The Dominos begin to fall

[Beezer07]

curt schilling accuses braun of being a fraud.

 

Tangential-relation alert: I never really liked Schilling when he was a player, or as an analyst, or when he took millions of $$$ from Rhode Island and bankrupted a company, so this may be biased, but...

 

He come off as such a jerk today on ESPN radio. He was being interveiwed about Bedard's decision to come out in the midst of a no-hitter, and said that Bedard was basically an awful person. Whatever, fine, I don't mind that. He continued, saying that you could tell Bedard had no heart/guts/whatever because he's pitched so few innings in his career. Correct me if I'm wrong, but hasn't Bedard's shoulder been falling off for year?

 

Anyway, Schilling seems unpleasant to me. And as a Brewers fan, Braun is dead to me.

[PseudoSABR]

And as a Brewers fan, Braun is dead to me.

Is that the general sentiment among Brewers fans? Is there a viable/non-rube message board for the Brewers?

[Beezer07]

Is that the general sentiment among Brewers fans? Is there a viable/non-rube message board for the Brewers?

 

I'm not sure if that's the general sentiment, but I'm sure there are plenty who feel that way. You tend to lose a lot of people who formerly had your back when it turns out you were lying all along.

 

Plenty of fans (and others) supported him last year, when his test was leaked before the appeals process, meaning no one would have known the test was positive had the process worked correctly. It's tough to continue supporting him when you know he was lying all along.

[notoriousgod71]

Peter Gammons was just talking about (on the MLB Network) how there's been a shift in players attitudes, to the point where the Player's Union no longer seeks to defend cheaters in the same capacity. I'd like to hear from more current players decrying what Braun has done. I wonder how the Diamondbacks (at least those on the 2011 playoff team) are gioing to react when the face Braun next.

 

Most likely scenario: Kennedy drills him, brawl ensues, Parra knifes him.

[Old Twins Cap]

MLB needed this as much as Braun. You gotta start somewhere, and a former MVP who was willing to waive appeals and take his medicine is as good as any. There are some big fish and many names yet to drop. They started with Braun because it sends a clear message to the rest: come clean, take the hit, and we will let you off easy. Take the long road, and we will inflict maximum pain. Think of the pressure now on the rest of the Biogenesis crew: would you want to be the last one to admit guilt?

[Larsbars08]

I generally have problems with how players legacies have been effected by the "steroid era". It's ridiculously inconsistent, unfair, and seems to unfortunately correlate with how well liked the player was by the media. I also have issues with the arbitrariness of how MLB defines PED's and how that is decided.

 

That said, I have no sympathy for Ryan Braun and the current crop of guys under investigation. In the 90's and early 2000's there was an argument to be made that so many guys were doing it, and was outright ignored by the powers that be in MLB as long as ratings and stadium attendance went up. Since the Mitchell report, and the revamped testing, there isn't even that excuse.

 

Baseball has never been as rosy as people like to remember. The golden era of baseball was never that golden. Each "era" of baseball has had problems that affected the integrity of the game. There are a lot of guys in the Hall of Fame who probably would have never gotten in if they had played today. A decision is going to have to be made about Hall of Fame candidates who retired in the last 10 years or so. Either you let them all in, or you don't let anyone in. Judging each player case by case hasn't seemed to work to well. Nobody was inducted this year, and it will probably only get more difficult.

[Blackjack]

his contract calls for a $10 million salary.

 

This is why he should be banned for life, he took enough roids to be signed to a huge contract, a contract that he will still collect on. If you have some struggling player looking at this case, only a 1/2 season suspension, why wouldn't he take a chance on taking a few steroids and getting his own big payday??

 

Baseball won't stop the steroid problem until they hand out longer suspensions and/or void the contracts of players that fail a drug test.

[JB_Iowa]

The more I read and think about what he said, it looks to me like he set up his statement so that at some point in the future he can back away. I am very bothered by the fact that he did not admit PEDs use: ''I am not perfect. I realize now that I have made some mistakes. I am willing to accept the consequences of those actions,'' he said in a statement.

 

I hope mlb got him to admit to usage not just to "mistakes".

 

Player rep Weiner might call it a "bold step" but it looks like a lot of weasel words to me.

[Thegrin]

Will Valencia be among those banned ? or is he too small.

[whosafraidofluigirussolo]

On the "Ryan Braun = Lance Armstrong" meme:

 

"ESPN’s Buster Olney —and legions of others online—are comparing the Brewers slugger with the disgraced cyclist since, like Armstrong, Ryan Braun preceded his admittance of guilt with profoundly passionate statements of innocence. But Ryan Braun never tried to financially ruin any of the people who accused him. Ryan Braun never brought frivolous lawsuits or bullied fellow teammates into using in order to make them complicit."

 

Dave Zirin, The Nation

[diehardtwinsfan]

Ryan Braun is a piece of ****. The Lance of Armstrong of baseball. Even Arod has more class.

 

Something tells me when this is all said and done, that second statement won't seem true anymore.

[diehardtwinsfan]

Couple things to think of.

 

Voiding contracts is a bad idea. Craig Calceterra wrote an interesting piece for HBT on this one. It seems good at first until you try to flush it out.

 

I wonder how quickly the other dominoes should fall. With the exception of A-Rod, who hampered the investigation, I would think anyone else named should be asking for the same penalty.

[JB_Iowa]

Couple things to think of.

 

Voiding contracts is a bad idea. Craig Calceterra wrote an interesting piece for HBT on this one. It seems good at first until you try to flush it out.

 

 

I guess I never thought it would be an automatic void -- unless there is a permanent ban from baseball due to repeated offenses.

 

I always thought it should be that the team would have the option of voiding the contract. Other choice would be to keep the contract in place. Third option would be for both parties to renegotiate.

 

But I really do think that the teams deserve some protection on the long term contracts. There is something fundamentally wrong about being stuck with a long-term contract obtained by a player under false pretenses. (I'm not naive enough to think that team management doesn't have some suspicions at times but that's different than a violation of the policy).

 

And I would also guess that peer pressure is going to be the best regulatory device there is. There will always be cheaters but peer pressure is a powerful thing. After all, isn't that the reason so many cheat in the first place (a/k/a everybody is doing it)?

[Beezer07]

If the teams want some protection on long term contracts, they should put protection in those long term contracts when they make them.

[JB_Iowa]

If the teams want some protection on long term contracts, they should put protection in those long term contracts when they make them.

 

I don't disagree with that but we've never heard reports of that type of clause in an mlb contract. Have to wonder if the MLBPA would previously not allow it or if the teams thought testing was protection enough or if agents would never agree.

 

I kind of think there must be more to that part of the story.

[Beezer07]

I think it's because baseball contracts are all guaranteed money. Plus with no salary cap, there's no reason to have voidable, non-guaranteed contracts. This is why small-market teams can't compete with big market teams over the long haul.

 

If Evan Longoria or Joe Mauer get busted, there's no coming back for TB or the Twins. If Robinson Cano gets busted, the Yankees can go buy a different second baseman.

[Guest USAFChief]

Make a cheap offer quick, Mr Ryan. I'd love Braun if LF next year.

[jokin]

Something tells me when this is all said and done, that second statement won't seem true anymore.

 

And I think someone's going to be eating his second statement words sooner, rather than later.