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Fantasy Baseball – The Fallout From Ryan Braun’s Positive Test

Published: 11th Dec 11 9:25 am
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Fantasy Baseball – The Fallout From Ryan Braun’s Positive Test
Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE

It’s a terrible day for baseball, as Ryan Braun tested positive for using banned substances. Making things worse is that he was just named the NL MVP, and instead of being celebrated for his fantastic year will be vilified for cheating. Baseball was starting to move past the ugly stain of the steroid era, and Braun just became one of the highest profile players to test positive for an illegal substance.

In the coming days, many will ask for Braun’s MVP award to be stripped from him. But that’s not going to happen. If they aren’t going to take away the MVP awards from other users such as Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens, they won’t take it away from Braun.

Braun was coming off the best season of his career, hitting 332/397/597, with 33 HR’s and earning 7.8 WAR. Despite already being signed until 2015, the Brewers extended his contract through the 2020 season with an option for 2021. Ryan Braun was always looked at as a cornerstone player, a leader, and more importantly a role model who wanted to stay with the team who drafted him. Unless the Brewers find a way to void his contract, which is quite unlikely, they will be stuck together until at least 2020. That’s a long time to be booed by the fans.

Braun is claiming he’s innocent, and it’s possible that the test is wrong. But it won’t matter even if he is, because his reputation has been tarnished forever.

Seeing as this is geared towards fantasy baseball, I thought it would be important to take a look at who could possibly replace Braun if he does get suspended for 50 games.

Matt Gamel – One of the Brewers top prospect for years, and at one point considered the 34th best prospect by Baseball America, Gamel has failed to deliver on his potential. In fairness, he’s only had one season with more than 26 at bats, and even that season saw him playing in only 61 games. He’s never really had a fair opportunity to prove himself, but he hasn’t done himself any favours by struggling when he’s been called up. A career 222 hitter in the majors, his minor league record looks much more promising. He’s hit 304/376/498 in the minors, and he recently posted a 912 OPS in AAA. Which would be impressive, if he wasn’t already 25 and repeating it for the fourth season.

With Fielder leaving for free agency and Braun potentially out for 50 games, this might be Gamel’s only opportunity to show he belongs in the majors. I wouldn’t expect a 900 OPS, but a 270/340/470 line with 15-20 homers might not be out of the question. He’s a terrible defender, but fortunately the Brewers do have an opening in both LF and 1B. He’ll never be able to replace Braun’s production, but if he proves he belongs in the majors the Brewers will have a cheap productive player for the next 5 years in Gamel.

Logan Schafer – He’s old for a prospect at 24, but Schafer has missed several seasons due to injuries. He worked his way up last year from A ball to AAA, hitting 315/389/439 along the way. He does have some speed, although he’s not a very effective base stealer. He’s a much better player in real life than he is in fantasy, as most of his value is tied into his defence. He’s got a plus glove in the outfield, which is valuable for a fourth outfielder. He could fill in for Braun for 50 games, and then be moved to a bench role.

Unfortunately for the Brew Crew, Schafer and Gamel both bat left handed. So they’re unable to form a platoon with each other. I’d pass on Schafer in any fantasy league, but in a deeper league Gamel might be worth a chance towards the end of the draft.

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