Fool Me Once

It appears Ryan Braun will not fool Major League Baseball again. Once before the slugger had been accused of PED usage and he escaped on a technicality and delivered a seemingly honest speech. Braun will be suspended for his involvement in the Biogenesis PED scandal. Major League Baseball provided astonishing amounts of evidence to Braun and his representatives and agreed to not appeal his suspension. The final verdict for the 2011 NL MVP is a 65 game suspension. The Brewers are already in last place and are selling this trade deadline. The loss of Braun will put the final nail in the coffin for the Brewers this season.You can also expect Alex Rodriguez to be face the consequences for his actions with Biogenesis at more severe levels, because of his previous offenses.

With the loss of Braun you can expect Ramirez, Gallardo, and Rodriguez to be traded this deadline. As for Gomez, Segura, and Lucroy; you can possibly see them move as well.

Speaking of trades, the Rangers and Cubs finally finished the Garza trade today after some adversity. Garza will go to the Rangers in exchange for 1B/3B Mike Olt, two minor league pitchers, and two players to be named later. Olt has been glorified for his bat, but hasn't performed at the Major League level. Matt Garza spent some time on the DL  but has a 3.17 ERA over 71 innings pitched in 2013. Garza will join a rotation with ace Yu Darvish and may pitch for the Rangers as soon as tomorrow.

Memorable Moments From the 2012 All Star Game

Chipper Jones started the game with an unprepared speech to the National League All Stars. He stated that no matter how well, how bad, how old, or how young just enjoy the game because you deserve to be there. The future Hall of Fame candidate also said this is his last All Star Game and he is not going to lose.

In the first inning the National League pounded Justin Verlander and put 5 runs on the board. The big blow came off of a bases clearing triple by Pablo Sandoval. The irony is many people said David Wright deserved the start instead of Sandoval. 3 triples total were hit by the National League, one by Sandoval, Furcal, and Braun.

Melky Cabrera hit the only home run of the game and earned him the MVP of the game. It was just another thing to add on to an already great season.

Chipper Jones had one at bat in the game and was able to make the most out of his at bat. He got a single through the 3.5 hole. His final All Star Game was worth it. His speech probably made a big impact on the players and they won this game for him.

The final score was 8-0 in favor of the National League. The National League team in the World Series will now have home field advantage. This is also the third consecutive year the National League has won the All Star Game.

The Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers won the National League central with 96 wins in 2011. In the 2011-2012 off season it looks like The Brewers aren't even going to win the wildcard. they lost Prince fielder to free agency and Ryan Braun has to face a 50 game suspension for a failed test for performing enhancing drugs. The Brewers haven't signed any sluggers besides Aramis Ramirez so there is no one to replace Fielder.

Braun and Fielder used to be the 3-4 bunch for the Brewers combining for 231 RBI's, 71 home runs, a .406 on base percentage, and an OPS+ of 165, which is phenomenal. Now The Brewers have to play 50 games without Braun, the 2011 NL MVP and 162 games without Fielder. The Brewers didn't sign Carlos Pena as a replacement and don't seem to be in the bidding for any of the other remaining possible free agents. A trade might be brewing, but it doesn't seem likely.

The rotation for The Brewers seems pretty stable with Zack Grienke anchoring it. Grienke won 16 games with a 3.86 ERA over 171 innings. The other notable starters are Yovani Gallardo, Shaun Marcum, and Randy Wolf. These three starters combined for 619 innings and a 3.58 ERA. The Brewers have four starters with decent ERA's and can provide a sufficient amount of innings. If they do fail to pitch a decent amount of innings The Brewers have good bullpen. With Axford and Rodriguez in the back end the 8th and 9th innings are almost a given. 


Although the middle of the lineup is significantly weaker, The Brew Crew still has Rickie Weeks and they signed Aramis Ramairez. Weeks hit 20 home runs, had a .350 on base percentage and an OPS+ of 121. Rmairez hit 26 home runs, had a 361 on base percentage, and 136 OPS+. Also Corey Hart hit 26 home runs for The Brewers, but any combination of  these three players will not make up for the combination of Braun and Fielder. 


When Braun returns after his 50 game suspension, The Brewers may be able to compete with The Reds, but they will already be in a hole. with The NL West looking stronger than ever, a wild card also looks out of the equation.   

Performance enhancing drugs

If you haven't already heard the 2011 national league MVP Ryan Braun tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. Ryan Braun claims he has never taken any performance enhancers, but the tests say he has. Not a lot of specifics have been released about the controversy yet, but i assume they will soon.

I was extremely disappointed to hear about this, because athletes who take performance enhancing drugs don't deserve the money, fame, or opportunities that they have abused. There are 25 athletes in Triple A that would love to have that position that you are taking away with your fake artificially produced talent.

Ryan Braun will have to serve a 50 game suspension, just like Manny Ramirez. I am a huge fan of the New York Yankees and I was astonished by the season Alex Rodriguez was having in 2007. When I found out he had taken steroids i was devastated. This is very similar to what Ryan Braun did to all those kids who look up to him in Milwaukee.

To discuss strategy now, the Brewers are pretty much screwed. If they don't sign Prince Fielder, which seems very unlikely, they will have lost their number three and four guys for 50 games. the N.L. central will be deprived of action without Fielder, Braun, and Pujols assuming Fielder signs with a team not in the central. I guess what the fans in the central have to look forward to is Joey Votto.