I'm not saying it was a bad ruling, just that the arbitrator did not find that Braun did not use PEDs.

I think you misread what he wrote. He's saying the arbiter did not find that Braun DID use PEDs, not the inverse.

Well, PED usage or non-usage is not a binary position, where you are 100% innocent or 100% guilty. Players are in an environment where they start on protein shakes, add B12 pills, and work their way up the enhancement spectrum. Most players are likely in a murky grey area that is somewhere between "by golly innocent" or "barry bonds needle me in the ass with whatever you got". I imagine Braun is in the murky middle.

There's certainly a lot of gray area in general, but I don't think anyone is talking about protein shakes or B-12 here, they're talking about the synthetic testosterone that his sample came up positive for. So you either think that test was legitimate or tainted, with relatively little room for gray. I doubt that this new evidence is going to change many people's minds one way or another, because this evidence is far weaker than the positive test.

i don't want to see people suspended/banned on suspiscion. all you'd have to do is plant something in someone's luggage/locker or show that someone's teammate/friend either possessed or used and there goes someone's life.

ESPECIALLY gossip. what if some dealer got paid to say that he gave a player drugs? that is all you need. the player is dead because there IS no defense.

i certainly don't want someone banned for a first offense. FAR too easy to drug someone without his knowledge - say, put testosterone gel inside someone's jock - let it dry - it will absorb thru the skin and give a positive test and there you go - you got rid of your rival or a team got rid of an overpaid or unpopular player without having to pay a cent and without having to worry about the player being able to put up any sort of defense.

this is what happens when you got witch hunting/hysteria and when you can execute people without them having any access to anything resembling a fair trial. it's kind of like how any "celebrity" can't win a libel suit in this country because you can't prove a negative PLUS "malice"

#51 My point was that he made no finding either way. There was a procedural screw-up which is where the matter ended.

Generally speaking this is parsed as "beat it on a technicality". Seemingly (so far) generally not the case for Braun.

Jose Guillen was suspended at the MLB level without a positive test.

Yes and no. He was suspended during the 2007-2008 offseason for buying HGH from a Florida clinic, but the suspension was rescinded before it was ever served as part of MLB-union negotiations on a new policy.

And my recollection from 2010, is that he wasn't formally suspended for the postseason, but that MLB strongly suggested to the Giants that they ought not put him on the postseason roster.

Plus Braun beat the earlier rap on a complete technicality having nothing to do with substance.

Well, he won the appeal because the procedures were screwed up, doing who knows what to the validity of the test.

The elder Bosch is a doctor.

And, in the early stages, there was a rumor that one of the "problems" with the Braun test was that he showed up with a T/E ratio that was off the charts. I don't think we ever found out if that was true but, if it was, it would make sense for his lawyers to investigate that as a possible line of defense.

But I will agree that Pedro Bosch, much less Tony, is hardly an ideal expert witness.

Well, he won the appeal because the procedures were screwed up, doing who knows what to the validity of the test.

There is no chemical process through which a sealed urine sample can magically generate synthetic testosterone. It was a win on technicality through and through.

I'm not saying this is what happened, but wasn't it a chain of custody problem? Making it iimpossible to prove that the sample had not been tampered with? Somebody switching out the samples isn't a chemical process but would be an explanation.

Again, not saying that anyone did tamper, just that that is the rationale.

I'm not saying this is what happened, but wasn't it a chain of custody problem? Making it iimpossible to prove that the sample had not been tampered with? Somebody switching out the samples isn't a chemical process but would be an explanation.

Again, not saying that anyone did tamper, just that that is the rationale.

The sample arrived at the lab with an intact tamper proof seal, verified upon receipt. Braun got his suspension lifted because the courier followed what his company said to do over the weekend with the sample, which was inconsistent with the fine print in the MLB testing policy.

i don't want to see people suspended/banned on suspiscion. all you'd have to do is plant something in someone's luggage/locker or show that someone's teammate/friend either possessed or used and there goes someone's life.

Part of the difficulty with Braun's statement is that it may legitimize the list that contains the other players. I cannot imagine that Braun's statement helps Gio Gonzalez in any way.

I cannot imagine that Braun's statement helps Gio Gonzalez in any way.

Aren't the substances linked to the Gio Gonzalez notebook entry non-PEDs?

#61: I think so. And I understand that his father had some kind of a relationship with the family. This is a statement that he released:

“I’ve never used performance-enhancing drugs of any kind, and I never will. I’ve never met or spoken with Tony Bosch or used any substances provided by him. Anything said to the contrary is a lie.”

If his plan was to attack the credibility of the report, than Braun's statement suggesting that he did have a relationship with the Bosch, however innocuous, seems to suggest that the original report wasn't a fabrication. This doesn't really mean that Gio was using PEDs, but I think I'm a bit more skeptical of the idea that there wasn't a relationship between Gonzalez and Bosch after Braun's statement.

Well, PED usage or non-usage is not a binary position, where you are 100% innocent or 100% guilty. Players are in an environment where they start on protein shakes, add B12 pills, and work their way up the enhancement spectrum. Most players are likely in a murky grey area that is somewhere between "by golly innocent" or "barry bonds needle me in the ass with whatever you got". I imagine Braun is in the murky middle.

Many suspicions, no convictions (yet). Should we call him the Teflon Braun? Do we have to kiss his ring?