While the Ryan Braun celebrated his appellate victory, Major League Baseball was outraged. |
ESPN.com-NEW YORK -- National League MVP Ryan Braun's 50-game suspension was overturned Thursday by baseball arbitrator Shyam Das, and sources told ESPN that Major League Baseball is weighing the possibility of suing in federal court to reverse the decision.
Braun's case marks the first time a baseball player has successfully challenged a drug-related penalty in a grievance.
The decision was announced Thursday by the Major League Baseball Players Association, one day before the 28-year-old outfielder was due to report to spring training with the Milwaukee Brewers in Maryvale, Ariz.
Braun is expected to hold a news conference at 1 p.m. ET, the team said.
Braun tested positive in October for elevated testosterone, and ESPN's "Outside The Lines" revealed the positive test in December.
"I am very pleased and relieved by today's decision," Braun said in a statement. "It is the first step in restoring my good name and reputation. We were able to get through this because I am innocent and the truth is on our side.League of Cheaters. Major League Joke. America's Lasttime. If you're not cheating, you're not playing in the Major Leagues.
Allowing a player to win an MVP award during a season he tested positive for steroids is embarrassing. This completely erases the last ten years when baseball took a aggressive(and what we thought was a successful) approach against steroid use. Ten positives years wiped away thanks to one single decision: a monumental disaster. Issues like this bring us back to the 90s when there was more juice in MLB locker rooms than there is at snack time in kindergarten. No one wants a big headed Barry Bonds or M60 arms Mark McGwire or steroid slammin' Sammy Sosa swinging for the fences anymore. Yes, the major league meatheads have mostly been removed from Major League Baseball, but it doesn't give the right to Ryan Braun or any Major Leaguer to start playing with needles again.
What this decision reveals is that the league is only really applying this rule to those players who lack star status. Since the MLB implanted its new 50 game suspension policy in 2005 their have been 27 suspensions, yet only two "star" players have been suspended. One of them, Manny Ramirez, has never been a favorite of the league offices so it's not surprising he's received the penalty twice. The other one, Edison Volquez, was only a budding star, fresh off his first all-star appearance. The suspension of Braun came as a devastating surprise to MLB fans everywhere, but it was necessary. If a guy tests positive for steroids, no matter how much of a household name he is nor how many runs he drives in, he should suffer the consequences like any other player. Allowing Braun to dance around the rules just because he put MVP numbers with illegal enhancements is downright wrong. It sends this message to younger players, "Once you become an all-star, you gain immunity."
I understand that this appeal won in the courts through the MLBPA, and that MLB is certainly taking the appropriate action if they sue to reverse the decision, but the mere fact that they let this monumental of a settlement occur is bad news. If Major League Baseball does win its pending case then they should strip Braun of the MVP as well, I don't care if Matt Kemp(the 2nd place vote getter) doesn't take the award, this must be done. The MLB will lose all of its credibility if it cannot overturn this case back to its original result. Fans were outraged over the hundreds of names in the Mitchell Report, but most appreciated the response by Selig and co, allow this resolution to stand and fans will be even more livid.
It is up to the MLB's legal teams to be thorough about following up on this case and suing to have it overturned. Let this decision stand and we might drift slowly back into the dark ages.
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