Some news and notes from the National League…
- Concerns over the coronavirus have helped lead four notable major leaguers – the Nationals’ Ryan Zimmerman and Joe Ross, the Diamondbacks’ Mike Leake and the Rockies’ Ian Desmond – to opt out of the 2020 season this week. Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun hasn’t joined them, though he is leery of playing amid a pandemic, per Mike DiGiovanna and Arash Markazi of the Los Angeles Times. The six-time All-Star told the LA Times “there’s some nervousness and apprehension,” adding, “My biggest priority is being a father first and a husband second, so to leave three young children and my wife to go into an environment where I don’t know what it will look like or when exactly I will come back or how safe it will be, it’s a little bit scary and completely different than anything I’ve experienced.” Although the season’s scheduled to start in a few weeks, Braun isn’t convinced the league will be able to finish or even start it, DiGiovanna and Markazi report.
- The Mets are “extremely excited” about the progress reliever Dellin Betances has made, and they expect him to be a full participant in summer camp, according to general manager Brodie Van Wagenen (via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). Betances, whom the Mets signed to a $10.5MM guarantee during the winter, missed almost all of last season as a Yankee because of shoulder problems. In his lone appearance of the year, on Sept. 15, the right-hander struck out both batters he faced before suffering a partial left Achilles tear while hopping off the mound. If Betances returns to his typical form this season, though, he should be an enormously helpful pickup for the Mets. The 32-year-old’s a four-time All-Star who has logged a 2.36 ERA/2.31 FIP with 14.64 K/9, 4.01 BB/9 and 117 holds during his 381 2/3-inning career.
- More on the Mets, who have had one player on their 40-man roster test positive for the coronavirus, Van Wagenen told Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News and other reporters Monday. They’ve also had positive tests among minor leaguers. But the 40-man player is recovering well, and Van Wagenen believes the Mets have been been “incredibly fortunate” to have so few positive tests to his point.
- We now know there won’t be a minor league baseball season in 2020. Nevertheless, two more teams have stepped up to pay their minor leaguers over the next couple months. The Dodgers have made the $400 weekly commitment through August, according to one of their own farmhands, righty Ryan Moseley. The Phillies, meanwhile, will pay their minor leaguers through the season, Matt Gelb of The Athletic tweets.
Not sure where you got that information about Braun. The Brewers tweeted a picture of him and Yelich stating ‘S’more campers have arrived.’. twitter.com/Brewers/status/1278082611475361794
He’s unsure about playing citing his family but maybe he trying to make the commitment to do so by going to camp.
The way I read it….. Braun should Have just said family first. He put his wife second lol(we knew what he meant but it didn’t look good) Someone’s going to be sleeping in the dog house now. I’m sure his dog house is better than most of our homes, so he will be alright.
In all due respect, I think saying that kids take first priority and the partner takes second priority is appropriate.
@Brad, Nope, you got it backwards Bucko.
id be fine if that cheater never played again
For me it’s more the way he lied about it and got somebody in trouble
Agree. The act was bad enough but lying made it far worse. Tho in comparison to A-Rod openly throwing a teammate under the bus after paying for said information it’s not so bad. Apparently I’m still holding a grudge…might need to work on that.
@cptstupendous ….. no need to be mad at a rod…. little Ryan wasn’t a quarter of the player Alex was. Get over it bud.
Getting others in trouble yes…. scum bag move for sure. But lying and not lying, who cares. He cheated regardless. He was a skinny punk banging 30-40 bombs artificially and once busted he never came close again. You could tell it helped him to another level.
Everyone hates a rod but he was great before juice and when busted, he paid a price much larger than Braun( funny how bud selig was part owner of brewers and Ryan only got 66 games while a rod was handed the largest non lifetime ban in history smh ). Then with all the eyes on him and you know they were trying to bust Alex again and tested the dog crap out of him, he comes back late thirties after all that time off and STILL hit over 30 once again. Little Ryan ain’t came close to his production since. But Alex proves he was a great hitter before and after. But for some reason ppl give him a pass….. not saying you did. But a lot of ppl do smh.
actually jenry mejjia has the longest suspension on record. His was originally a lifetime ban but got reinstated last year and was a minor leaguer for the red sox.
espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/25879334/jenrry-mejia-agre…
But it was not intended to be that way…… so from the original point of suspension a rod had the longest HANDED OUT suspension. That other fella was busted how many times? And they re instated him from his ORIGINAL lifetime ban. Jerry or whatever the clowns name was…… wasn’t supposed to ever come back. He was banned, not suspended. So my point stands.
Hey Braun – were you thinking about your family when you had needles shoved into your bum? I hear steroids are great for the body.
Braun cares about his family, but not about the family of the guy he ruined the career of.
Yeah go figure he would care more about his own family over someone else’s.
Gotta ask. Who’s career did he ruin?
google.com/amp/s/www.si.com/.amp/mlb/2013/06/05/ry…
Dino was put thru hell and public ridicule so Braun could try to lie for nearly 2 years. That’s who…
Was just asking. Not every comment is an attack. Ease up a bit.
There was more danger to Braun when he injected chemicals into his body. He has no right to speak on the “risks of playing”
Maybe Braun should play and donate his salary to the guy whose life he ruined with the steroid test.
The comment difference between this thread and Nelson Cruz’s thread is comical
That’s because Braun is the scummiest of all the ‘roid scumbags.
I don’t think that Nelson Cruz accused anyone of being an anti-Semite.
That never happened. I’m just as disgusted with Braun as the next guy, but there is no need to lie. Braun said the motives were because the guy worked for the Cubs organization. He never brought race/religion into it. Scummy no matter which way you spin it, but in this political climate it’s not cool to be throwing those kind of false accusations around.
Oh it’s true. Do the research. It’s damn true.
I am a lifelong Brewers fan from Milwaukee. I read every article and watched all the news coverage while it was happening live. Braun never said anything about the guy being a anti-Semite. There is no article, video, tic-toc, or meme anywhere that disagrees with that fact. The reason Braun gave for the guys motive was… He worked for the Cubs and was an avid Cubs fan. Stop your hate speech.
It was reported that he told players and others around the game that bigotry was the motivation for the positive test. I don’t remember anyone coming out to dispute this. To act as if this was never reported on is a whitewash.
If you think there’s a contradiction between those 2, just wait til David Ortiz gets into the HOF before Barry Bonds
I know man lol….. it’s outright laughable. The fat man who never could field. The man who pulled balls to One of the shortest, maybe the shortest right field pole in the bigs, will make the hall before one of the greatest players to ever play the game. Yes ppl bonds was good before the juice too, unlike David “I can’t even hit 25-30 until I’m almost thirty years old” Ortiz. What a sham! Bonds stole bags too. He wasn’t a one dimensional player like Ortiz was. If Ortiz gets in(he probably will), than bonds should be in too dude.
The signs might be there but unless he was caught with it or admitted to it (innocent until proven guilty). Also add in the fact that he has been playing for years during the era with testing for steroids.and hgh shows a little more in his favor that he doesnt do it or very good at hiding it.
You also cant judge by he started hitting more homers when he was 30. You have late bloomers like Ryan Howard who hit a crazy amount of homers for a few years then fell off a cliff. You can also add in the fact the ball became more juiced to get those homers and bring fans back.
I personally dont like DH only players being in the hall of fame but you already have a few (Edgar Martinez last year for example) so precedent has been set. Big Papi was a fan favorite he played the game and had a good time with it. He is one of the few i think checks all the boxes with stats, fan connection in game contributions, and off the field contributions, and for the most part being ambassador for baseball..
The fact that barry committed purgery and was caught about it make it a little harder for him to get in. Stat wise he definitely deserves to be there, but all the off the field stuff will defintiely cause him not to get it not just the steroids.
+ Pete Rose
Ryan Howard was injured…
its amazing how Cruz gets off scot free now, and even more so because he is still thriving, meaning he’s more likely still using.
Braun is garbage, wish him the worst
Braun is a liar and a cheat who basically ruined a man’s life. All while sticking needles with dangerous substances into himself. Yet now I am suppose to believe he’s worried about safety? LOL.
How refreshing. People finally having the courage to share their feelings on Ryan Braun…
For the eleven billionth time.
We get it. You hate him.
Stfu
Take your own advice.
as long as he’s still posting 3 HR games against my team I reserve the right to criticize his actions.
Why are the dodgers in the headline? I didn’t see them mentioned
I see now
I have zero understanding how people can trash the name of Braun in one sentence, and praise Nelson Cruz and Bonds in the next. Hypocritical in all fashions. They all cheated, they all will not be inducted into the HOF, and they all proved their worth after their scandals. Braun has hit .277, 75 RBI, 130 H, and 22 HR per year since his scandal. Those are viable numbers for sure.
You’re an idiot
Since you offered so much valuable information in that reply, could you explain to me a little more your reasoning?
I don’t see that happening
What about Cano?
No one criticizes his cheating and watch he will be in HOF.
He was rewarded twice for cheating; first time when no one knew and secondly after everyone knew