Raw Biz

Did you read the Breen article quoting the lawyer or the article the lawyer actually wrote? It goes into depth about the legal side of things. I'm pretty sure the lawyer said she would advise Braun to do exactly what he has been doing, which is say nothing. They've already released a statement saying that he was consulted last year. Like I said, there's really not much else that should be done if you want to protect yourself down the road. I know fans want to know the truth but say Braun does release some kind of paperwork. I'm sure a lot of fans will still have more questions after that. It's neverending because people have made up their minds already that he's guilty. He's just going to have to live with that and do what he's been doing, which is put up HOF numbers. Until MLB actually comes after him, Braun has no obligation to release anything and he really shouldn't. I just wish the mainstream media would stop turning this into a witchhunt and actually present an unbiased story, including how plausible Braun's story is, as well as the legal reasons why Braun hasn't released any paperwork or info. But unfortunately, all anyone cares about is making money and negativity sells better than anything.

The confidentiality stuff isn't just for in case Braun wants to initiate any proceedings. It's also going to protect him in case someone wants to initiate anything against him, which isn't out of the realm of possibility. Look at the proceedings against Bonds and Clemens. If Braun waived confidentiality now to just appease the fans, he could lose any confidentiality in the future if someone files a suit against him.

But you have to be a pretty bad team and/or have a GM willing to do that. The Brewers aren't terrible so they don't need to trade off all their valuable pieces and even if they were, Melvin isn't the type of GM that usually makes those trades. He has almost always just let guys go in FA or waited until the absolute last minute (i.e. trade deadline of last year of contract). I wish he would make more trades when guys have a year or 2 left on their contract and could bring in big hauls. This year with Hart would have been absolutely perfect. He had a full year left, was relatively cheap, was very productive and we had replacement options (Gamel/Green/even Morris).

Read that post again. He wasn't quoting Braun, he was quoting another player connected with the clinic. Braun never even had a foot injury (that I'm aware of anyway).

It's called attorney work-product and it is privileged. Sure Braun could waive the confidentiality but that could open him up for problems down the road. There are articles out there explaining a lot of the legalities and nuances of the situation and explaining why it isn't as easy as just "producing the documents." Either people aren't reading them or Braun has always been guilty in their minds (or both).

But your arguement really has no basis in reality either. Braun has not shown any evidence he really used Bosch for consultation. Until I see any real evidence I will assume that money was for PED's. He will have to prove his innocence before I believe anything he's saying. Talk is cheap. People need to realize that Braun might not be able to provide proof. There is more to this than just saying "yeah I consulted with him, here's proof." There are tons of confidentiality things that would come into play (work-product, attorney-client privilege, etc.). Braun might not be dealing with any legal repercussions at the moment but he could down the road. It might be more important to maintain that confidentiality for potential litigation down the road than just to clear his name with the fans now.

But if they never used him how could Braun have a bill of 20 to 30 grand. It seems a little sketchy to me. I don't know what the going rate for consultations are but I can't see it being that high if they never even used the guy. I am skeptical and don't really see how Braun deserves the benefit of the doubt in this instance. That's why Braun said there is dispute as to how much he was owed. The guy thinks he deserves 20/30 grand but Braun's team doesn't, most likely because they didn't use whatever he told them. It actually makes perfect sense that he was the leak. Braun consulted him, he demanded 20/30 grand, Braun's team said that was outrageous because he didn't really give them anything useful, he gets pissed and leaks the story.

If the Brewers don't plan on resigning Yo, I would definitely look into trading him in a year or two. I hate losing guys for nothing or only trading them with 3 months left when the return is significantly less. He would have a lot of value and if you can score some legit impact talent, I'd be all over it.

Saw that and never knew they were even dating. From what it sounds like, he landed her when he was 21 and she was 29, either shortly before or shortly after he was traded from the Brewers.

Agreed. I love the full Barrelman logo but just the head makes it look like an early mock-up of the Tin Man for the Wizard of Oz.

I wouldn't take Lohse for free if it means losing a draft pick. At this point, Lohse most likely is not that missing piece so the draft pick is way more valuable than him. I will be extremely upset if Melvin & Co. pull off another short-sighted move like this again. Start planning for the future, not just year to year!

Exactly. There's probably a 90% chance the Brewers don't make the playoffs without Marcum. Not only did he pitch great for basically 5 months but the Greinke trade probably doesn't happen without him either. Hindsight is always 20/20. That's impossible to know. Had they not made that trade, they likely would have signed a FA. Without knowing just who that might of been all this is just speculation. Personally, once the Greinke deal went down, I would have liked a do over on the Marcum deal. As well as he pitched, the Brewers were 16-17 in the games Marcum started. That's a .485 winning percentage on a team that won at a .593 clip. Obviously it's impossible to know but what pitcher do you think they would have signed? The Brewers have always had terrible luck when it comes to signing FA pitchers so I don't see how that team makes the playoffs with one FA pitcher and no Greinke/Marcum. You can't just say you want a do-over after the Greinke trade because the Greinke trade doesn't happen without it. Looking back, sure I probably would have wanted more for Lawrie or to just do the Greinke trade and not the Marcum one. But like I said, no Marcum most likely meant no Greinke. Also, using a team's winning percentage in games that a certain pitcher starts is pointless, especially when the pitcher actually pitches well. The Brewers had a winning record when Braden Looper pitched and he was terrible.

I can't find the article I read but basically Upton was pissed about his name being floated out there as a trade candidate. Then he asked the DBacks to remove the Uptown sign in RF and he refused to do any community service for them because he said he wouldn't make sense to help out a community if he was going to be traded. The DBacks basically said that they are always willing to listen on trade offers and its just part of the business. I don't know if the initial trade talks were because of Upton's demeanor or because they thought he was no longer worth the money or what. Regardless, I don't think they received any offers they liked but then Upton basically said if you're going to make me available, you might as well just trade me now. So they were probably just doing their due diligence like any team does and seeing what could potentially be available in trade and Upton didn't like that so he basically demanded a trade without necessarily saying so by telling them to take down the sign and by refusing to do community service. It just sounds like his feelings were hurt and he was a poor sport about it.

Exactly. There's probably a 90% chance the Brewers don't make the playoffs without Marcum. Not only did he pitch great for basically 5 months but the Greinke trade probably doesn't happen without him either. Hindsight is always 20/20.

hard to be pissed at the player for following his own contract. I mean there was only 4 teams he couldn't go to. The fact that there was that much of a drop off from the Mariners to the braves shows either the Mariners were extremely desperate or Upton didn't have as much value as I thought. or Both. I am completely underwhelmed from the package for him. I do think its cool he gets to go play with his brother now Well I hate no-trade clauses to begin with. Also, it just seemed weird the teams that he listed. Mariners, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Cubs. Sure the Mariners and Cubs are bad but the Blue Jays are gonna be pretty darn good and the Red Sox are the Red Sox. Not to mention Upton basically requested/forced a trade so teams knew they didn't have to offer as much. Sure the DBacks could have not traded him but that probably would have caused problems in the clubhouse.

I don't really like the deal at all. I'd rather have Teheran than Delgado and Prado doesn't do much for me. The other prospects are meh. I'd be pissed at Upton if I was a DBacks fan (if I wasn't already) because that Seattle package was a lot better (Franklin and one of the big 3 pitching prospects).

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/01/braves-to-acquire-justin-upton.html Upton and Chris Johnson to the Braves, Delgado, Prado, SS Nick Ahmed, and RHP Zeke Spruill to DBacks. Rosenthal initially reported that Delgado was not the biggest piece in the trade. I don't know much about Ahmed/Spruill but it doesn't look like they are bigger pieces than Delgado (unless he was talking about Prado). edit: It also looks like 1B Brandon Drury also going to the DBacks.

Not sure who Mitch is but Chet would be sweet.

Yeah I'm still pissed about 2011. I think just about everyone viewed Jungmann/Bradley as "safe" and more likely to end up middle of the rotation guys. The thinking was they were close to the bigs and could arrive as early as this year. Obviously that's not the case. I was really high on Guerreri and I still don't understand why, with 2 1st rounders, they didn't draft one safe and one high-upside, albeit risky guy. Sure they took a risky guy in the 2nd (Lopez) but I think that was a lot more risky than someone like Guerreri, or any other HS pitcher from the states.

I could go either way. I think Segura is ready but I also understand the value of an extra year of control. He seemed to prove himself in the last few months last year but I don't think a year or even a few months of AAA this year would stunt his growth since he came straight from AA. If I were running the team, I probably would have traded Hart and resigned Sea Bass for this year only. I would have at least started Segura in AAA, with an eye on 2014, maybe the AS break depending on how he/the team was doing. But I also understand that he probably could handle playing everyday this year. Ultimately, it's just a matter of whether you think that extra year of control is worth it and how you view the Brewers competing this year. I think they're a long-shot for the last WC spot so I probably would have held him back.

I don't think anyone can say definitely. Even if he repeats what he did last year, is that really worth it for the Brewers to risk paying $14 million for that? Some might say he would be worth it on paper (according to WAR or whatever) but realistically, he's not the kind of player you want to pay that much for. Sure he's a Boras client but after seeing guys stuck on the market this year (because teams don't want to give up a 1st rounder), I could see him accepting a QO and not wanting to risk it.

Football players are making a choice. They know the risks involved. Just like deep-sea fishermen know the risks of falling into the water, roofers know the risk of falling off a roof, and soldiers know the risk of being killed in battle. Should we outlaw all of those things as well? There are risks in everything and most of these people are voluntarily taking these risks. Also Jim, your articles could just as easily be about any other sport. There are old broken men in every sport. It's just a part of getting older. There are also men who's bodies are still holding up. Players have been paralyzed in other sports too, not just football and not just contact sports. Christopher Reeve fell off a horse so should equestrian events be outlawed too? And there are also drug abusers in every sport as well. As for your first article, it even says that it doesn't definitively prove that the head injuries were causing the CTE and they couldn't figure out why other athletes in the same conditions didn't develop CTE. It probably has something to do with the fact that everybody's body is different and will react differently. Like TheCrew said, it's not so much the initial impact and injuries that are the problem, it's how they are being treated. And that comes from trainers, doctors, etc. which don't really have anything to do with the sport itself. It doesn't necessarily matter how the brain trauma occurred but rather how it was treated. Like I said, if you don't like football, fine. But to use concussions as a reason to dislike football, when concussions are prevalent in almost every sport, is a poor excuse. I think it's just become a bigger deal in football because the hits that cause the concussions look much more violent than say hitting a soccer ball with your head or slipping on a basketball court.

Isn't saying he could have brain damage also making a judgment? And I won't even get into your overly-broad quote about everyone abusing their "brains for our amusement." If you don't like football, fine but leave those types of statements out of it. That reminds of the human cockfighting statement about the UFC.

I don't think it would be quite that bad. That would mean Gallardo is a 10-13 WAR player.

Yahoo is pretty much the only choice for me when it comes to any fantasy sports.