The Nats Thread (old thread link inside, too many load issues)

[Tulane Skins Fan]

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2013-01...biggest-names/

Yea, doesn't look good for Gio

Already posted.... I see you trolling, you hating, patrolling, trying to catch you ridin' dirty.

[WALEOVECHKIN]

It's more of a stain on his reputation then anything because you can't get suspended unless you admit to taking it (e.g. Michael Morse). Baseball will look different with in season HGH testing this year IMO

[Titaw]

From what has been reported Gio is on record to receive Aminorip. According to multiple sources, if that is the case, then Gio may be fine. There are no indications that any ingredients in Aminorip are on MLB's ban list. Unless, reports come out that he was noted to receive HGH or any other PEDs he should be fine.

http://www.dcprosportsreport.com/was...ed-report.html

[Warhead36]

Three of our players can bat 2 or 3 hole: Harper, Werth, Desmond. All three also have potential power for later slots. That's a good place for a lineup to be.

You can even make the argument that better plate patience would make Espinosa a 2-3 candidate also. This lineup is nuts (on paper).

I don't like Desi at the top of the lineup. More pressure to see pitches. He's perfect hitting 6th where he can just mash. Harps would make a great 3 hole hitter, but I'd rather he hit 4th because I prefer Zimm at 3rd. Harps hitting 3rd would mean Zimm hitting 4th, which I'm not as much a fan of. Werth is the perfect 2 hole hitter.

Espi should hit 8th until he stops K-ing so often.

[TheDane]

It doesn't look all that benign to me. The "doc's" records list includes several Major League players already suspended for using the very substances this guy was peddling. (By the way, Anthony Bosch, the proprietor of the clinic, is NOT licensed to practice medicine in Florida.) Despite the claims of Gio's father, both Gio and his dad are listed in the records. Is it rock solid proof? No, but it leads me to think Gio's got some 'splaining to do. Unless this Bosch character contemporaneously made up client lists out of whole cloth, this is a stain on Gio's reputation.

Here's the source article:

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2013-01...st-names/full/

It is possible that Gio is referenced only as a reminder to the doctor as to why he took on the client, Max Gonzalez (Gio's dad). The author himself refers to Gio's case as "curious."

Gio might be completely exonerated, for all we know.

---------- Post added January-29th-2013 at 12:05 PM ----------

Espi should hit 8th until he stops K-ing so often.

Wholeheartedly agree, which is why I said he needed more plate patience, which he currently does not have (bless his bearded heart).

Desi fits perfectly in the bottom half of our lineup. But he has the tools to bat earlier, that's all I'm saying.

[Tulane Skins Fan]

Gio Gonzalez ‏@GioGonzalez47
I've never used performance enhancing drugs of any kind and I never will ,I've never met or spoken with tony Bosch or used any substance

Gio Gonzalez ‏@GioGonzalez47
Provided by him.anything said to the contrary is a lie.

---------- Post added January-29th-2013 at 12:11 PM ----------

I don't like Desi at the top of the lineup. More pressure to see pitches. He's perfect hitting 6th where he can just mash. Harps would make a great 3 hole hitter, but I'd rather he hit 4th because I prefer Zimm at 3rd. Harps hitting 3rd would mean Zimm hitting 4th, which I'm not as much a fan of. Werth is the perfect 2 hole hitter.

Espi should hit 8th until he stops K-ing so often.

Remember, Espi played with a torn rotator cuff for a month last season. I'm not as down on him now as I once was. I think he's a 20-20 guy with better on base skills than Desi (but less power).

[Dave25]

I'm really down on Espinosa. Sure he plays great D but on offense he K's wayyy to much to only be in the 15-25 hr range and doesn't hit for average at all. I know I've said this a million times but Rendon needs be moved to 2B down in AAA and we see what happens, this whole play injured thing is not going to work for Espinosa.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Goddamn it.,i hope its not true. I pray it's not true. Roiding in baseball is as close to an unforgivable sin to me as it gets. The great thing about baseball is the history and the numbers. And roiders take a giant **** on both of those things. I pray one of ours isn't guilty of that.

That said, like I said last week in one of the Lance threads, has anyone, ANYONE, ever been tied to PEDs and later exonerated? I can't think of anyone. But there's a first for everything and I hope that's the case here.

[Tulane Skins Fan]

Goddamn it.,i hope its not true. I pray it's not true. Roiding in baseball is as close to an unforgivable sin to me as it gets. The great thing about baseball is the history and the numbers. And roiders take a giant **** on both of those things. I pray one of ours isn't guilty of that.

That said, like I said last week in one of the Lance threads, has anyone, ANYONE, ever been tied to PEDs and later exonerated? I can't think of anyone. But there's a first for everything and I hope that's the case here.

Actually, you could argue that Roger Clemens has been. At this point, there is basically no evidence that he did it, except for the word of a known liar.

And I hate Clemens.

[Tulane Skins Fan]

I get why people are down on Espi, but he had sixth best fangraphs war last year: http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.asp...ter=&players=0

I think he was like 3rd in WAR at baseball-reference too. Plus, he's still 25 or 26. Not time to give up on him yet, IMO.

[mrcunning15]

Actually, you could argue that Roger Clemens has been. At this point, there is basically no evidence that he did it, except for the word of a known liar.

And I hate Clemens.

Braun from the brewers?

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

I mean like REALLY exonerated. Like an apology issued, their name cleared, etc. Is there anyone who truly believes that Braun and Clemens didn't juice?

[Alvin_Walton40]

I mean like REALLY exonerated. Like an apology issued, their name cleared, etc. Is there anyone who truly believes that Braun and Clemens didn't juice?

100% with you. Was talking to a co worker this morning about just this.

Just being implicated is a sentence of guilt in the PED world that we live in. There is no chance of redemption.

When the only recourse is to deny, deny, deny guilty or innocent...the waters will be forever muddy. A real shame.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

But as misterirrelevant.com points out, according to what the article says, Gio isn't linked to PED's, just a PED doctor.

http://misterirrelevant.com/index.ph...d-clinic-miam/

UPDATE: As our esteemed colleague Jack Kogod points out, NONE of the ingredients in AminoRip are on the MLB’s banned substances list, nor is Zinc and MIC (Methionine, Inositol, Choline). We cross-checked them all against the banned list.

Tweets coming out now saying that the Miami newspaper that broke the story is about to release the records related to Gio. Hopefully that clears some stuff up.

[Tulane Skins Fan]

Couple updates on this:

UPDATE, 5:17 p.m.: Bosch’s attorney, Susy Ribero-Ayala refuted the New Times report in a statement Tuesday, saying it was “filled with inaccuracies, innuendo and misstatements” and Bosch “vehemently denies the assertions that MLB players such as Alex Rodriguez and Gio Gonzalez were treated by or associated with him.”
Reached by phone on Wednesday and asked about Max Gonzalez’s relationship with Bosch, Ribero-Ayala wouldn’t comment or elaborate.
“I’m sticking to the statement I released and I’m not releasing any other statements at this time,” she said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...clinic-report/

I dont know if anyone looked at these awesome docs that New Times posted today, but it looks like a fantasy baseball chart, diagramming batting averages and rbi's, etc.