Braun suspended

[Can_of_corn]

I agree with the assessment. The only thing I am unable to wrap my head around was how he says the collector followed protocol, but isn't the fact he strayed from protocol (albeit slightly) the reason Braun got off? I'm not saying the guy deserved to lose his job or that he tampered. After all, we all know now that Braun was (and is) guilty of PED use and the positive test was correct. Still, I'm having an issue understanding how he got off in the first place if everything was according to protocol. Was it a flaw in the protocol? And even if that was the case, how could the collector have gotten fired over a flaw in the protocol? Sorry, just slightly confused.

He does state that the chain of custody win was legit.

Already MLB had been dragged through an arbitration case with Braun, one it lost rightfully on a chain-of-custody issue, and the league refused to risk getting beaten twice.

He is also not particularly kind to MLB

The league sued Bosch and called him a shady drug dealer, flipped him state’s evidence and allowed one of the players it was pursuing to validate his word. That’s some gangster maneuvering there

[Ruzious]

Do you boo Roberts? <a href="http://photobucket.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h367/isestrex/Emoticons/huh.gif" border="0" alt=" photo huh.gif"/></a>

Now, is there anything you and can of corn would like to say about you and he equating Brian Roberts to Ryan Braun? Here's a quote from him borrowed from another thread here:

Today is for anyone who has been wrongly accused and everyone who stood up for what's right. It's about future players and the game of baseball. I will continue to take the high road. We won because the truth was on my side. I was a victim of a process that completely broke down and failed as it was applied to me in this case. Today's about making sure this never happens to anyone else who plays this game. Ultimately, as I sit here today, the system worked because I was innocent and I was able to prove my innocence.

[Can_of_corn]

Now, is there anything you and can of corn would like to say about you and he equating Brian Roberts to Ryan Braun? Here's a quote from him borrowed from another thread here:

Sorry I have been watching politics too long to get upset about a statement of that sort.

I don't see it as being appreciably worse then what Raffy did in front of congress.

For the record I am still in favor of his arbitration win. While the evidence is overwhelming that he was using, the chain of custody was still in doubt. MLB lost round one on a technicality.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Perhaps the protocol of the collectors themselves deviated from the procedure outlined in the CBA? Just a thought on how those tow conditions could coexist.

I don't know the answer to the protocol question but one thing that seemed odd to me was the collector reportedly using his son as a witness/assistant. At the very least I think MLB needed to clean some things up.

[lovetoaster]

He didn't own up to anything. He accepted a deal and issued a statement prepared by his agent that is a slap in the face to fans everywhere. He's sorry because he got caught. That's all.

Exactly. I am not patting him on the back for "admitting" to anything. He may have admitted it to MLB, but that is sealed and we will likely never hear about it. That garbage statement is a poor attempt at getting sympathy again. Saying that he is not perfect, what an ordeal this has been for him and his family, while never truly admitting anything. What a piece of work. Hey guy, you talk about what a trying time this has been for you...I don't doubt that it has been. But you caused it!

[Ruzious]

Sorry I have been watching politics too long to get upset about a statement of that sort.

I don't see it as being appreciably worse then what Raffy did in front of congress.

For the record I am still in favor of his arbitration win. While the evidence is overwhelming that he was using, the chain of custody was still in doubt. MLB lost round one on a technicality.

Whether or not you're personally upset is beside the point. It's not about you. And Raffy's nothing more than a strawman - Roberts was who we were talking about.

[crawjo]

I'm always inclined to side with doping players over the league or the scolds in the press, but Braun is a special case because of that press conference he held after his suspension was overturned. He seemed very authentic, very convincing, in his insistence that he had been wrongly accused. The only other athlete I can think of to so publicly insist on his integrity and reputation while smearing his critics is Lance Armstrong. That kind of staggering hypocrisy--one you won't find in any other case to my knowledge--makes Braun look particularly unattractive right now.

Honestly, regardless of his guilt or innocence, for the sake of his reputation he would have been better off fighting MLB tooth and nail on this. Maybe he would have been suspended longer, maybe the penalty would have been more severe, but in the end the maintenance of innocence would have been better for his reputation.

Unless, of course, the evidence that MLB had against Braun was so staggeringly beyond reproach that he would have instantly been convicted in the eyes of everyone the moment it was disclosed. But in the media reports Braun's name did not seem to be as prominent as others, and the testimony of Bosch can easily be attacked given the pressure MLB put on him to flip.

[crawjo]

Sorry I have been watching politics too long to get upset about a statement of that sort.

I don't see it as being appreciably worse then what Raffy did in front of congress.

For the record I am still in favor of his arbitration win. While the evidence is overwhelming that he was using, the chain of custody was still in doubt. MLB lost round one on a technicality.

Not even Palmeiro in his statements to Congress went to the lengths that Braun did in insisting on his integrity. That press conference that Braun held last year is going to absolutely bury him now. If he ever wants to heal even 1 percent of his reputation, he is going to have to give a very long interview where he explains everything he did and why he did it. He won't be able to hide from this.

[Can_of_corn]

Whether or not you're personally upset is beside the point. It's not about you. And Raffy's nothing more than a strawman - Roberts was who we were talking about.

They both cheated. Braun cheated at a point in time when they were prosecuting cheaters. He went to extreme but legal steps to prove his innocence and attempt to rehabilitate his name.

His attempts to avoid persecution and rehabilitate his name don't particularly bother me since I feel a LOT of folks would act similarly.

Neyer had the right of it last night.

[weams]

Not even Palmeiro in his statements to Congress went to the lengths that Braun did in insisting on his integrity. That press conference that Braun held last year is going to absolutely bury him now. If he ever wants to heal even 1 percent of his reputation, he is going to have to give a very long interview where he explains everything he did and why he did it. He won't be able to hide from this.

But, it was Tejada's B12 shot that tripped him up. He had no idea.

[Migrant Redbird]

[braun has] probably been juicing since college or maybe even before.

Maybe, but I don't think we can assume that without any evidence. In the case of A-Rod, there is an unsubstantiated report that he was using steroids while still in high school, but I doubt if it can be verified.

In Braun's case, I'm not aware of any evidence that he was using PEDs until the failed urinalysis test in 2011. Reasonable to suspect? Sure, but not reasonable to assume.

I've always figured that McGwire might have been introduced into the use of steroids while he was still in high school, given that he grew up in the LA vicinity and probably knew some of the body builders who were already heavily into steroids 10-20 years earlier. However, McGwire has only admitted to using steroids during the years in St. Louis when he was pursuing the home run record, and I have to take his word (dubious though it might be) without other credible evidence. (Canseco isn't credible. Might have been telling the truth about injecting McGwire, but still isn't credible.)

No way in the world the insurance companies pay off on those deals if [A-Rod] is suspended.

Of course not. If A-Rod is suspended, he doesn't get paid. The insurance company isn't going to reimburse the Yankees for salary they don't pay.

[Can_of_corn]

But, it was Tejada's B12 shot that tripped him up. He had no idea.

Right, it isn't like Palmerio threw Tejada under the bus, Tejada was already there under the bus to begin with.

It is if folks are more upset with Braun because Braun hired better guys to defend him.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Wow, lots of folks on here that have never made a mistake.

[SeaBird]

I'm always inclined to side with doping players over the league or the scolds in the press, but Braun is a special case because of that press conference he held after his suspension was overturned. He seemed very authentic, very convincing, in his insistence that he had been wrongly accused. The only other athlete I can think of to so publicly insist on his integrity and reputation while smearing his critics is Lance Armstrong. That kind of staggering hypocrisy--one you won't find in any other case to my knowledge--makes Braun look particularly unattractive right now.

Honestly, regardless of his guilt or innocence, for the sake of his reputation he would have been better off fighting MLB tooth and nail on this. Maybe he would have been suspended longer, maybe the penalty would have been more severe, but in the end the maintenance of innocence would have been better for his reputation.

Unless, of course, the evidence that MLB had against Braun was so staggeringly beyond reproach that he would have instantly been convicted in the eyes of everyone the moment it was disclosed. But in the media reports Braun's name did not seem to be as prominent as others, and the testimony of Bosch can easily be attacked given the pressure MLB put on him to flip.

At his February 2012 meeting with the media during Spring Training he said way too much and took way too much time enjoying the fact that his suspension was voided and basking in that fact. He would have been better off saying something like:

"I'm glad it's over and behind me and I just want to focus on helping my team get to the post season. With that having been said, I will not entertain any more questions on this matter and I consider it closed."

And the reason he agreed to a plea deal is that he was so shocked by the evidence MLB alluded that it had compiled against him. As was reported, during his first meeting with MLB this month he opted to decline answering any questions which was perfectly allowable.

But after the meeting and some reflection and consultation with his lawyers and the MLBPA he determined that based on the types of questions being asked of him and the statements being made towards him during that initial interview, he realized that MLB had what they needed to blow his boat out of the water and that fighting it or appealing it would be an exercise in futility.

[Guest rochester]

Wow, lots of folks on here that have never made a mistake.

Do you really think this is just about "making a mistake?" Screwing up is taking the roids in the first place, I don't like the mistake, although his intellect may be challenged by taking them these days. However, I do not have any tolerance with how he acted after he got away with a technicality the first time. Just that one news conference is much, much more than a mistake, and may be considered part of the mans soul... Oh, IIRC didn't he (or his reps) say they used the lab for "consulting" from the last incident? Really?