Ryan Braun Deserves Benefit of Doubt Until PED Appeal Is Heard

For all those who had hoped that Manny Ramirez’s retirement would bring down the curtain on baseball’s steroid era, last night brought a reality check. That’s not just because Manny appears to be unretiring (again), but because one of baseball’s biggest stars of 2011 is now facing a 50-game suspension for performance-enhancing drug use.

According to ESPN, National League MVP Ryan Braun tested positive for synthetic testosterone during the Milwaukee Brewers’ postseason run. Braun was informed of the test result in late October and immediately requested a second test.

Here’s where the situation gets dicey. Braun’s second test came back clean and without more details on exactly what kind of testosterone Braun was supposedly using, all there is to say is that he might or might not have had enough time for the drug to clear out of his system by then.

Braun is appealing the positive result, a process that has never yet succeeded for any major league player. Nevertheless, the same source that told ESPN about the second test also suggested that Braun might be able to meet the difficult standard required to make his appeal stick.

The confidence of his own camp isn’t the only reason to avoid throwing Braun in the steroid-user gulag immediately. Braun is young enough (at 28) that he’s been undergoing steroid testing dating back to his minor-league days and never faced any hint of impropriety before.

None of this is to say that Braun won’t be found guilty anyway, and MLB has more than enough incentive to levy harsh punishments on players who get caught (even if some of them turn out in retrospect to have been innocent). However, until the situation is completely resolved, fans might do well to withhold their own judgment rather than jumping to the conclusion that Braun is irretrievably tainted.