Will the Brewers Have Ryan Braun for Spring Training

By Jackson | Posted Wednesday, January 11

Ryan Braun is likely to attend this year's spring training with the Milwaukee Brewers. That was just one of many details coming to light before Braun's (possible) fifty game suspension starts. That would be good news for Brewers fans and general manager Doug Melvin. Braun would be able to keep his playing form in solid shape, should he be able to spend his spring in Maryvale.

Braun's fifty day suspension is (according to most,) not going to be reversed. Since the MLB's drug policy went into effect, twelve players have been punished under the system. All twelve have failed to win a reversal. Braun’s attorney David Cornwell, has stated that his client's case will be the first that successfully overturns a suspension.

Cornwell's reasoning isn't that misguided. His main argument sites the outrageously high testosterone levels that were recorded in the first urine sample. The levels of the banned substance found were nearly three times higher than any previously recorded for a professional athlete. He argues that the ultra-high levels found indicate that something was fundamental wrong with the original test. To back that argument, Braun agreed to a second independent test immediately following his notice of the positive result. That sample came back clean; something that Cornwell says proves the faulty nature of the first test.

Braun told reporters a few days after the news was leaked that he believed the reason behind the high hormone levels came from a medicine prescribed to him for personal reasons. If that was the cause of the positive result, regulations still permit a suspension to be enforced.