Ryan Braun refused to cooperate with the MLB investigation of Biogenesis. ESPN reported that Braun will likely be suspended after the All-Star break, but MLB would not confirm that. From the first link:
A commissioner’s office spokesman said the ESPN report was “premature” in saying that a decision had been made to suspend Braun or any player suspected of buying performance-enhancing drugs from Bosch.
“We are still in the midst of an active investigation,” said spokesman Pat Courtney. “No decisions (on suspensions) have been made.”
We will see. I suspect the appeals will take a while.
I don’t know if this is the best place to put this — indeed, I don’t know if you can do anything about it — but it appears that the RSS feed hasn’t been updated since Monday’s Games of the Day post.
Scooter » Thanks. I’ll check.
I think it’s clear Braun was lucky getting off on the technicality. That’s probably going to hurt him on appeal since most of the other players best defense will be the fact they tested negative under the JDA.
I am hoping the loopholes under the JDA come to light as a result of this to put the bed to rest on the idea the steroid era is over.
If they are going to have testing, let a 3rd party organization handle it from top to bottom. Bit of a conflict of interest with MLB and the players driving it.
Has anyone bothered to compare the MVP ballots from 2012 to the corresponding HOF votes for 2012 and 2013? I’d be *fascinated* to know if any of the fanatical idiots who are keeping Bagwell, Piazza, and possibly Biggio out of the Hall of Fame on mere *suspicion* that they might have used PEDs put Braun on their MVP ballots after he dodged that drug strike on a technicality.*
*–and yes, I agree that the acquittal (no matter how dubious cough cough Shyam Das cough cough that acquittal was) should be respected, but I’m not the one self-righteously blocking at least three first ballot worthy Hall of Famers with innuendo.
They won’t be allowed to mention the fact that he ‘got off on a technicality’ – legally, he has never failed a drugs test, so he is in exactly the same boat as everyone else.
If someone is acquired for murder on a technicality, even if they ARE actually guilty, that prior case cannot be mentioned by the prosecution as evidence against character/prior acts because they were acquired – why or how they were acquired in by the by.
I thought new PED suspensions were imminent a while ago. If it happens, I suspect MLB will proudly announce suspensions the day after the All Star game when there’s not much else going on.
If no suspensions are announced then, I bet they will still be “imminent” next year.
I believe that failure to cooperate can result in a suspension.
My whole problem with this investigation is that MLB came down hard on Bosch, threatening to sue him on very dubious grounds, and now is essentially buying his and another guy’s testimony. When it gets before a federal judge (and this case will) that “evidence” will be tossed out.
And as amphetamines are now also banned PEDs, let’s throw out of the HoF everyone who used them, such as Hank Aaron & Willie Mays.
And let’s toss out everyone who played in the segregated era as well, as playing against inferior competition will inflate your numbers. So basically there are no Hall of Famers and no records.
I am sort of with you rbj. I find it unseemly that ML B says were suspending you, uh, in 2 weeks, next month, whenever, you two, AND twenty more.
If your drug testing is so wonderful, why didn’t your testing catch these guys in real time? As it stands MLB looks ever bit as bad to me as any player. Paying for records from a dubious source will never stand up in a court of law. Anyone who thinks this isn’t headed to court if the suspensions happen is kidding themselves.
I’m betting a big name that’s an all star is on that list and they don’t want it interfering with their money show on Fox next week.
Not on topic, sorry. Thought I should report back: the RSS feed appears to be good now. If you fixed it, thanks. I hate to miss my Musings!
Scooter » Yes, it’s fixed. I was pushing the feed through an ad service, but they seem to have suddenly disappeared. I’m back to the original feed now.