Per ESPN: Braun Tests Positive, May Face 50 Game Suspension (Part 1)

[TheCrew]

His camp has admitted nothing. This is the full statement from his agency:

There are highly unusual circumstances surrounding this case which will

support Ryan's complete innocence and demonstrate there was absolutely

no intentional violation of the program. While Ryan has impeccable

character and no previous history, unfortunately, because of the process

we have to maintain confidentiality and are not able to discuss it any

further, but we are confident he will ultimately be exonerated."

 

Neither he nor MLB can comment on this at all due to the impending arbitration. You can trust this anonymous source all you want but I am going to wait until the process plays itself out before I condemn Braun. ESPN should never have reported this in the first place until the appeal was finished. If he is exonerated by his appeal it will be tough to bring his reputation back to where it was before the report.

Your right, they didn't say he failed a test - they said he didn't intentional violate any program. It sure looks like they are setting things up to play the negligence card - I hope that Braun is innocent as much as the next Brewer fan, but as I've said from the beginning....... when you take the fandom out, it initially does not look good for Braun.

[JohnBriggs12]

Here's a possible scenario for Braun to clear himself: He took a supplement that was on MLB's latest approved list (I am assuming of course that such a list exists). However, it's later shown that this product indeed is capable of producing a high enough spike in testosterone levels in certain people to produce a positive test, and therefore the product should not have been on the list, then it's MLB's screwup. Because these test results are supposed to be confidential, it would seem to me well within Braun's rights to seek damages caused by the leak of preliminary information that damages his career earning power. If the party leaking this information had some type of ax to grind with either Braun and/or the Brewer organization and ESPN knew this and ran with the story any way, I would think a case could be made against them as well.

[Chio151]

Something like this wouldn't effect a Chicago or Boston much, but I worry about the short and long term financial effect on the franchise.

If you think about what gets you to 3 million tickets, it's casual fans and families. With Fielder leaving and (potentially) our one star a convicted cheater, who is buying jerseys for their kids and spending 100 bucks+ to take the family out to the park. This could have a serious impact on attendance long-term.

Basically this is like the height of the mountaintop to the depth of the valley in a 2 month span. It hurts, real bad. Any attempts to lash out are just trying to conceal that.

[Invader3K]

Well, here goes.

 

I wasn't able to post about this last night, due to being at a family Christmas party. At the time, I doubt I would have been able to write anything that wouldn't have violated the rules of this forum.

 

Anyway, like many of you, I was quite stunned to hear about this news, which I first heard about through Twitter. All I could post on Twitter at that point was, "Well, this sucks." And it still does this morning. It's hard to fathom something like this being connected to our beloved Milwaukee Brewers, a team that has seemed to be above issues like this, which are usually more a providence of the big market teams.

 

Ryan Braun is my all time favorite baseball player. I've had more enjoyment watching him play baseball than even when I was a little kid watching Molitor, Yount, and Gantner. I've cheered him on since day one, and suffice to say, I'm glad he's on our team. I remember how happy I was both times he signed extensions with this ball club. How wonderful it's been to watch a player who you know is truly committed to his team, and clearly wants to win.

 

If this all ends up being true, and Braun gets suspended for 50 games, it basically sinks the Brewers' season. Doug Melvin will have to seriously consider selling off pieces now. It was going to be tough to contend next year without Prince Fielder. Without Braun, its just an incredibly monumental task. I will still continue to be a fan of the Brewers, and yes, Ryan Braun, no matter what. My fandom will probably be a bit more muted, though.

 

I can believe Ryan Braun may have taken a banned performance enhancing drug. At the same time, some of the reports and "facts" seem to be at odds with each other, and it seems like there may be much more to the story than we know at this point. I am just hopeful that the truth, one way or another, comes out very soon. If this gets dragged out for several days or weeks, it's going to do irreparable harm to the Brewers as an organization. Ryan Braun's reputation has already been damaged, and many will always doubt him no matter what. That is truly a shame.

[narwhalattack]

This is the flaw with modern journalism. Some journalists today are obsessed with getting the most scandalous reports of people, whether an official verdict has been reached or not. They're constantly bloodthirsty and do not care much about ethics. All they care about is money and fame.

 

If a verdict has been reached and then the news came out, it would be a whole different story.

[fondybrewfan]

Are people really complaining about a rush to judgment on Braun? For goodness sakes the report came out and said he failed a PED test but was appealing the findings. That doesn't exactly instill confidence that he is innocent in this. I think it was a perfectly reasonable reaction for those that don't consider Braun "Holier than though." If this was anyone from any other team everyone would crucify him at the stake. This morning I have calmed down and will give him time to explain himself; but this still looks pretty damning

[JJHardy7]

I am just hopeful that the truth, one way or another, comes out very soon. If this gets dragged out for several days or weeks, it's going to do irreparable harm to the Brewers as an organization.

 

I agree with this. The Brewers will need to prepare either with or without Braun for the first 50 games...and will have to make plans without him pretty quick if that is the case.

 

This is the flaw with modern journalism. Some journalists today are obsessed with getting the most scandalous reports of people, whether an official verdict has been reached or not. They're constantly bloodthirsty and do not care much about ethics. All they care about is money and fame.

 

I don't get this. I've mentioned I'm not a huge fan of the timing ESPN used, but if ESPN is going to through a guy like Ryan Braun through the mud don't you think they'll lose all respect of elite MLB players (even other sports)? It would not be a smart thing to do given Braun's popularity with a guy like say Aaron Rodgers. My guess is they felt they had enough to go on and with Braun's camp admitting it I'd say they were right.

 

ESPN doesn't have anything against Milwaukee. Milwaukee was the meading darling for a good portion of this past summer. The stopped being that when they lost in the playoffs. Funny how that works.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Where does this 'innocent until proven guilty' stuff keep coming up? This isn't a court of law. The comparisons to people getting arrested are off base.

 

If you pop positive, you're guilty. You can appeal, and maybe the appeal turns up facts or evidence that do not support the initial positive test, but I really think the 'innocent until proven guilty' line simply doesn't apply here.

 

Braun might be a great guy, but he's also got a cocky streak a mile wide. Is it really that much of a stretch that he was willing to take the risk to get back from the injury that he'd do something like this? I'm not saying he did or he did not, but the people saying 'there's no way Braun would do something like this' are just closing their eyes to possibilities.

 

This sucks. It sucks hard. As I push into my late 30's, I find myself less and less enchanted with organized sports. Stuff like college football teams switching conferences every other year, the steroid nonsense, and then billionaires fighting with multi-millionaires over how to split billions of dollars will do that to a person. I suppose it's not unusual.

[Beast Light]

Where does this 'innocent until proven guilty' stuff keep coming up? This isn't a court of law. The comparisons to people getting arrested are off base.

I was kind of wondering the same thing. Also, we need to remember that just because we found out about the failed drug test before we were supposed to, it doesn't change the facts or the process. Yes, there is hope that Braun will still be able to overcome this but we don't know if it is any more hope than any other player had at this stage of the game.

 

This has to put MLB in a very awkward spot. If Braun doesn't get a 50 game suspsension after a failing a drug test, many will think MLB's PED policy is a joke. They have worked very hard to clean the sport up and now they have an MVP fail a drug test in his MVP year.

 

 

[KCBrewerfan34]

Where does this 'innocent until proven guilty' stuff keep coming up? This isn't a court of law. The comparisons to people getting arrested are off base.

I was kind of wondering the same thing. Also, we need to remember that just because we found out about the failed drug test before we were supposed to, it doesn't change the facts or the process. Yes, there is hope that Braun will still be able to overcome this but we don't know if it is any more hope than any other player had at this stage of the game.

 

This has to put MLB in a very awkward spot. If Braun doesn't get a 50 game suspsension after a failing a drug test, many will think MLB's PED policy is a joke. They have worked very hard to clean the sport up and now they have an MVP fail a drug test in his MVP year.

 

Actually, I don't think there's an issue here for MLB, the 50 game deal will be implemented or MLB will come out with a damn good explanation why Braun was able to be the first player to successfully overturn this.

 

If a physician prescribed something to Braun and Braun asked "is this OK to take" and the dosctor told him yes its not on the banned list how much "research" does the player have to do before taking anything artificial? (just curious).

 

 

[azcheesehead]

Where does this 'innocent until proven guilty' stuff keep coming up? This isn't a court of law. The comparisons to people getting arrested are off base.

I was kind of wondering the same thing. Also, we need to remember that just because we found out about the failed drug test before we were supposed to, it doesn't change the facts or the process. Yes, there is hope that Braun will still be able to overcome this but we don't know if it is any more hope than any other player had at this stage of the game.

 

This has to put MLB in a very awkward spot. If Braun doesn't get a 50 game suspsension after a failing a drug test, many will think MLB's PED policy is a joke. They have worked very hard to clean the sport up and now they have an MVP fail a drug test in his MVP year.

 

Actually, I don't think there's an issue here for MLB, the 50 game deal will be implemented or MLB will come out with a damn good explanation why Braun was able to be the first player to successfully overturn this.

 

If a physician prescribed something to Braun and Braun asked "is this OK to take" and the dosctor told him yes its not on the banned list how much "research" does the player have to do before taking anything artificial? (just curious).

 

Does MLB have to give an explanation as to why Braun would be exonerated? This is supposed to be a confidential process. I find it hard to believe that they have NEVER overturned an appeal, yet we haven't heard of it. Although in my opinion it's irresponsible, I wouldn't be surprised if Braun was found not guilty and MLB didn't offer an explanation.

[Team Canada]

Maybe it's just the fan goggles, but this still doesn't add up to me. If there's one guy you could imagine saying "I don't need steroids, I'm awesome already," it's Braun. To me his extreme self confidence belies the idea that he'd think steroids are worth the risk (compared with A-Rod, who has perpetual self-esteem/needing to prove himself issues).

 

That said, I think Beast Light is exactly right: MLB is in a tough spot here, and that IS one reason people should be legitimately concerned and upset about this leak. It makes it very difficult for Braun to win an appeal, even if he's in the right. I hope MLB would do the right thing, but either way this is going to be a PR nightmare or someone, and neither MLB nor Braun should have had to address this until the announcement came from MLB.

[monty57]

Actually, I don't think there's an issue here for MLB, the 50 game deal will be implemented or MLB will come out with a damn good explanation why Braun was able to be the first player to successfully overturn this.

 

I don't know that he would be the first. There has never been anyone who has overturned a ruling once MLB declared the suspension, but they haven't done that. The "Give Braun the benefit of the doubt" article on milwaukeebrewers.com makes it sound like others have successfully overturned initial positives. The difference is that someone with confidential information leaked this to the press before a MLB had made a decision. Therefore, we hear about this, when any other "mistake" has not been made public.

 

I don't know all the processes involved, or all of the facts of the case, and will therefore reserve judgement. There seems to be some hope that he will be successful in his appeal. Whether he's guilty or not, it's unfortunate that some peon in a med lab or on MLB payroll decided to leak confidential medical information to the press. That person's actions are immoral and probably illegal. If Braun is indeed innocent, his life will have been irreparably harmed for no reason.

 

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. There are some things you can't rush, but I would imagine all parties involved will want to get resolution to this ASAP.

[jwill535]

So he was popped towards the end of the year? I wonder if the leg injury could be in anyway involved in this?

[Flood Pants]

I wonder how often this happens behind the scenes and is resolved without anyone outside knowing of it? This may be a routine thing that got blown out of proportion since it involved the most recent MVP. Yikes.

[Nottso]

What ESPN did wasn't technically wrong. 30 years ago, it would have been branded as "irresponsiple journalism" but that ship has long since sailed. There's little room in today's society for ethics.

 

We need to look at ESPN's report just like a new car commercial. Meaning, they'll make any wild claims and allegations they possibly can, but as long as they are technically correct there's nothing to be done. Remember the old Dodge Dakota ads? "Best in class towing, hauling, horsepower, torque AND mpg!" What they never told you was that for many, many years the Dodge Dakota was the ONLY vehicle in it's class.

 

I fully believe that Braun has initially tested positive for something. I'm just not ready to condemn him yet.

[Marc Newfield of Dreams]

This is the flaw with modern journalism. Some journalists today are obsessed with getting the most scandalous reports of people, whether an official verdict has been reached or not. They're constantly bloodthirsty and do not care much about ethics. All they care about is money and fame.

 

If a verdict has been reached and then the news came out, it would be a whole different story.

Yup. ESPN had a tape that could have sent a guy who was diddling kids to jail. And they sat on it.

They get a situation that is not fully worked out yet, and they run with it. Reputation be damned.

If Braun is exonerated, and I believe he will be, I hope he doesn't give the four-letter network a single quote for the rest of his career.

 

[hawing]

Among my (many) concerns is that even if there is exoneration, said exoneration will bring all the conspiracy-theory "MLB favors the Brewers because of Bud" folks back out of the woodwork. As if they ever disappeared into the woodwork.

 

My other many concerns will have to wait for other posts.

[JJHardy7]

Would we be saying the same things here if say...Votto, Bruce, Holliday, etc was the person involved and not Braun?

[fondybrewfan]

I don't care that ESPN ran the story; however if Braun wins his appeal I hope he goes after anyone and everyone who was responsible for leaking info that was confidential. That includes ESPN, MLB, MLBPA, the Testing Center; everyone.

 

I am sure false positives have been overturned before and no one was the wiser; that ship has sailed in this case no matter the outcome.

 

It still seems pretty darn likely he gets suspended here; but if he doesn't this is going to be a huge fiasco with lots of finger pointing and likely some lawsuits

[ninja33]

So is it that no suspensions have ever been overturned, or that no player has ever won an appeal after a false positive(and from what I and many seem to understand, the appeals process is supposed to take place before anything becomes public...and then if the player wins nothing would become public)? Because that's a really important distinction that doesn't seem to be made consistently from story to story.

[Beast Light]

Would we be saying the same things here if say...Votto, Bruce, Holliday, etc was the person involved and not Braun?

This is what I keep thinking as I read this thread.

 

As someone pointed out earlier, I hope our fan base doesn't become like the SF fanbase that first looked the other way, then refused to believe and then began hanging their hats on "but steroids don't help you bat .370" type arguments. I'm trying to be as objective as I can about this and to be honest, it's not looking good. He tested positive for a PED and further testing showed that the testosterone came from outside his body.

 

If you are going to use the "It wasn't supposed to be in the supplement" argument, there is a lot to prove:

 

1. That the supplement was somehow contaminated or tampered with (simple ignorance is not good enough)

2. That you were actually taking this supplement at the time of the positive test and not during any previous tests that could have turned up negative (MLB just can't be taking peoples words for it)

3. That the supplement was actually capable of and responsible for generating the positive test

 

Also, as I mentioned earlier, we need to remember that the forceful denial means absolutely nothing. I don't recall anyone denying their allegations more forcefully than Roger Clemens.

 

 

[jeffy]

Check out the splits from an admitted steroid user, Ken Caminiti, who says he started using steroids in the 2nd half of 1996 (the year he won the MVP)

 

1st Half: 12 HR, 49 RBI, .294 BA, .859 OPS

2nd Half: 28 HR, 81 RBI, .360 BA, 1.203 OPS

 

http://www.baseball-refer...=caminke01&year=1996&t=b

 

I've seen no such strange splits or bizarre stat trends in Braun's career. Unless one is going to claim that he's been juicing his whole career...

 

 

That is the worst case scenario, that Braun has been doing it for his whole career and will now stop to avoid a potential longer or lifetime suspension. The Brewers then end up paying him for much diminished performance over the next decade.

 

I've thought he signed his long term contracts because he recognized that things like career ending injuries can happen, but what if instead it was because he knew he might get caught someday and would have to stop?

[Nottso]

I have it on good authority that Braun's new-for-2011 hairstyle was brought about by his need to hide his forehead, which grew to 3 times its normal size over the 2010-2011 offseason and may or may not have started to sprout horns.

[pebadger]

Here's how this system works:

 

If you fail a test, you're guilty. Because the testers say you failed a test, and they are presumed to be infallible in this judgment. They are not required to prove the validity of thier test in anything approaching a fully adversarial process that is designed to find the truth. Their result is the truth. It is not evidence of the truth, it is the truth. At least it is the truth that will be broadcast to the world. Being guilty, anyone who wants to gets to call you a liar and a cheat. They get to say that everything you've done in your career is tainted, a fraud Your reputation, in your profession at least and possibly in every facet of your life, is destroyed.

 

It's really easy to bang on athletes that get caught up in these situations. They make lots of money in a job that better than most of us can imagine, a good deal of them are at least vaguely unlikeable for any number of reasons, and the prevailing sentiment is that so many of them cheat that anyone accused is probably guilty of something. Just take a minute to remember this: there is no complex process created by man that infallible. None. As such, there will be times when people who have done nothing wrong will be punished for wrongdoing. Because the process is complicated and flawed, we never really know who these people are, or we wouldn't subject them to such injustice in the first place (provided that justice matters to us). All we can do is do our best to create processes that will operate with a minimum of error.

 

In the US criminal justice system, the rights of the accused are protected by the highest law of land. We require that guilt be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. We require a whole bunch of other stuff (right to jury trial, right to confront witnesses, etc.) that we learn about in our high school civics classes. Even with all these protections and assurances, innocent people still lose thier freedom. None of those basic freedoms applies in drug testing cases such as these. It's true that this isn't a criminal proceeding. At some point, however, I think it is fair to ask if we can just shrug off much of the patent unfairness in this system simply because we're not sending anyone to jail. At some point doesn't the value your lifelong reputation and the respect of peers and the public at least approach the value of other things we hold dear? The truth of the matter is that a corporation that is accused of polluting public waters and which faces only civil penalties has more rights than an athlete does in this situation, and is required to prove nothing in its own defense.

 

The athlete has no right to jury trial. He has no right to fully confront witnesses against him. The athlete is presumed guilty. The athlete must "prove a negative" if he is to have any real chance of complete exoneration. His best real chance of winning the case is to win on a "technicality", which leaves him open after the fact to being viewed as a lucky cheat who "beat the system". Don't take my word for it. Read up on how these drug arbitrations work. When done at the international sports level, the 3-member arbitration panel which rules on the appeal is itself almost invariably stacked against the athlete 2-1. This is not a system set up to find the truth. It is a system set up to catch "drug cheats" and it is a system which imposes almost 100% of the risk of error on the accused.

 

Make no mistake. What Braun's people are doing right now is not really an attempt to "prove his innocence", though their success or failure in their endeavor will be portrayed as such (or not) when a ruling on the appeal is made. There really isn't a lot of room for quaint notions like innocence and truth in this process, and the less they think along those lines the better. Anybody who thinks otherwise is missing the point. They just need to find a way, as overwhelmingly hard as it is, to win the appeal. Then they have to sort out the damage later. The sad thing, from my perspective, is that given the way the system is constructed, Braun winning the appeal will likely give us no more insight into his ultimate guilt or innocence than does the initial "positive" finding that got us where we are now.