Conte: Players loading up on synthetic testosterone

Page 1.

For every mouse there is a mouse trap. Get a bench mark for each player, with a blood test. If there numbers suddenly jump then you know they are doing something and should be banned.

I hope Arte Moreno is reading this. If there isn't a PED clause in Pujols contract he's dumb as a bag of rocks.

Not every player makes it through this so called "loophole". Braun drove that Mack truck straight into the ravine

QUOTE(#3):

Originally posted 08:32 AM ET  12.13 by Flea Biscuit

Not every player makes it through this so called "loophole". Braun drove that Mack truck straight into the ravine

That said there is no question testing has dramatically affected the game. As I sated yesterday, by way of example, in 2001 there was 1 starting pitcher in the American League with an ERA below 3.74, last year there was 22.

QUOTE(#3):

Originally posted 08:32 AM ET  12.13 by Flea Biscuit

Not every player makes it through this so called "loophole". Braun drove that Mack truck straight into the ravine

Braun is a complete idiot. I read an article this morning that his levels of testosterone were the highest ever recorded by MLB's testing program.

QUOTE(#1):

Originally posted 08:14 AM ET  12.13 by Bronx_Pride

Page 1.For every mouse there is a mouse trap. Get a bench mark for each player, with a blood test. If there numbers suddenly jump then you know they are doing something and should be banned.

How do you establish a baseline for someone who is already using? That "bench mark" will be by defaut tainted.

QUOTE(#5):

Originally posted 09:06 AM ET  12.13 by Gary The Sox Fan

Braun is a complete idiot. I read an article this morning that his levels of testosterone were the highest ever recorded by MLB's testing program.

Maybe he got his serious bone on the night before?

If Braun is so innocent, he should take a polygraph test on live tv. What gets me is that they waited a month and a half to announce the positive test. This should have changed the minds of MVP voters had it been leaked prior to voting.

Conte....a parasite of the highest magnitude.

QUOTE(#9):

Originally posted 11:05 AM ET  12.13 by Gary The Sox Fan

If Braun is so innocent, he should take a polygraph test on live tv. What gets me is that they waited a month and a half to announce the positive test. This should have changed the minds of MVP voters had it been leaked prior to voting.

Voting occurs before the playoffs.

And the results of Braun's failed test weren't announced - they were leaked before he's been able to get due process hearing.

They should pay them in testosterone, instead of cash!!! Nothing surprises me, as long as Bud Light is Commissioner he will allow this to go on, you see this fills the ballparks. Next year the numbers are going to drop, and there's no place to go but down.

it most be cheaper by the dozen!!

QUOTE(#1):

Originally posted 08:14 AM ET  12.13 by Bronx_Pride

Page 1.For every mouse there is a mouse trap. Get a bench mark for each player, with a blood test. If there numbers suddenly jump then you know they are doing something and should be banned.

don't know enough about the science to know how reliable that would be. but if it is a reliable way of catching these guys then i think you're absolutely right. it really could be that simple.

QUOTE(#1):

Originally posted 08:14 AM ET  12.13 by Bronx_Pride

Get a bench mark for each player, with a blood test. If there numbers suddenly jump then you know they are doing something and should be banned.

It's a nice thought, but a flawed idea.

Testosterone levels vary over time - day to day, month to month, year to year. Environmental factors make it vary. The way they detect exogenous testosterone is to measure the Testosterone to Epitestosterone ratio. If you aren't juicing, that shoule be 1:1. They set the trigger to look further at 4:1, which actually is a bit generous. At that point they perform more expensive tests to look for evidence of synthetic testosterone.

Players are playing with fire by trying to get around the tests. Manny got caught several times via several methods. The last time he got caught having a medication in his system which masks the juicing. Braun apparently has triggered the tripwire.

QUOTE(#15):

Originally posted 11:58 AM ET  12.13 by Hotpants McSnoogerton

don't know enough about the science to know how reliable that would be. but if it is a reliable way of catching these guys then i think you're absolutely right. it really could be that simple.

In regards to the idea... the suggesting would result in too many false positives and too many false negatives. Already there's a battle in the press over the "leaked" result. The last thing you want to do is to create even a few false positives which would unnecessarily ruin lives and reputations. And you do want to catch just enough bad guys to scare the bad actors into behaving better. As the old Chinese saying goes, if you want to scare 100 monkeys, shoot one.

is Braun just the tip of the iceberg?

QUOTE(#18):

Originally posted 02:08 PM ET  12.13 by THE BISHOP!

is Braun just the tip of the iceberg?

I don't know the false negative rate of the test, given all the things the players can do and all the shortcomings of the test as it's administered and scored. But in order not to have any false positives, you have to let some bad actors pass through.

Maybe they could send a clubhouse attendant with a cup into the OF and bring in a specimen.