Ryan Braun test Positive for PED's

[SouthSide Titan]

Can't believe Braun is caught up. I really hate that after the season he had that this has come out. As usual there was mention of "I didn't knowingly take a PED." I remember when A-Rod tested dirty, Braun was kind of talking bad about A-Rod and saying A-Rod needed to come clean about his steroid use to the media and now he is faced with the same situation now. :lol He was told in October his test came back positive and eventutally took another test and that one came back negative. This is crazy!

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/7338271/ryan-braun-milwaukee-brewers-tests-positive-performance-enhancing-drug

[Old Oilers Fan]

Can't believe Braun is caught up. I really hate that after the season he had that this has come out. As usual there was mention of "I didn't knowingly take a PED." I remember when A-Rod tested dirty, Braun was kind of talking bad about A-Rod and saying A-Rod needed to come clean about his steroid use to the media and now he is faced with the same situation now. :lol He was told in October his test came back positive and eventutally took another test and that one came back negative. This is crazy!

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/7338271/ryan-braun-milwaukee-brewers-tests-positive-performance-enhancing-drug


And yet they still gave him the MVP two weeks later. :crazy

[Sect309Fan]

No suspension for Braun, but he basically got off on a technicality rather than being proved innocent. http://espn.go.com/mlb/spring2012/story/_/id/7611600/2012-spring-training-ryan-braun-milwaukee-brewers-says-system-failed

[Johnnyb]

I heard the MLB is not happy about this.

[ZachLV27]

The sample collector followed protocols agreed to by both MLB and MLBPA. If I was MLB I'd be pissed at the findings of the arbitrator as well.

That said, Braun could be innocent and he could've used a different argument that would have stated his innocence, but his attorneys felt this was the best route to go and they were right. Whether he is guilty or not we will never know.

Me personally, I will lump him in with every other player that has tested positive (Which is only guys from the last few years. My views on the guys from the 90's ie Bonds, A-Rod, Clemens, etc. are much more controversial and would take a long time to argue about (lets just say I think they belong in the HoF)).

[TitansJonne]

I never understood why these type of issues were worth going to such high courts.

[ZachLV27]

I never understood why these type of issues were worth going to such high courts.

Ryan Braun is set to make $6 mil this year. A 50 game suspension without pay would cost him just under $2 mil. If this was upheld and he tested positive again in a couple years when his new contract kicks in then he'd lose 100 games due to a suspension (1st positive test is 50 games, 2nd is 100 games) which would come out to being around $13 mil or $14 mil that he would lose.

Basically, there is a lot of money on the line and the players union would never had agreed to testing had a major arbitrator not been assigned.

Also, these cases aren't going to court. The appeal hearings are a 3 person panel (1 person for MLB, 1 for MLBPA, and 1 independent arbitrator). The arbitrator in major cases like this is usually a top of the line judge but they aren't being paid by anyone other than MLB (and in turn MLBPA through the agreement) to do this work. The only way to overturn an appeal like this is by taking it to an actual state or federal Supreme Court because then the case is about contract law (the contract in this case is the CBA agreed to between MLB and MLBPA).

[Old Oilers Fan]

No suspension for Braun, but he basically got off on a technicality rather than being proved innocent. http://espn.go.com/mlb/spring2012/story/_/id/7611600/2012-spring-training-ryan-braun-milwaukee-brewers-says-system-failed

Yes it is good playing for the Commissioner of baseball daughters baseball team.

[kytitansfan1]

The sample collector followed protocols agreed to by both MLB and MLBPA.

No he didn't...

"Friday, Braun detailed how the urine sample he provided on Oct. 1, the day the Brewers opened the playoffs, was not delivered to FedEx until Oct. 3. Baseball's drug agreement calls for samples to be delivered to FedEx on the same day they are collected."

While I don't agree with Braun that the system is fatally flawed, I do believe the system, as agreed to by the MLB and MLBPA, worked in this instance. The lack of following protocol created reasonable doubt among two of the three arbitrators. Braun will be under increased scrutiny this season and going forward. We will likely never know if he used PED's or not but his performance on the field will be telling.

[ZachLV27]

No he didn't...

"Friday, Braun detailed how the urine sample he provided on Oct. 1, the day the Brewers opened the playoffs, was not delivered to FedEx until Oct. 3. Baseball's drug agreement calls for samples to be delivered to FedEx on the same day they are collected."

While I don't agree with Braun that the system is fatally flawed, I do believe the system, as agreed to by the MLB and MLBPA, worked in this instance. The lack of following protocol created reasonable doubt among two of the three arbitrators. Braun will be under increased scrutiny this season and going forward. We will likely never know if he used PED's or not but his performance on the field will be telling.

Yes he did...

Here is the actual PDF file for the drug testing agreement between MLB and MLBPA:

http://mlbplayers.mlb.com/pa/pdf/jda.pdf

Here are quotes from a story done by Drew Silva of NBC:

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/02/23/was-there-really-a-violation-of-chain-of-custody-protocol-in-the-ryan-braun-ped-case/


Braun (or, rather, his lawyers) argued in January that the courier’s action was against policy, but the MLB-MLBPA joint drug agreement states that “specimens cannot be placed in a FedEx Drop Box” and the five FedEx Office locations closest to Miller Park are all closed before 9 p.m. on Saturdays. In fact, the location closest to Miller Park — just 3.28 miles away — isn’t open at all on Saturdays.

Also, none of the FedEx Office locations in the Milwaukee area ship items out on Sundays. So instead of giving the sealed cup of urine to a FedEx Office employee at some point Sunday and hoping for proper handling, the courier followed the terms of the MLB-MLBPA joint drug agreement (see pages 37-39) by storing Braun’s urine sample in a secure refrigerator at his residence until Monday morning, when FedEx could finally get the shipment to the appropriate testing lab in Montreal.

The MLB-MLBPA joint drug agreement fully allows for temporary storage by couriers — people who are trained and paid to handle drug test samples, and do so as a profession — as long as the specimen can be “appropriately safeguarded,” kept in a “cool and secure location,” with “chain of custody intact.” A refrigerator in the private residence of a trained doping officer would seem to fit those criteria.

Since this story was written it later came out that the courier stored the sample in a secure container on a counter in his residence and not in his fridge. The temperature of the residence wasn't what was called into question by Braun's lawyers. Braun's lawyers argued that the courier shouldn't have held onto the sample even though it is said he should under the policy agreed to by MLB and MLBPA. Braun's lawyers argued that the chain of custody was broken even though he followed the protocols and the testing lab said that all 3 safety seals were not broken (Braun's lawyers never argued that the seals were broken).

On top of that, MLB and MLBPA have agreed to a change in their policy where the courier is now told to drop the envelope into a drop box if no FedEx office is open. This will create an entirely new loophole as the temperatures in those drop boxes aren't regulated and can get really hot in the summer.