Everyone knew Will Middlebrooks would at one point make a trip to the disabled list this season but what this did was provide the team with a very big silver lining in what has been an up and down year for the defending world series champions.
The American League has a plethora of talent when it comes to rookies this season including Danny Santana of the Twins, Jose Abreu of the White Sox, Masahiro Tanaka of the Yankees and Xander Bogaerts of the Red Sox. But with the great play of Red Sox super utilityman Brock Holt, he should be in the conversation for the American league Rookie of the Year award. Continue reading Brock Holt making case to be an AL Rookie of the Year candidate→
Red Sox infielder Xander Bogaerts entered the season as one of the favorites to win the American League Rookie of the Year, but now finds himself in the back of a large pack which includes a number of deserving rookies.
Within the last few hours, news has broken that Brewers left fielder and 2011 National League MVP Ryan Braun has been suspended by Major League Baseball for the remainder of the season for violating the league’s drug policy.
The 29 year old from Mission Hills, California has had no shortage of success since entering the league in 2007, when he won the National League Rookie of the Year Award. He has the 5th best batting average in the majors since entering the league and is also 6th in home runs and RBI’s during that time stretch. But all his success has come with a considerable amount of controversy.
Just months after he was named MVP in 2011, news was leaked that Braun had tested positive for performance enhancing drugs and that he would be suspended for the first 50 games of the 2012 season. Even more controversy came around the matter when Braun won his appeal, making him the first player in major professional sports to do so. He was able to get off the hook by finding technicalities in how his testing was done and proving that the results may have been off.
He went on to have a career year in 2012 but finished second in the MVP voting to Giants catcher Buster Posey. Many believe he would have won if it wasn’t for the whole PED story that ran baseball headlines in the winter.
But today, he has finally been suspended after his name appeared in the records of the Biogenesis of America clinic, an anti-aging clinic in Florida which closed in December 2012. Several other players have been linked in this scandal, including Alex Rodriguez. Braun will miss the rest of this season and the postseason, but it’s the Brewers, so the postseason thing really doesn’t matter.
I don’t know if you can trade a player while he’s suspended, but I know you can do it in football. The New England Patriots traded for cornerback Aquib Talib last season when he still had one more game to go on a suspension. If a team like the Red Sox could trade for him now, why not?
Braun accepting his 2011 NL MVP award. (Photo: Wikipedia)
Think about it, Braun would come very cheap. He gave the Brewers a big headache last year during his whole appeal process and now this Biogenesis story has been lingering around the team all year. With him gone for the year, and the Brewers not looking to contend anytime soon I think they would be glad to unload a player with that much baggage.
Taking him on for the rest of the season would not be an issue, as he does not get paid while suspended and when he does come back, you’d be getting one of the better outfielders in baseball. Being a right handed hitter, he’d be able to bang line drives off the Green Monster while playing at Fenway Park and I’d expect a rise in his batting average, much like Jason Bay had in his time with the Red Sox, right before his career went down in flames with the Mets.
Getting his strong bat into would allow the Red Sox to let often injured Jacboy Ellsbury walk at the end of the season, or at least not overpay him, which is something I have expected Boston to do with Ellsbury for years. Having that spot cleared up quickly it will allow the team to focus on bigger issues in the offseason such as both starting and relief pitching.
Again, I don’t know if trading for him while he’s suspended is allowed, or this will have to wait until the offseason. But if you can get a five time All-Star in a trade for little compensation I don’t care what his past is, it will be wort the shot. If he came back strong it will only help the team as they continue to leave their mark on the strong American League East and make another World Series run.
Beantown Shakedown 