Hold Off on Braun and the Astros Rotation

List of Banned Substances is a Long One


Inside every major league clubhouse—in both English and Spanish—is a list of all the supplements and/or other products that are banned from baseball. The list includes just about all the body builder or weight lifter supplements used commonly by those athletes. None of them are steroids or human growth hormone directly, but may alter the body’s chemical composition and thus alter a drug test.

It would appear Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers may have run afoul of ingesting something felt to be harmless that may or may not have been on the list, but produced a positive result for elevated testosterone levels. Or maybe he didn’t do anything.

That is where the leaking of the results of his October test is so wrong. About 2.5% of all males have what are called significantly above normal testosterone levels naturally. One test proves nothing was done wrong by the NL MVP.

Testosterone levels are also usually elevated by athletes who lift weights. The body produces more testosterone on its own. Athletes lift weights. When was Braun’s sample taken?

Could Braun have taken a supplement he should not have, like the frequently advertised on sports radio stations, “Ageless Male” which claims to raise testosterone levels up to 61%? Could he have taken something else? Could he have taken nothing?

All of those are possibilities, but until it is known for sure, it is wrong to be assuming Braun will be suspended for the first 50 games in 2012 until all the facts are in.

Astros have Plenty of Players to Compete, but Which Ones Will Succeed?

News that Astro catcher Jason Castro has been sidelined with a broken bone in his foot and won’t be ready to play at the outset of spring training is not good news for the club—or for Castro. The former first round draftee had a taste of the major leagues in 2010, but showed he was not quite ready. He showed a good eye at the plate, but had little success in actually collecting many hits. Yet, his defensive skills showed promise and there was hope he would take the starting job in 2011 and never look back. Of course, he went down with a knee injury last spring and missed the whole season.

He would not have been able to help too much in keeping the Astros from the on field disaster that was 2011, but he would have gained needed experience. Depending on how well he heals this time he will have that chance again. The Astros, though, in making a wise signing by bringing back Humberto Quintero at least have the position covered by a veteran.

In fact, it could be expected that Quintero and Castro would share the job with Castro getting most of the starts in part due to his left handed bat anyway. In the rebuilding of the Astros the club has to learn if Castro is the man just as they have to learn if J.D. Martinez, Jose Altuve, Jimmy Paredes, Chris Johnson and Brett Wallace can be significant major leaguers.

Next spring will be most focused on the pitching staff. There are enough candidates to fill regular lineup slots. Sure, some of them won’t make it ultimately, but the team is going to give the “kids” a long look as part of “the plan.” Fans should expect the Astros to used addition by subtraction as the immediate goal.

The subtractions will be the contracts of Brett Myers, Wandy Rodriguez and Carlos Lee. The latter is most unlikely since the usual ploy for getting a player to waive a no trade clause or 10-5 rights is the promise of a new contract extension with his new team. In Carlos’ case he has shown no indication he plans on playing after his current contract expires after 2012.

Of course, Roy Oswalt said that a few years ago, too. He has apparently changed his mind and may be seeking a new contract as a free agent.

If one or two of the “Big Money Three” can be sent elsewhere with potential major league talent returning the 2012 Astros could free some cash to find a shortstop if they wished, but right now it would appear that is not the plan. Angel Sanchez likely will be listed as #1 on the shortstop depth chart into the spring.

It may not even be Christmas yet and even the Winter Baseball Dinner is more than a month away, but it is never to early to be talking baseball. Remember, it is the GAME that is the thing. We can only hope the on field results will show improvement in 2012 and that hope for better times can reasonably be expected.