How are the Biogenesis guys doing?

<div style="color: #444444; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The suspensions have all been served--except <strong style="color: black; line-height: 1.5;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/player_search.cgi?results=rodrial01,rodrig011ale&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/player_search.cgi?results=rodrial01,rodrig011ale&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" style="color: #743399; line-height: 1.5;" target="_blank">Alex Rodriguez</a></strong><span style="font-size: small;">, who is still serving his--and all those players who were suspended must be struggling without their chemical boosts, right? Well...not exactly. The "stars" that were caught are still thriving. Those caught from the fringes have not fared so well.</span></span></div><div style="color: #444444; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong style="color: black; line-height: 1.5;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/player_search.cgi?results=braunry02,braunry01&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/player_search.cgi?results=braunry02,braunry01&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" style="color: #743399; line-height: 1.5;" target="_blank">Ryan Braun</a></strong> was (besides A-Rod) perhaps the biggest star brought down by the <del style="color: #555555; line-height: 1.5;">witch hunt</del> investigation. His involvement really angered a lot of people because his denial and defense cost a guy his job the year before. Fair enough. But what about his performance this year without (we assume) his chemical dependency?</span></div><div style="color: #444444; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Braun's OPS thus far is .952 despite chronic problems with a thumb. That OPS is ahead of his career total and he is slugging like he did in 2011 and 2012. My guess is that he could have stayed off the stuff and done just as well as on it.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Then there is <strong style="color: black; line-height: 1.5;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/player_search.cgi?results=cruzne02,cruzne01&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/player_search.cgi?results=cruzne02,cruzne01&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" style="color: #743399; line-height: 1.5;" target="_blank">Nelson Cruz</a></strong>. Cruz is fitting nicely in the Orioles' lineup. His current OPS is .941, more than 100 points ahead of his career average and (to this point) his highest since 2010. I guess he didn't need that stuff either.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong style="color: black; line-height: 1.5;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cabreev01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cabreev01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" style="color: #743399; line-height: 1.5;" target="_blank">Everth Cabrera</a></strong>'s OPS of .725 is 49 points than his career average. His current slugging percentage is the highest of his career. His fielding is as good as ever, if not better. He still doesn't walk enough, but hey, the chemists never said the stuff would make you more patient.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong style="color: black; line-height: 1.5;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/peraljh01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/peraljh01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" style="color: #743399; line-height: 1.5;" target="_blank">Jhonny Peralta</a></strong> was off to a really slow start, but even so, his OPS is eleven points higher than his career average. And he is coming around nicely with a 1.340 OPS over his last seven games. His defense at short has been good as well.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So far, if we assume that all these players are now off any performance enhancers, it appears they never needed any to begin with.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong style="color: black; line-height: 1.5;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bastaan01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bastaan01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" style="color: #743399; line-height: 1.5;" target="_blank">Antonio Bastardo</a></strong> might be a different case. According to his pitching data, he has lost a mile per hour off his fastball and his strikeout rate is down from 9.99 per nine last year to 9.00 this year. His FIP is at 4.99, which is pretty bad and his walk rate is way up. But his fastball velocity and strikeout rates have decreased every year since 2010. So is this a guy losing his stuff without the juice, or a guy losing his stuff due to the natural scheme of physiology?</span></div><div style="color: #444444; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Other than Bastardo, which had to be an awful last name to grow up with, the "stars" that were caught by the scandal are showing that they can thrive post scandal. The players really hurt by the whole thing were the fringe guys.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Two are in the minors, <strong style="color: black; line-height: 1.5;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/player_search.cgi?results=monteje01,monter002jes&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/player_search.cgi?results=monteje01,monter002jes&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" style="color: #743399; line-height: 1.5;" target="_blank">Jesus Montero</a></strong> and <strong style="color: black; line-height: 1.5;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=puello001ces&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=puello001ces&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" style="color: #743399; line-height: 1.5;" target="_blank">Cesar Puello</a></strong>. Montero is off to a fine start with the bat. I don't think the forty pounds he gained before Spring Training were a result of less juice in his system. Perhaps he was just lazy. Puello has struggled thus far to get going in his minor league start.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong style="color: black; line-height: 1.5;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cervefr01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cervefr01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" style="color: #743399; line-height: 1.5;" target="_blank">Francisco Cervelli</a></strong> won the backup catcher gig with the Yankees with a great spring. But he hurt himself (again) and is currently on the 60-day DL.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The rest seem to be out of baseball. <strong style="color: black; line-height: 1.5;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/v/valdejo02.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/v/valdejo02.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" style="color: #743399; line-height: 1.5;" target="_blank">Jordany Valdespin</a></strong>, <strong style="color: black; line-height: 1.5;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/martife02.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/martife02.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" style="color: #743399; line-height: 1.5;" target="_blank">Fernando Martinez</a></strong>, <strong style="color: black; line-height: 1.5;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/e/escalse01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/e/escalse01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" style="color: #743399; line-height: 1.5;" target="_blank">Sergio Escalona</a></strong>, Fautino de los Santos and <strong style="color: black; line-height: 1.5;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/n/norbejo01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/n/norbejo01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.flagrantfan.com" style="color: #743399; line-height: 1.5;" target="_blank">Jordan Norberto</a></strong> all have no 2014 stats anywhere in the Majors or the Minors.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It should be noted that besides Braun, all of these players are Hispanic and the majority of them from the Dominican Republic. The latter is a mess that MLB created by the pressure of getting out of that depressed country for the promise of a paycheck playing baseball.</span></div><div style="color: #444444; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I am not excusing these players. They were caught with their shorts around their ankles. We can debate how MLB obtained the information. But the truth here is that good players are good players with or without so-called performance enhancers and those who have not made it yet in the Majors as established players have a lot more to lose and usually do in these kinds of scandals. To be sure, we still have a small sample size this year and we'll check in with these smudged players at the end of the season.</span></div>

How are the Biogenesis guys doing?

The suspensions have all been served--except  Alex Rodriguez , who is still serving his--and all those players who were suspended must be st...

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Taking Rick Reilly's point to the max

<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Rick Reilly, the writer for ESPN.com, recently caused a lot of conversation with his piece, "<a href="http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/10116177/rick-reilly-torre-la-russa-cox" target="_blank">Guilt by Association</a>." And the conversation is understandable because the piece was all about newly elected managers, <strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/coxbo01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Bobby Cox</a></strong>, <strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/player_search.cgi?results=torrejo01,torre-000joe&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Joe Torre</a></strong> and <strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/larusto01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Tony LaRussa</a></strong> getting a pass into the Hall of Fame because "<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17px;">the three managers being inducted oversaw at least 34 players who've been implicated as PED users and never noticed a thing wrong." Naturally, any conversation that includes PEDs leads to polarizing views. Half of Twitter is shouting, "Right on!" While others are saying it is the worst thing ever written.</span></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 17px;">While my position on the PED players and era is firmly established in the, "I don't care" category and do not believe in banning any players or managers from the Hall of Fame, you might think that this piece will fall on the bashing Rick Reilly side of things. But I am not going to do that. This is America after all and everyone is entitled to their opinion. It was not long ago that everyone was piling on Rob Neyer for something he said, and yet, he was bashing Reilly today. </span></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 17px;">Instead of focusing on the writer and on his intent or moralistic leanings here, I would rather focus on the logic of what he is saying. And if I paraphrase the entire thing, then he is saying in a nutshell that if the players are not getting a pass on the PEDs they may or may not have used, then the managers who were in charge of those players should not get a pass either.</span></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 17px;">In one aspect, he is right in that players did things they should not have done and the managers may or may not have known they are doing those things. So by either turning a blind eye or at worst, not paying attention, they are guilty by association.</span></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 17px;">So that should then mean that no manager from the PED era should ever make it into the Hall of Fame because perhaps as high as 60 to 80% of all players in the game were probably using. If you take Reilly's logic to the max, shouldn't that be the case? Forget about it, </span><strong style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 17px;"><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/leylaji99.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Jim Leyland</a></strong><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 17px;"> or </span><strong style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 17px;"><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/maddojo99.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Joe Maddon</a></strong><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 17px;"> or </span><strong style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 17px;"><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/sciosmi01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Mike Scioscia</a></strong><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 17px;"> or any others that might have a case in the future.</span></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 16.988636016845703px;">If you are going to make this argument, then you have to take it all the way. The common belief is that all segments of the baseball society fell down the rabbit hole in the PED era. The scouts, the commissioner, the league presidents, the managers, the general managers, the trainers, the union, the publicists, the agents, and yes, the writers and broadcasters all had to know that something was not right in the game and yet it happened anyway. They were all complicit.</span></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 16.988636016845703px;">Take Reilly's assertion to the maximum and Bill Madden of New York, Nick Peters of San Francisco, Rick Hummel of St. Louis, Tracy Ringolsby of Denver and Peter Gammons should not have gotten a free pass to the J.G. Taylor Spink Award. </span></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 16.988636016845703px;">Madden covered New York sports including many of the same players Joe Torre is being accused about. Peters certainly witnessed the </span><strong style="line-height: 16.988636016845703px;"><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bondsba01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Barry Bonds</a></strong><span style="line-height: 16.988636016845703px;"> superhero show. Hummel should be just as complicit as LaRussa. Ringolsby was writing when </span><strong style="line-height: 16.988636016845703px;"><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/player_search.cgi?results=willima04,willima09,willima03,willia015mat,willia011mat&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Matt Williams</a></strong><span style="line-height: 16.988636016845703px;"> was playing and others in Denver. And nobody knew more people or had more connections in the game in his heyday than Peter Gammons. So take those on too, Mr. Reilly.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 16.988636016845703px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 16.988636016845703px;">Speaking of Matt Williams: Now that he is a manager, what is going to happen if he wins ten World Series in his managing career? What a mess that will be, eh?</span></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 16.988636016845703px;">And what of broadcasters who often traveled with these players and stayed in the same hotels. Should Jack Buck have gotten the Ford C. Frick Award? He called McGwire's homers after all. What about Eric Nadel who was voted in this year after his lifetime of broadcasting the Rangers. Did one broadcaster cover more PED users than Nadel? </span><strong style="line-height: 16.988636016845703px;"><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/u/ueckebo01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Bob Uecker</a></strong><span style="line-height: 16.988636016845703px;"> has covered </span><strong style="line-height: 16.988636016845703px;"><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/player_search.cgi?results=braunry02,braunry01&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Ryan Braun</a></strong><span style="line-height: 16.988636016845703px;">'s career since the beginning. Should "Uke" be a Frick Award winner?</span></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 16.988636016845703px;">No, this blame and punishment thing can go on and on and thus it is all pointless. You cannot erase history by executing all those who participated in the bad things that happened. You cannot have a Hall of Fame that does not include the best players of their era. You cannot have a Spink Award without the best writers and the Frick Award without the best broadcasters.</span></div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 16.988636016845703px;">Let it go. The numbers are staying. There are no asterisks. The players that created them, the managers who managed them and the writers and broadcasters that breathlessly reported them all need to be drawn in the times that they played, managed, wrote and broadcast. Blame does not get us anywhere. Heck, even the commissioner is going to be in the Hall of Fame someday. My point and response to Rick Reilly is not to blast him but to simply remind him that the entire game of baseball, including those who covered and broadcast it, are guilty by association.</span></div>

Taking Rick Reilly's point to the max

Rick Reilly, the writer for ESPN.com, recently caused a lot of conversation with his piece, " Guilt by Association ." And the conv...

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Ryan Braun's confession refreshing

<div style="text-align: justify;">I do not know if <strong><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/player_search.cgi?results=braunry02,braunry01&utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-www.blogger.com" target="_blank">Ryan Braun</a></strong> is telling the <a href="http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130822&content_id=57973458&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb" target="_blank">entire truth</a>. On the surface, it seems rather dubious that his use was only that small window of time that he mentions in 2011. After all, we have heard the same thing from A-Rod and perhaps we cannot be convinced to believe anything at this point. But his level of contriteness and accepting the full blame for his actions was a bit refreshing.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In his statement listed in the linked article above, Braun outlines why he lied and when he lied. He makes an honest attempt to write about why his first reaction was the wrong one and that he compounded the problem by not being honest at the time. He apologizes to the man he smeared who handled his original tainted test.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We have heard a lot of apologies over the years, not just from baseball's PED users, but in politics and in business life. They all seem to be veiled in carefully considered words that deflect as much blame as possible. But this one seems a bit different. Ryan Braun has the sound (in his statement) of a contrite man who has a lot to apologize for and does not hide from doing so.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The statement gives hope that his overwhelming hubris and the over-arching pride--that comes from being gifted in a sport that grants entitlement from being very good at something that pays so well--will lead to personal growth for him in the future. His reputation is already tarnished. But he has a lot of life to live ahead of him and humility is a good start for the future.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I do not personally care what he did to his body. I have always maintained as much. But I hate, hate, hate dishonesty and that Nixon-like disease when people cannot admit they were wrong even when caught red-handed. We saw it with Bill Clinton. We have seen it a thousand times over the years. I hate that Braun was so self-righteous when he was guilty all along.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">To release a statement that was so introspective was refreshing. It puts a little humanity back in how I view the man. I can at least understand a bit of the reasons he did what he did even if I wish he had not done them. With Braun, I hated the stance he took when caught much more than for what he was caught. His statement does not tear down that hate at his action and the bitterness that resulted. But it does knock quite a few bricks out of that wall.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I just hope that he was not lying about when he used and for how long. That would suck if we found out differently. It is the only part of the statement that gives me pause. But his level of humility and his total acceptance of his sins as his fault goes a long way in forgiving him. Forgiveness is the most powerful tool in the universe. Perhaps we have been given an opportunity to begin that process with Ryan Braun. </div>

Ryan Braun's confession refreshing

I do not know if Ryan Braun is telling the entire truth . On the surface, it seems rather dubious that his use was only that small window ...

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I don't care anymore

With apologies to Phil Collins for melting his lyrics...<br /><br />You can tell everyone that Braun's a down disgrace,<br />drag his name all over the place,<br />I don't care anymore.<br />You can protect all you want the state ball is in,<br />I just want to watch and hope my team wins<br />I don't care anymore. I don't care anymore.<br /><br />I don't care what you say.<br />I don't like the games that you play.<br /><br />Because I've been reading all the people that you call your friends,<br />And it seems to us all that you're mean till the end.<br />They don't care anymore.<br />And Braun can sit there and bide his time,<br />He made you lose when you botched his crime.<br />I don't care anymore. I don't care anymore.<br /><br />I don't care what you say.<br />Nobody has ever played by the rules anyway.<br /><br />I'm not with you anymore<br />You, MLB, and the BBWAA.<br />Let me be<br />I've got better things to do with my time.<br />I don't care anymore. I don't care anymore.<br />I don't care anymore. I don't care anymore.<br /><br />Well, I don't care what you say,<br />You and your complicit BBWAA<br />Cause I'm not really bothered what you think of me.<br />All I want is for the Hall of Fame to be free.<br /><br />I don't care what you say.<br />Where were you in the 90s anyway?<br />Let's just play ball,<br />I've got better things to do with my time<br />I'm not listening anymore<br />I don't care anymore.<br />Do you hear? I don't care anymore.<br />I don't care anymore.<br />You listening? I don't care anymore.<br />No more.<br /><br />You know I don't care anymore.

I don't care anymore

With apologies to Phil Collins for melting his lyrics... You can tell everyone that Braun's a down disgrace, drag his name all over the ...

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