With Braun off claiming that he was vindicated, what a load of horseshit.The lab chief, an MLB source told Munson, testified that the urine was not tainted, that it was appropriate for testing, and that it tested positive for testosterone. The baseball officials, sources said, were incensed that Braun, his attorneys and the union successfully attacked the integrity of a collection procedure that is a "joint" procedure.
The word "joint" in this context means that the union and the league agreed to the procedure, made a mutual decision to hire the collection agency and were both obligated to abide by the results. Any failure to follow the joint procedure, the league officials assert, is a "technicality" and had no effect on the integrity of the sample or the results of the test.
"Our program is not fatally flawed," MLB executive vice president Rob Manfred said in a statement. "Changes will be made promptly to clarify the instructions provided to collectors regarding when samples should be delivered to FedEx based on the arbitrator's decision. Neither Mr. Braun nor the MLBPA contended in the grievance that his sample had been tampered with or produced any evidence of tampering."
In his appeal, Braun didn't argue evidence of tampering and didn't dispute the science, but argued protocol had not been followed. Multiple sources confirmed to ESPN investigative reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and T.J. Quinn that Braun questioned the chain of custody and collection procedure.
MLB officials argued that there was no question about the chain of custody or the integrity of the sample, and that Braun's representatives did not argue that the test itself was faulty.
But multiple sources said the sample was not shipped for testing as soon as possible, as required by the drug testing policy, and instead was kept in a cool place in the sample collector's home. Sources told Munson that the collector put Braun's sample on a desk in a Tupperware container and left it there for two days.
Sources also told Munson that there was doubt over whose urine was actually being tested. Braun offered to take a DNA test to confirm whose urine was in the sample, but Major League Baseball declined. However, an MLB source told ESPN's Mike Golic that Braun's side backed off of the offer to take a DNA test.
--- Alan
At any rate, moving on.
Really hated to see Justin Morneau's interview with the Star-Telegram this morning. He sounds like a guy who is basically taking a last shot at playing. So far he says he's symptom free...but it also sounds like if he has a recurrence of PCS that he's going to hang them up.
And I'm just gonna put this here...
Of course you would argue protocol. When something that messed up happens, and you have evidence of a screw up, you always go for the easy win. That is why they are lawyers. Regardless, this all should never have seen the light of day anyway. Braun will play, and if he did use PEDs, I doubt he would try again, if he didn't he got lucky for the error in procedure. The MLB will update their protocol, and the season will start at the end of March.
Lets just move on and play baseball.
Big Puma is in full effect, baby.
I'm not the only one who hears "Sabotage" when seeing that picture, right?
I'm all for that. I just wish Braun hadn't had a press conference to declare that he's been vindicated and the truth wins out, that kind of thing. As Alan said, horseshit. He got off on a technicality. He's got a long way to go to show he didn't use PEDs.Originally Posted by Jon Rowe
Yup. That seemed a bit... generous of him to say. He better have a great season and not fail a drug test. This will all blow over in a few years, as long as he doesn't get a positive result again.
Heyman just tweeted that Joel Zumaya--who missed all of 2011 with an elbow thing--just complained of feeling "something" give in his arm, headed to training room, not happy.
Zumaya is so done. Back to Guitar Hero!
--- Alan
Full rosters have reported for what, like three days? And already all kinds of bad news for the Twins.
The Hunt for One Hundred (losses), as local sports talk radio dubbed the Twins' disastrous 2011, could be back on!
Cardinals closing in on getting Yadier Molina signed to an extension. Hearing 5 years, which is long for a guy his age, but still.
Healthy Yadi is more important to this ballclub at times than Albert was.
I know he's not -- dude has two rings -- but Yadi always seems like one of the more underrated players in the bigs throughout his career. Yay for him for getting paid, yay for the Cards for locking him down.
But mostly I came here to post this delightful Zumaya perspective from a Tigers blogger.
Ryan Zimmerman signed a 6 year/$100 million extension with the Nats, which will begin in 2014 after his current deal ends. It includes a personal services addon and some deferred money to give the Nats more financial room to keep things moving in the right direction.
And check out this inspired promo by the Nats' single A team:
Too soon?On April 15, the P-Nats will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic by allowing women and children into the ballpark 15 minutes before men.
Last edited by Freezer-TPF-; 02-27-2012 at 02:27 PM.
That's...actually a really good deal for the Nats. Zimmerman is a fantastic player who should be well worth the $16.7M/year through his age-34 season barring injury.
He ain't gettin' paid like an underrated player. Yowza! Cardinals are paying him $70-75m over 5 years.
I know, you're saying "They overpaid!" I agree, somewhat. However, some smart people on twitter were showing that Yadi's fielding adjusted WAR over the last 5 seasons puts that number right in line--14.7 fWAR average, at $5m per win that's $73.8m. Also worth noting: the Cardinals had options at 1b to "replace" (obviously you don't replace a guy like that) Pujols--Berkman, Craig, Freese, etc. They have no one--not a soul--in the pipeline they feel who'll be able to step up for Yadi within the next 3 or 4 years.
...and within the next 2-3 years the Cardinals hope to have Shelby Miller and Carlos Martinez in their starting rotation; Yadi's a godsend with young pitchers, and that probably figured into the calculus.
I wonder whether anyone will pick up Pudge or if he will retire.
I did a whole thread on this last year, and I'll do another one in a few weeks closer to the start of the season, but for anyone interested, the early lines on over/under total wins for MLB 2012:
New York Yankees: 93
Detroit Tigers: 92.5
Los Angeles Angels: 92.5
Texas Rangers: 91.5
Boston Red Sox: 89.5
Tampa Bay Rays: 87.5
Cleveland Indians: 86.5
Kansas City Royals 80.5
Toronto Blue Jays: 80
Chicago White Sox: 74
Minnesota Twins: 73
Seattle Mariners: 72
Oakland A’s: 71
Baltimore Orioles: 69.5
Philadelphia Phillies: 93
San Francisco Giants: 87.5
Atlanta Braves: 87
Arizona Diamondbacks: 86
Cincinnati Reds: 86
Miami Marlins: 84.5
Washington Nationals: 84.5
Milwaukee Brewers: 83.5
St. Louis Cardinals: 83
Colorado Rockies: 81
Los Angeles Dodgers: 81
Chicago Cubs: 74.5
San Diego Padres: 73.5
Pittsburgh Pirates: 73
New York Mets: 70.5
Houston Astros: 64
Like seeing those Tigers up near the top!
You know, it's interesting, with 162 games you'd think there would be a bigger spread between teams. But it's pretty balanced. Top 5 within about 5 games.
"We're underdogs this year. I love it. No one is picking us right now." -- Mark Teixiera
There's some saying about baseball I can't track down at the moment that goes something like this: "every year, you know you're going to win 50 and lose 50. The question is what you do with the other 62." And it's really true. Even with such a long season, most races typically don't get clinched until the last week, and 2/3 of the league last year finished in the 70-90 win range.
(I'd love to see that actual quote if anyone has it. For some reason, I want to say it originated with Earl Weaver.)
So if the media shines it light off New York for just a second they become the underdog eh. As long as they continue spending $200 million they'll never be any kind of underdog.
That Teixiera quote is from before the 2011 season.
Well Rosenthal has tweeted that the extra wild-card teams are definitely a go for this year. Full details tomorrow
https://twitter.com/#!/Ken_Rosenthal...34868373942273
*I'm soooooo excited*Sources: Additional wild cards a "go" for this season. Playoffs to expand from eight to 10 teams. Announcement tomorrow. #MLB
Teix-anity!
What's a good, easy to navigate baseball news website? I've been looking to catch up on all the transactions/moves to get back into the loop, but no one seems to have a concise summary of what happens.
A.J. Burnett, now with the Pirates, took a ball to the eye while batting in a bunting drill, and will have surgery Friday for an orbital fracture.
In no way am I happy the guy got hurt, but man, am I glad he's out of pinstripes. It's like he's had this weird cloud following him for the last few years.
MLB announced it's plans for their MLBatBat/MLB.tv application for this year, and the terms are a lot better this time around.
The app is free for your Android/iOS device instead of being an additional $15 on top of your MLB.tv subscription. You can subscribe for $124.99 for the year or $14.99 for a month and get all the video broadcasts and radio broadcasts in addition to their game day stuff.
The addition as well this year is a radio only subscription for $14.99 a season/$2.99 a month, which still nets you the gameday features, and one free video broadcast a day (though not one of your own choosing).
I think I may pick up the radio only subscription this year for listening to Mariners games in MN, and potentially look into the video version next year.
I generally read the MLB Trade Rumors site but it covers things in a lot more detail then you might want. But it does mention just about every roster move, signing, etc., and link to local reports on a lot of it. Plus rumors, of course.
The Mariners were hoping Franklin Gutierrez would return to his solid 2009 form this year after two disappointing seasons but he managed to tear a pec muscle already and has to wait at least a month to resume any training. So now they are looking at all kinds of alternatives in center field since their best defensive fielder (Michael Saunders) has never been able to hit despite long looks. There is even talk of putting Figgins out there (he played it quite a bit back when he was with the Angels) or even moving Ichiro back to center for awhile.
The combined deal is definitely a far better solution than the separate app fiasco from last year... this reminds me, I need to re-sub.
--- Alan
Yes the additional $15 for the mobile app was ridiculous considering I was already paying for the Premium membership. Also excited to see the MLB xbox app finally being advertised. Gold membership needed of course.
I love the PS3 app, stream looked rather good on the big screen tv.
-Tim
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