I guess that is what Braun's team was able to prove but I am no scientist and can't fathom how that could possibly happen. Not to mention the positive test included synthetic T.

I would hope cooler heads would prevail at MLB and it wouldn't reach that point. What a fiasco that would be. If Braun provides other reasons for the acquittal to day it definitely would be in MLB's best interest to just drop it. MLB agreed to the arbitor appointment and now since they realize he isn't there stooge they are all mad about it.

Braun is speaking at noon MIL time; I hope I can listen to at least part of it or I hope enough brewerfan people will be listening to give a good recap. It will be a make or break news conference for him; if he offers no new reason for the "acquittal" and just refused to comment he is going to look terrible. I really want him to just drop a bombshell and no one knew about and just watch all the journalists squirm. And for my own sanity I want there to be another reason for the successful appeal other than a guy storing it in his fridge for two days with no tampering evident.

There have been a huge amount of articles in the last 12 hours from a variety of news sources that are blasting both Braun and the MLB testing policy for allowing this case to be settled on a technicality. I guess I don't understand how journalists can write such damning articles within hours of first learning the news and perhaps without knowing all the facts yet. What happens to all these opinion pieces if the facts of the case change? It is just frustrating; Braun really was in a damned if you do damned if you don't situation. The sense I am getting is this will put Braun in the same category as many other suspected and/or confirmed users which would make it that much harder for him to win any future awards/HOF/etc.

Thats why I tend to believe that there is more to the story. I have to imagine it is much harder to win an appeal in MLB drug testing policy only because the courier stored it in his freezer and no seal was ever broken. If it were that easy other tests would have been overturned as well due to other minor technicalites. I think there are other contributing factors and will be revealed in the next couple of days. I am really hoping Carrol throws out a bombshell of an article that will make people rethink the "technicality." I also hope Braun spills the beans in ARI today. His team his probably telling him he has to because he is still guilty according to 80% of america.