Ryan Braun: Positive Drug Test Reportedly for Medical Issue

Ryan Braun's positive drug test is reportedly for medication that he is taking to deal with a private medical issue and not performance-enhancing drugs, according to TMZ.com.

The 2011 National League MVP has vehemently denied any wrongdoing in this whole situation and has appealed the automatic 50-game suspension. Considering how outspoken he has been on this whole situation, I would not be surprised to hear that there were extraneous circumstances involved with a positive test.

The bigger outrage with this whole situation should not be that Braun's first test in October came back positive, even though it was established early on that it was not for PEDs, but instead that the result was leaked before the appeal process was finished. 

Major League Baseball's collective bargaining agreement does not permit the public release of a test until all the appeals are over and the final decision has been made. 

So the real outrage should be directed at the person who broke the rules and leaked the result, not at Braun, who requested a second test he did not fail. But no one pays attention to the inappropriate leak because all they see is the big shiny name that has been thrown in their face. 

Now, even if his appeal goes in his favor, he is going to have to deal with being branded a PED user for the rest of his career. This latest report is vague, so we still don't know all the details, but it shows the test results went public before they should have.

Fans aren't going to look at him the same way; writers and analysts who aren't educated about steroids and PEDs will always have that little bit of doubt in the back of their minds whenever they see his name appear on an awards ballot. 

Braun's on-field baseball career is never going to be the same again because some anonymous person inside the Commissioner's Office broke the rules and will go unpunished. 

Bravo to MLB for its triumph over this evil that has "tainted" the game. 

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