Report: MLB Seeking to Suspend 20 Players Including...

http://nesn.com/2013/06/report-alex-rodriguez-ryan-braun-to-be-suspended-by-mlb-for-connection-to-biogenesis-clinic/

 

Re: Report: MLB Seeking to Suspend 20 Players Including

So now "having a connection with" a clinic is a drug offense?

Yeah, good luck on getting that one upheld.

 

Looks like the founder of the clinic is providing information, so there's more to it than just the connections/paper trail.

 

Why is everybody always pickin' on Ryan Braun?

 

A-Rod's irrelevant at this point. Nelson Cruz, Robinson Cano and Gio Gonzalez could really alter the pennant races if they're suspended.

 

The players who might ultimately face discipline from MLB include: Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun, Melky Cabrera, Bartolo Colon, Yasmani Grandal, Nelson Cruz, Francisco Cervelli, Jesus Montero, Jhonny Peralta, Cesar Puello, Fernando Martinez, Everth Cabrera, Fautini de los Santos, Jordan Norberto, and a number of players who are either identified by code names or whose names appear in other documents not obtained by "Outside the Lines."

....

One player listed who will be scrutinized but possibly exonerated is the Nationals' Gio Gonzalez. Gonzalez was listed among Biogenesis clients, but two sources told ESPN that the only substances he received from the clinic were legal.

 

And Cano is not directly linked, but someone with ties to him personally is.

 

MLBPA has to be creaming its pants to fight a 100-game suspension. It's just stupid for MLB because it will draw the story out far longer due to appeals, etc. Bad for business.

ARod, Braun, etc., are going to take a public relations hit for 50 games. Just follow the rules and stop there. Any suspension for first-offenders past 50 strikes me as petty on MLB's part. But apparently, they want to get their blood -- especially after Braun's successful 2012 appeal -- come hell or high water.

 

And with the Brewers already pretty much out of the race, suspending Braun at this point is not that big a deal.

 

Losing Nelson Cruz is a wash for Texas. He's a plus bat and a minus-minus glove, as we all painfully recall from Game 6 of the 2011 World Series.

One thing it'll do is open a roster spot for Jurickson Profar and solve a conundrum when Ian Kinsler comes off the DL in a few weeks. Mitch Moreland can move to RF and Kinsler can play first.

 

That's true -- good Lord do the Brewers suck out loud -- but that's not how MLBPA will see it.

 

I see the language has changed a bit in stories since that NESN link. I saw a few stories now that MLB is "seeking to suspend ..."

Yeah, we know they've wanted to suspend Braun ever since his team handed them their shorts.

This same story first came out during spring training and didn't happen. Why is it being recycled now?

It's going to be one of those rare instances where the MLBPA has the public on its side.