Player Profile: Ryan Braun
by rotobrian
There wasn't much of this "bro-tastic" fun in the off-season for Braunie.
[UPDATE: Braun exonerated and will not serve 50-game suspension]
Easily the most talked about player in the off-season (sorry Yu, Prince, and Albert), Ryan Braun probably envisioned his winter months being spent in a more relaxing way. He surely would’ve taken a few trips to South Beach, fist pumping the whole time to club chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!” But the University of Miami product has been linked to a leaked failed drug test, triggered by insanely high testosterone levels, which all but ensures the 2011 National League Most Valuable Player will watch the first 50 games from the bench. It’s hard to celebrate with that hanging over your head.
A glimmer of hope shone through, though, when, in late-January, radio host Dan Patrick broke news that a source close to the ruling process gave up information, which Patrick thought should exonerate Braun. Twitter and other social media sites were gossiping like coke-driven sorority girls about what the information could be.
Was the cause of Braun’s elevated testosterone due to a disease?
Was he taking medication for his herpes?
What? Four or five other Milwaukee Brewers failed the test, too? The test must be tainted.
But when nothing came of the Dan Patrick comments, all was quiet around the horn. The appeal hearing came and went. Only silence remained.
