Is Ryan Braun Done For Good?

Ryan Braun Speech

Name:  Ryan Braun
Number:  8
Position:  LF
Bats:  Right
Throws:  Right
Team:  Milwaukee Brewers
Birthdate:  November 17  1983
Birthdate:  Mission Hills, CA
Experience:  6 years
College:  Miami (FL)
Height:  6-2
Weight:  205 lbs

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	Pos	Awards
2005	21	MIL-min	A,Rk	47	213	193	27	68	18	3	10	45	4	5	11	40	.352	.393	.632	1.025		122	7	4	2	3	1		CHL,HEL · SALL,PION
2006	22	MIL-min	AA,A+	118	517	457	76	132	31	3	22	77	26	4	44	100	.289	.357	.514	.871		235	9	7	4	5	2		HVL,BRE · SOUL,FLOR
2007	23	MIL-min	AAA	34	134	117	28	40	12	0	10	22	4	3	15	11	.342	.418	.701	1.119		82	1	1	0	1	0		NVL · PCL
2007	23	MIL	NL	113	492	451	91	146	26	6	34	97	15	5	29	112	.324	.370	.634	1.004	154	286	13	7	0	5	1	*5	MVP-24,RoY-1
2008	24	MIL	NL	151	663	611	92	174	39	7	37	106	14	4	42	129	.285	.335	.553	.888	130	338	13	6	0	4	4	*7/D	AS,MVP-3,SS
2009	25	MIL	NL	158	708	635	113	203	39	6	32	114	20	6	57	121	.320	.386	.551	.937	146	350	6	13	0	3	1	*7	AS,MVP-11,SS
2010	26	MIL	NL	157	685	619	101	188	45	1	25	103	14	3	56	105	.304	.365	.501	.866	131	310	17	6	0	3	1	*7/D	AS,MVP-15,SS
2011	27	MIL	NL	150	629	563	109	187	38	6	33	111	33	6	58	93	.332	.397	.597	.994	166	336	9	5	0	3	2	*7/D	AS,MVP-1,SS
2012	28	MIL	NL	154	677	598	108	191	36	3	41	112	30	7	63	128	.319	.391	.595	.987	159	356	12	11	0	5	15	*7/D	AS,MVP-2,SS
2013	29	MIL	NL	58	245	217	30	66	13	2	9	36	4	5	27	52	.304	.380	.507	.887	139	110	8	0	0	1	7	7
7 Yrs				941	4099	3694	644	1155	236	31	211	679	130	36	332	740	.313	.375	.565	.939	147	2086	78	48	0	24	31
162 Game Avg.				162	706	636	111	199	41	5	36	117	22	6	57	127	.313	.375	.565	.939	147	359	13	8	0	4	5

COMMENTARY | In yet another breaking news story involving performance-enhancing drugs and Ryan Braun, ESPN Outside the Lines reported that Major League Baseball seeks to suspend Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun and 19 others who are linked to the Biogenesis scandal.
The original story, which came out on Feb. 5 and was reported by Yahoo! Sports, noted that Braun was listed in the records of an alleged PED clinic run by Tony Bosch, an unlicensed anti-aging doctor, along with several other big leaguers. Household names listed in the report include Alex Rodriguez, Nelson Cruz and Melky Cabrera.
Braun later came out and said he was merely consulting Bosch during his appeal process two winters ago in an attempt to get his 50-game suspension for a positive test overturned, an appeal he eventually won.
Roughly a month into the 2013 regular season, the Biogenesis story had seemingly faded away, but on April 30, Bosch gave his first on-camera interview since the news broke about his clinic in February.
In the interview, Bosch completely denied having any knowledge about performance-enhancing drugs, and he also confirmed Braun's statement -- that he was only used as a consultant. Major League Baseball had filed a lawsuit against Bosch back in March, and that will subsequently be dropped in exchange for Bosch's cooperation in MLB's investigation.
Anywho, it appears that Major League Baseball is preparing to suspend Braun 100 games, which is the punishment for a second doping violation.
You may be wondering -- didn't Braun successfully appeal his first suspension?
He sure did, but baseball's reasoning is that Braun's connection to Bosch constitutes one offense, and his previous statement denying any connection to or use of PEDs is another. Bosch will reportedly swear an affidavit that he provided drugs to players.
All of this information appears very damning for Braun, but before we just go ahead and assume the Brewers' franchise player is toast, keep in mind that nothing has really happened yet. There was no warning of this "news," which may have been the reason everyone got so caught up in it, but we still have to wait for Bosch to meet with officials and name names, which is expected to happen within the next week, but this is no guarantee.
The next question is, if Bosch has more information than the names and figures that were scribbled on his notepad. Could there be more names involved with Biogenesis? Are there more documents available that could help to prove that Braun and others truly did purchase PEDs from Bosch?
Baseball obtained documents that listed athletes named in the Biogenesis case when it paid a former employee of the anti-aging clinic a boatload of money for them (via ESPN). Whether or not those documents combined with Bosch's word, the word of someone Major League Baseball was recently attempting to incriminate, are enough to suspend Braun is another matter.
Not only that, but how can we take what Bosch is saying seriously? He was just under siege from baseball and facing heavy legal fees, so how do we know that he isn't cooperating with baseball and saying what the MLB wants to hear just to get out of trouble?
It's obvious that Major League Baseball wants to do just about anything it can to get to the bottom of the Biogenesis case. More so, to this day the MLB is furious that Braun got off the hook back in 2012, so it would be gratifying for the league to nail him over a year later.
But to have to stoop to this level -- enlisting the help of a man with little credibility that you just backed into a corner with lawsuits -- simply isn't the right way to go about it.
Sure, baseball wants to clean up its sport, and a more rigorous testing system has helped to do that, but MLB doesn't have any positive samples from the players listed in these Biogenesis documents.
Well, save for Braun, but we'll get to that in a minute.
What they have are some names and numbers written on a piece of paper and the word of Tony Bosch, an unlicensed "doctor" who wanted the strongest assurance that MLB would help mitigate any prosecution leading from this scandal.
For the most part, Brewers fans couldn't care less about a lot of this mumbo jumbo, but here's the thing -- this Biogenesis stuff would appear to lead back to Braun's original positive test, which he already successfully appealed, so could his lawyers use this to protect Braun if push comes to shove?
Not sure on that one, but again, nothing has really happened yet, so we're getting ahead of ourselves.
On a somewhat positive note, if Braun were in fact suspended for 100 games -- this would basically take up the remainder of the 2013 season -- could it possibly come at a better time?
The Brewers are one of the worst teams in baseball record-wise. Had they been one of the top teams in the league and lost Braun, it would be devastating news for Milwaukee. But in this case, it would likely mean they remain near the cellar and wind up with a top 5 pick in next year's draft with Braun returning roughly in time for 2014.
There's always a silver lining.
All in all, this is just Major League Baseball making a mess of everything, which is something it has already done with instant replay, the lack of a salary cap and media usage rights just to name a few things, but that's another story.
Its overzealous and ridiculous pursuit of Braun, a situation that should have been buried when the perennial all-star won his appeal last year, combined with its partnership with a criminal in an attempt to nab over a dozen players in its own sport would be painful to watch if it wasn't a complete circus.
If only baseball realized how little people care as it willingly deflates its own product.
Dave Radcliffe is a resident of a little known Milwaukee suburb who is an avid follower of Wisconsin sports. He has contributed to JSOnline, as a featured columnist on other sites and publications, and been a guest on multiple sports talk radio shows.