More on the Ryan Braun positive test situation on Sunday, which comes as something of a surprise given that everything’s supposed to be all hush-hush for the time being. God bless anonymous sources! Saturday night, it got out that Braun had tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug, showing up as elevated (synthetic) testosterone in a urine sample. But now we have a report that Braun didn’t test positive for a PED after all. Rather, via Ken Rosenthal:
Ryan Braun Tests Positive For Prohibited Substance, Not PED, Says Report
Source: Braun tested positive for a prohibited substance, not a performance-enhancing drug.
To clarify on Braun: What he did triggered violation of #MLB steroid-testing policy. Source says substance was prohibited, but not PED.
And here’s more, from Tom Haudricourt, writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
But my source -- and again, this is from Braun’s end and not MLB -- familiar with the test’s findings says the “prohibited substance” was not a performance-enhancing drug or steroid of any kind. And the source says there has “never” been a result like this in the history of the MLB testing program.
The source said MLB “knows that Ryan is telling the truth” and that source firmly believes the postive test will be overturned.
Saturday night, Braun reached out to Haudricourt to declare that he is “completely innocent”. This situation obviously changes things, relative to where they were when the initial report first emerged. Unfortunately we’ll have to remain light on details until Braun’s appeal is settled - which might not happen until January - but this case just keeps on getting more and more interesting.
It’s worth noting that, while there’s a 50-game suspension for a first-time PED bust, there’s a 25-game suspension for a first-time stimulant bust. We’ll see where this goes. One’s never inclined to believe too strongly in a player’s denial, but Braun’s denial sure is pretty convincing.
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