The Lunatic Fringe

What?  You know it’ll do a lot more to change the mindset of players rather than just getting a two-month unpaid vacation.

Look, I know Ryan Braun deserves, and is going to get his day in arbitration to try and prove his ignorance (er, um, innocence.  Whatever.)  And the Milwaukee Brewers are right not to rush to judgement on the situation.

But this doesn’t look good.  The report in ESPN suggest that MLB handed this test extra-carefully, as they should.  Braun’s spokespeople say that they have some sort of proof that Braun is truly innocent.  Short of an independently verified report that Milwaukee’s Brewers (the beer-making ones) accidentally made a PED-flavored brew for Oktoberfest, I have no idea what kind of proof they could have.  And we’ll have to wait to see.

But regardless of Braun’s individual case, I still think this is the answer.  Players don’t care about things the way they used to.  Not team loyalty (Ain’t that right, St. Louis?), not Hall of Fame status, not fan opinion…  But when it comes to the almighty dollar sign and guaranteed years getting them, well, that’s what matters to them. (Ain’t that right, Los Angeles of Anaheim?)