Braun Suspended for Remainder of 2013 Season

[Ennder]

This is about the best result we could hope for. Next season he is safe now and he is injured and we are going nowhere so losing him for this year is more or less meaningless.

[Brewer Fever]

Does anyone know whether or not the Brewers have the option to void the remainder of his contract? I realize the Yankees considered something similar with A-Rod & wound up not doing it... but I'm curious about Braun's contract (if anyone knows, or knows of precedent).

 

If that were to transpire I'd be far more mad about that than at what took place today. That contract is still a very team friendly one and I have little doubt that Braun will be a franchise player for years to come.

[jjgott]

Welp Braun was going to be the first Brewer since Molitor to make it to the HOF. Sad to see the biggest star we've had go down like this. Glad its happening this year as its a bust year already. Don't know how I'll feel about Braun going forward...

[TooLiveBrew]

Thank you, homer & markedman5. It seems to me like one way to deter a player from using PEDs is to include language that allows the signing club to void the entirety (or remaining entirety) of a contract. Players might roll the dice over a 50-game suspension, but I'm betting they wouldn't over millions & millions of dollars.

 

 

Also, here are some particularly awesome quotes from that infamous 2012 ST presser:

 

-"Today is for everybody who has ever been wrongly accused. The simple truth is that I'm innocent. The truth is always relevant and the truth prevailed."

 

-"If I had done this intentionally or unintentionally, I'd be the first one to step up and say I did it," Braun said. "I would bet my life this substance never entered my body."

 

-"I've lived this nightmare every day for the last four months," Braun said. "At the end of the day, the truth prevailed. I'm the victim of a process that completely broke down."

[SeriesFinale]

These guys are just numbers and names to me, in essence, characters in a video game. What they do or say doesnt affect my life, it only affects my enjoyment of my team winning.

 

This sounds like two different things.

 

To each their own, but personality and character do matter to me; they breathe life into the games we're watching and teams we follow. I don't think I'm hurt or angry by the use itself, I've got mixed feelings about PEDs and their limits/benefits, but I'm rather disappointed by his indignant lying and slight insinuation that there might've been tampering. (I'm also fairly embarrassed how much I believed that the failure in the collection process led to the "false" positive a la Diane Modahl...I got in a lot of online arguments defending Braun's "honor" the last couple years.)

[Thurston Fluff]

 

That is the saddest part isn't it? It would have been nice to enjoy the few good times without finding out it was tainted. He essentially took back everything he ever gave us.

 

If it helps, it's only really tainted if you believe that no players on either the teams the Brewers beat out for the playoff berth or the Arizona Diamondbacks were using as well.

 

It doesn't really help. I've always been the type who like following the underdog persevering when the odds are stacked against them. In a way it was part of why I am so hardcore a Brewer fan. I enjoy the few moments of success doing it the right way more than I could winning all the time by being the big guy or taking shortcuts. This is the antithesis of that. But thanks for trying.

[SeriesFinale]

It's strange to me that so many assume this is a perfect time for him to get suspended and it "clears the way" or whatever for 2014, as if we can believe that Braun is going to be the same player we've known him as without PEDs.

[AZBrewCrew]

Just tell yourself Braun is on the 60 day DL now.

[jwill535]

It's strange to me that so many assume this is a perfect time for him to get suspended and it "clears the way" or whatever for 2014, as if we can believe that Braun is going to be the same player we've known him as without PEDs.

 

You dont know what he was using them for. Most take it to heal from injuries. Its not like his hand eye coordination is going to go away. I do suspect him to have DL stints though.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Really surprised at the amount of angst about the fact that he 'lied to the fans'.

 

Does he come across looking like a bit of a tool after his big presser in spring 2012? Well.........yeah. Lesson not learned after Rafael Palmeiro's fall from grace, apparently.

 

People calling him a 'piece of crap human being' and such..........proof once again that while we love our hero's, what we REALLY love is to see them knocked off their pedestals.

[xisxisxis]

So Braun's responses since Early 2012 have been:

 

DENY

DENY

DENY

DENY

DENY

DENY

DENY

DENY

DENY & HOLD A PRESSER TO PROCLAIM YOUR VINDICATION

DENY

DENY

DENY

WELL I DID SOME THINGS WRONG.....

 

Is that about right?

[SRB]

Any of the resident criminal lawyers around to weigh in on the significance of a defendant faced with a life sentence accepting a plea for a minor sentence?

 

This "admission" is meaningless; he was faced with a lifetime ban (cost to him >$100M), or at least a 150-game ban starting next season (cost to him $10M plus missing an entire season).

 

In contrast, this plea costs him around $3.5M, on a last place team not competing, and when he is nursing a thumb injury that might have landed him on the DL anyways. Plus even if he won a later suspension he would be equally tarred in the eyes of most of the public.

 

MLB was determined to suspend him, to the extent of using a "just cause" suspension appealable only to Selig. This plea means nothing other than that Braun and his attorneys are practical and have common sense.

 

I'm not saying I have evidence he is innocent either, but this plea does not prove that he took steroids, as people are treating it...

[NievesNoNO]

I guess he joins the rest of them that stood in front of the camera and told a bunch of bold faced lies. It would be pretty cool if the guy collecting the samples came out and had a press conference now.

 

Braun is the same as Bonds to me now.

 

 

 

 

Thank you, homer & markedman5. It seems to me like one way to deter a player from using PEDs is to include language that allows the signing club to void the entirety (or remaining entirety) of a contract. Players might roll the dice over a 50-game suspension, but I'm betting they wouldn't over millions & millions of dollars.

 

 

Also, here are some particularly awesome quotes from that infamous 2012 ST presser:

 

-"Today is for everybody who has ever been wrongly accused. The simple truth is that I'm innocent. The truth is always relevant and the truth prevailed."

 

-"If I had done this intentionally or unintentionally, I'd be the first one to step up and say I did it," Braun said. "I would bet my life this substance never entered my body."

 

-"I've lived this nightmare every day for the last four months," Braun said. "At the end of the day, the truth prevailed. I'm the victim of a process that completely broke down."

[Brewer Fever]

What a piece of #### human being.

 

This is probably true and even drew a chuckle from me. Nonetheless, the first big, game changing hit that Braun delivers next year is still going to draw the same cheer and excitement from me. Kinda like how my feelings towards Brett Favre the football player never changed. Always felt like both Braun and Favre weren't the greatest human beings off the field. Then again I'm not the type who would wait in line for an autograph or drop everything and run over if I saw a famous athlete in public.

 

All that matters is the chance of success for the team, players come and go.

[rondoman]

Really surprised at the amount of angst about the fact that he 'lied to the fans'.

 

Does he come across looking like a bit of a tool after his big presser in spring 2012? Well.........yeah. Lesson not learned after Rafael Palmeiro's fall from grace, apparently.

 

People calling him a 'piece of crap human being' and such..........proof once again that while we love our hero's, what we REALLY love is to see them knocked off their pedestals.

 

LOL okay man.

 

People hate being lied to. Over and over and over again. People hate being made fools of. And for what Braun did, lying over and over, throwing people under the bus, imo he is a piece of crap.

[StearnsFTW]

I won't criticize anyone for being outraged and for changing their opinion of Braun, but I just can't relate. To me it suggests that you're surprised when a player takes PEDs. My guess is that use in pro sports is rampant. My reaction within seconds was relief at how well this works out for the Brewers given the inevitability of a punishment and how much worse it could have been.

 

I don't idolize pro athletes. I watch them for entertainment. Today's announcement does nothing to further damage the Brewers on-field chances in 2013. It does however clear the path for 2014.

 

This is nearly exactly how I feel. My first thought was how much salary this clears up for draft picks and/or international signings.

 

Same.

[BarneyStinston]

I think most people are a bit hypocritical of others on a pedistal, but hide their own dirty laundry.. How many people in Wisconsin have driven way over the speed limit, cheated on their wives or girlfriends, or driven a bit drunk, or cheated for a few answers on a test, and then lied to others that they never have. Nothing Braun did was heinously illegal or horrible.

[TooLiveBrew]

This discussion needs to remain on-topic, & not devolve into ad hominem attacks. If you disagree with someone, find a way to post about the topic at hand & not the person with whom you're choosing to converse. If that can't happen, this thread won't last much longer (that's not a threat... merely an experienced observation).

[Brewer Fever]

It's strange to me that so many assume this is a perfect time for him to get suspended and it "clears the way" or whatever for 2014, as if we can believe that Braun is going to be the same player we've known him as without PEDs.

 

I just figure he'll be more careful going forward. If you use them in a manner anything short of complete recklessness you pass all the tests. Just ask the Cardinals. He passed every test in 2012. If you want to believe he was clean last year, then you have your answer of how he can fare going forward. Or you can assume he used them last year just like he has in the past yet passed weekly tests. That's why I'm not worried about Braun the baseball player in 2014.

[jjgott]

I can at least find humor in the reports where they say his suspension is for "the rest of the year and the playoffs." So you're saying there's a chance!

[torts]

so has the actual reasons for the suspension been leaked to Outside the Line yet?

[Patrick425]

I won't criticize anyone for being outraged and for changing their opinion of Braun, but I just can't relate. To me it suggests that you're surprised when a player takes PEDs. My guess is that use in pro sports is rampant. My reaction within seconds was relief at how well this works out for the Brewers given the inevitability of a punishment and how much worse it could have been.

 

I don't idolize pro athletes. I watch them for entertainment. Today's announcement does nothing to further damage the Brewers on-field chances in 2013. It does however clear the path for 2014.

 

This is nearly exactly how I feel. My first thought was how much salary this clears up for draft picks and/or international signings.

 

Same.

 

See post 742. Most of the "outrage" is not because people are "surprised" that he took PEDs.

[SeriesFinale]

For some reason I keep imagining Aoki's translator whispering to him while Braun addressed the team today.

[torts]

Ryan Braun, first MLB player to be suspended for an STD

[ecjimg]

I won't criticize anyone for being outraged and for changing their opinion of Braun, but I just can't relate. To me it suggests that you're surprised when a player takes PEDs. My guess is that use in pro sports is rampant. My reaction within seconds was relief at how well this works out for the Brewers given the inevitability of a punishment and how much worse it could have been.

 

I don't idolize pro athletes. I watch them for entertainment. Today's announcement does nothing to further damage the Brewers on-field chances in 2013. It does however clear the path for 2014.

 

This is nearly exactly how I feel. My first thought was how much salary this clears up for draft picks and/or international signings.

 

Same.

 

Would never cross my mind. Not with this management group.

They have proven they don't know how to draft, and their interest/involvement in the international market has been minimal.