Per ESPN: Braun Tests Positive, May Face 50 Game Suspension (Part 2)

[DHonks]

Who is Terez Owens and who is Perez Hilton? Give me a report from Rosenthal and I'll be impressed.

[TheCrew07]

We need a new thread that isn't broken, lame Yuku.

[brwrsfan]

Until someone quotes an MLB source as saying Braun will win his appeal there is really no point in these stories. Obviously anyone connected to Braun or any sources that know him or whatnot are going to say this. The truth is, nobody knows anything at this point and unless MLB is dropping the suspension (virtually impossible at this point), everything is just completely made up really. I wish we could at least know when this appeal was going to occur so we can all stop wondering about it.

[Invader3K]

I agree, it's weird we haven't even heard a date yet.

[jjfanec]

Until someone quotes an MLB source as saying Braun will win his appeal there is really no point in these stories. Obviously anyone connected to Braun or any sources that know him or whatnot are going to say this. The truth is, nobody knows anything at this point and unless MLB is dropping the suspension (virtually impossible at this point), everything is just completely made up really. I wish we could at least know when this appeal was going to occur so we can all stop wondering about it.

I wouldnt say everything we hear is made up but the problem is we have no idea the validity of what we hear. We could hear something that is true but since the process is private (or was supposed to be) it is almost impossible to know what is true. The appeal process was never supposed to be public knowledge so they wont give us dates, they wont update us on what is going on and we wont know Braun's guilt/innocence until everything is finished. We will hear and read reports before then but we wont know what is true until the process is done and the facts can be made public.

[umphrey]

I agree, it's weird we haven't even heard a date yet.

 

 

Probably won't hear much info until after things settle. Anything said can and will be used against them in a court of law, they say.

[Mass Haas]

TMZ caught Braun at LAX on 12/29

[Invader3K]

Yeah, I saw that too. Not really anything new, but he's certainly sticking to his story (as expected).

[Raw Biz]

TMZ caught Braun at LAX on 12/29

Maybe he was taking some new medication to get that awesome hair.

[Nottso]

The new hair makes him look even more like Brendan Fraser in Encino Man.

[razzzorsharp]

http://eye-on-baseball.bl.../entry/22297882/34121517

[BREWCREW5]

I wish Braun would buzz his hair again. It looks terrible.

[craigharmann]

ESPN just scrolled that a "league official" said it's "highly unlikely" that Braun's suspension will be overturned. Apparently via the MJS.

[thumperden]

Is this another example of leaked information? The whole "reporting" on the Braun situation is undigestible.

[JohnBriggs12]

ESPN just scrolled that a "league official" said it's "highly unlikely" that Braun's suspension will be overturned. Apparently via the MJS.

 

How can a suspension that hasn't been handed down be "overturned"? This "league official" is privy to Brauns defense?

[jjfanec]

ESPN just scrolled that a "league official" said it's "highly unlikely" that Braun's suspension will be overturned. Apparently via the MJS.

Isnt this the same thing that Tom H reported a month ago! I think everyone knows it is highly unlikely but what is a league official doing talking to anyone about this. Isnt that a violation of the rules that were posted way back in this thread

[JohnBriggs12]

ESPN just scrolled that a "league official" said it's "highly unlikely" that Braun's suspension will be overturned. Apparently via the MJS.

Isnt this the same thing that Tom H reported a month ago! I think everyone knows it is highly unlikely but what is a league official doing talking to anyone about this. Isnt that a violation of the rules that were posted way back in this thread

 

MLB hasn't suspended him. There is nothing to overturn. His hearing is part of the process that determines whether or not he will be suspended. I can't believe the lax reporting on this.

[Invader3K]

Yeah, the whole thing has been really shady, given how ESPN has handled it. I still think Braun will get off somehow, so MLB can avoid egg on its face, or perhaps there will be some technicality that lets Braun avoid a suspension. I just can't believe they'll suspend him for 50 games with how this whole charade has played out. Braun and the Brewers have both had their reputations sullied over this debacle. Major companies and people have been sued for much less.

[craigharmann]

I'm just sharing what I saw scroll across the bottom of the screen. I even went back to make sure I read it right. It seemed odd to me, but then again, the whole thing has been odd from the get-go!

[brettac1]

If something he took without running it past the Brewers first caused him to fail a drug test, he's out 50 games. Regardless of it was to suppress a nasty case of swamp mouth or to hit more bombs. Seems pretty cut and dried and also fair.

[jwill535]

its semantics. Once you test positve, you are suspended. Its the appeal process that they are in to determine if that suspension will be upheld. So in essence, the reporting is correct.

[TheCrew]

MLB hasn't suspended him. There is nothing to overturn. His hearing is part of the process that determines whether or not he will be suspended. I can't believe the lax reporting on this.

Completely incorrect. Braun failed his drug test, he was going to be suspended for 50 games but chose to appeal the suspension - had Braun not appealed, it likely would be public knowledge by this point.

[TheCrew]

Yeah, the whole thing has been really shady, given how ESPN has handled it. I still think Braun will get off somehow, so MLB can avoid egg on its face, or perhaps there will be some technicality that lets Braun avoid a suspension. I just can't believe they'll suspend him for 50 games with how this whole charade has played out. Braun and the Brewers have both had their reputations sullied over this debacle. Major companies and people have been sued for much less.

There would be FAR more egg on MLB's face if they let Braun off at this point.

 

Braun's not going to get sympathy for having his "name dragged through the mud" - after all, it was his blood sample that tested positive for synthetic testosterone. If he has a medical condition; it's still on him for not disclosing it to MLBPA and/or Brewers and getting any treatments approved. Frankly, brewer fans should be really pissed off if that is what it turns out to be for a complete and utter lack of responsibility in his handling of it - but again, I stress IF.

 

Really just need to wait and see what MLB rules and what Braun says after - the rest is just a bunch of gossip until that. All an MLB official did is state the obvious to ESPN.............. it is very unlikely Braun's suspension gets overturned, it'sreally not news at all.

[BREWCREW5]

TheCrew wrote:

Braun's not going to get sympathy for having his "name dragged through the mud" - after all, it was his blood sample that tested positive for synthetic testosterone.

 

 

It was a urine sample.

[pebadger]

Assuming Braun is taking a legitimate medication to treat a legitimate medical condition and he gets suspended anyway, there will be (or at least there should be) a whole lot of questions asked of a whole lot of people on both sides of the issue.

 

TH's latest column implies that MLB is saying that if the facts are as assumed, the adverse analytical finding is still Braun's fault that he didn't clear things with the Brewers. If the only document in play in this regard is the Joint Drug Agreement, and there isn't some other document that further clarifies the process, I see no requirement on Braun's part that he clear things with the team in terms of receiving personal medical treatments. Provided he did his due diligence regarding the taking the medication without applying for a TUE but received bad advice from otherwise competent people who anyone would rely on, MLB might be opening its own can of worms in terms of how the union will approach the process in the future. The union, if it still has any backbone, would certainly have interests at stake here, but the whole issue of drugs and drug testing has them cowed a bit. Sooner or later the union will have to take a stand on one of these cases, just to show they haven't completely abdicated their responsibility to provide at least some protection to the players with respect to this process.

 

I expect he'll be suspended, because that how these things always work out, but if the facts are really as strong as the Braun camp is making them out to be, they need to push hard afterwards to look at all their options moving forward, including finding ways to shed light on the entire process. If they're going to lose the fight, they may as well do their best to control the story after the fight is over, while keeping their options open to continue the fight in different venues. From my reading of the JDA, the confidentiality provisions regarding Braun's case imposed by the JDA will end when the case is resolved. It could be very interesting to see what might come out after the decision if either party is dissatisfied with the result.