Ryan Braun: Burned!

It's about time that Ryan Braun was taken down by Major League Baseball. After over a year of lying regarding PED use, Braun finally admitted to making a mistake. In the process he took down many people, including the man who transported his urine sample that contained outrageously high levels of testosterone.  Dino Laurenzi administered the test to the Milwaukee Brewers star before the 2012 regular season began and drew much negative talk from Braun and his camp. Laurenzi then had to apologize to Braun and Braun took that apology and later on laughed at everybody for him beating the system, which was a longshot to begin with. Now, Braun finds himself in a more than precarious situation after admitting to baseball that he was guilty and accepting a 5 game suspension. He worked out a deal with MLB that has him missing the remaining 2013 games. He will be eligible to come off the suspension list if the Brewers miraculously find a way to make it into the postseason.

Ryan Braun beat Matt Kemp in the 2011 MVP voting by a very slim margin. the two players had almost identical statistics in that season but Braun came away with the prize, which was tainted after news spread that Braun failed a drug test. Not only did Braun lie to his teammates and the Brewers organization but he lied to the fans. The fans in Milwaukee stand behind their players but after lying to them like this, I don't see how Braun will be able to win them over again. After missing many games this season (probably because he is no longer using PED's) Braun only managed to hit 9 home runs in 65 games played. After signing an enormous contract extension with the Brewers, Braun will come back next year and we will all see how the drugs inflated or didn't inflate his statistics. The Brewers have many years left with Braun so this year's salary that Braun will forgo is nothing in the long run for the slugging outfielder. That Alex Rodriguez contract doesn't look so bad anymore, does it?

...it still looks awful, but I wanted to make myself feel better. More suspensions are still to come with A-Rod in the center of it all. Other notable players included in the biogenesis scandal are Nelson Cruz, Jhonny Peralta, Bartolo Colon, Melky Cabrera and Francisco Cervelli. Many others are on this list as Major League Baseball tries to put the pieces of the puzzle together.