Thursday afternoon brought great news to the Gameday Gamblers; and, of course, great news for Ryan Braun.The Gamblers’ MVP, a cornerstone to his fantasy franchise, avoided a 50-game suspension, and man, has it sparked up some controversy.
MLB Network Radio chatter has been non-stop. Callers with several opinions, most hanging the 28-year-old Brewers left fielder.
Many of us went back and forth on the Facebook League page and some interesting points were made on both sides of the argument.
Obviously, the Gamblers (Parker) was on the side of Braun, and I was playing devil’s advocate because I love to make Parker mad.
But there’s so much to this story and there is so much we don’t know.
So what should the public do?
Well, many have slammed him for being dirty and guilty, but we don’t actually know that. Even though the sample wasn’t tampered with, as reported, there isn’t an explanation to why the testosterone to epitestosterone levels were 20:1, three times higher than any other player in MLB history.
That seems a little odd, especially considering the facts that Parker brought up in defense for Braun. And then there’s the fact that he’s been tested 25 other times without any red flags.
Facts like that do make you wonder, and it’s those facts that make you have to be wary of the process in which the test was carried out. I even said on the Facebook wall that it was a loophole and the fact remains that he tested positive, but I have to back off that because the other facts of the case bring up reasonable doubt.
The fact that MLB’s lax PED testing procedures open the door for reasonable doubt means that all we should back off Braun — and only return if new evidence arises.
I Don’t Think So, Buster
You may have saw the story recently, but if not, I’ll quickly recap it for you: Giants manager Bruce Bochy told his prized young catcher Buster Posey to not block the plate anymore.It’s an odd command, but it makes sense. He doesn’t want to see such a talented star miss another season because someone decided to run him over.
I can understand the manager’s command, but to think that Posey will actually follow this is crazy. I’m sure he’s not just going to step aside to allow runs to come home. Bochy has to know this.
And Posey isn’t alone. He’s not the only top-notch hitting catcher to miss time because of his position. Joe Mauer has had knee issues and it’s hurt the Twins, especially since they traded their next top catching prospect, Wilson Ramos, to the Nationals a few years ago.
Now, they wish they had him back because they could move Mauer to first base.
Which brings up the same question for Posey. Why not move him to first base? If his base is that valuable to your team, why risk keeping him behind the plate? Just move him and save him. You’ll save his knees and you’ll prevent him from having season-ending or potentially career-ending injuries.
That would make more sense then telling your catcher to get out of the way of a base runner. If you’re going to order him to move a few feet to avoid a hit, you might as well move him 90 feet to first.
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