Via BBTF, does the success of Ryan Braun and others post PED suspension show that performance enhancers don’t do that much?

At some point, the baseball community must realize that hitters hit. It seems likely that a player’s usage of performance-enhancing drugs in the past didn’t increase his hitting ability by much, which is creates some cognitive dissonance. If something was illegal or against the rules, then it must significantly increase performance. Maybe. But it’s also possible that PEDs did nothing more than keep players on the field and off the trainer’s table.

That was basically Bill James‘s point about PEDs; they kept players young.

Related: Thinking about Bonds.

Ryan Braun pulls no punches apologizing for his PED use. He does claim it was a one-time deal:

Here is what happened. During the latter part of the 2011 season, I was dealing with a nagging injury and I turned to products for a short period of time that I shouldn’t have used. The products were a cream and a lozenge which I was told could help expedite my rehabilitation. It was a huge mistake for which I am deeply ashamed and I compounded the situation by not admitting my mistakes immediately.

I deeply regret many of the things I said at the press conference after the arbitrator’s decision in February 2012. At that time, I still didn’t want to believe that I had used a banned substance. I think a combination of feeling self righteous and having a lot of unjustified anger led me to react the way I did. I felt wronged and attacked, but looking back now, I was the one who was wrong. I am beyond embarrassed that I said what I thought I needed to say to defend my clouded vision of reality. I am just starting the process of trying to understand why I responded the way I did, which I continue to regret. There is no excuse for any of this.

For too long during this process, I convinced myself that I had not done anything wrong. After my interview with MLB in late June of this year, I came to the realization that it was time to come to grips with the truth. I was never presented with baseball’s evidence against me, but I didn’t need to be, because I knew what I had done. I realized the magnitude of my poor decisions and finally focused on dealing with the realities of-and the punishment for-my actions.

I requested a second meeting with Baseball to acknowledge my violation of the drug policy and to engage in discussions about appropriate punishment for my actions. By coming forward when I did and waiving my right to appeal any sanctions that were going to be imposed, I knew I was making the correct decision and taking the first step in the right direction. It was important to me to begin my suspension immediately to minimize the burden on everyone I had so negatively affected- my teammates, the entire Brewers organization, the fans and all of MLB. There has been plenty of rumor and speculation about my situation, and I am aware that my admission may result in additional attacks and accusations from others.

It’s as good an apology as you’ll see from a player. Although it doesn’t beat this one.

Update: Flip Flop Fly Ballin’ is less than impressed.

Now that we know the Biogenesis scandal has real legs, a few ideas come to mind. First, kudos to the Miami New Times for breaking the story. The fact that this alternative newspaper got the scoop instead of either MLB or a major news organization leads to this question, “Was anyone trying to trace where players obtained their drugs?” Ryan Braun, Melky Cabrera, Bartolo Colon and Yasmani Grandal all tested positive in the last two years, and all were connected to this supplier. Did anyone find the connection before the New Times article?

Second, these anti-aging clinics can’t be that rare. Where else are players finding drugs. Is MLB investigating other places that might be doing the same thing? I find it tough to believe that Biogenesis was the only supplier out there.

Third, whatever protocol the players used to get around positive tests didn’t work all that well. While a number of players who were on the list have not been caught, a few did fail tests. Are there new formulations of drugs that don’t appear on a test? If so, I hope new tests are being developed. (This is how Ben Johnson was caught. He thought he had a drug unknown to the IOC. Instead, it had been recently discovered, and the Olympics had a new test.) It is important to figure out how these athletes were passing testing negative so protocols or chemistry can get better.

Finally, is it time for MLB to get out of the policing business? As Melky Cabrera and Bartolo Colon showed last year, teams are not hurt by drug use. The Giants and Athletics were helped by those two improving their performances by using drugs. There is no incentive for front offices or field managers to turn in their own players. Fans aren’t hurt that much, except for those who hold records dear. The people most hurt are other players, who lose the level playing field as they compete for salary. Maybe it’s time to throw all of this on the MLBPA. Their membership know what incentive and disincentives might work to prevent further use. No matter how much the MLBPA cooperates with MLB, there is still going to be an adversarial relationship between the two entities, with the MLBPA often taking the side of a player they really should be prosecuting. For example, a union penalty might be, “We will no longer recognized the guaranteed status of your contract.”

Imagine if that was the penalty for Ryan Braun. He would be losing $100 million instead of three or four million. Not that it’s tough for this penalty to come from MLB, because there would be the suspicion of tampering to get rid of a bad contract. Under union testing, however, there would be a higher level of trust that the player really was using.

I welcome your thoughts in the comments.

Ryan Braun refused to cooperate with the MLB investigation of Biogenesis. ESPN reported that Braun will likely be suspended after the All-Star break, but MLB would not confirm that. From the first link:

A commissioner’s office spokesman said the ESPN report was “premature” in saying that a decision had been made to suspend Braun or any player suspected of buying performance-enhancing drugs from Bosch.

“We are still in the midst of an active investigation,” said spokesman Pat Courtney. “No decisions (on suspensions) have been made.”

We will see. I suspect the appeals will take a while.

MLB is now using glass containers to collect urine samples as a result of Ryan Braun‘s successful appeal:

Now, the collectors use glass bottles, made by the same manufacturer, but considered even more secure. The bottles have a locking mechanism on the top, as opposed to tamper-proof stickers on the plastic version. The only way to open the glass bottles is to smash the top with a hammer, which the lab does in what a person familiar with the process described as a “controlled manner.”

I worked at a drug testing summers during college. The firm tested for drugs of abuse, and the samples mostly came from rehabilitation facilities and half-way houses. They wanted to make sure people stayed clean. The samples actually came through the mail in simple plastic bottles with a leak proof seal. This really seems like a waste of time and money.

Secondly, I wonder how the hammering procedure prevents glass from getting in the sample. With the old plastic bottles, you unscrew the cap and pour out the urine. If you smash glass, and some falls into the sample, anything on the glass might provide contamination. So if the evil sample taker wants to frame a player, he can just coat the outside of the bottle with a steroid. (I assume this doesn’t happen, that the lab has a way of opening the bottle without glass falling in. I’m just not sure how.) The bottom line is, this makes the whole process more time consuming and expensive. No wonder MLB is suing.

Hat tip, Getting Blanked.

Ryan Braun‘s name shows up on another Biogenesis document.

But a source familiar with the documents obtained by “Outside the Lines” said the list with Braun’s name, which also includes New York Yankees Alex Rodriguez and Francisco Cervelli and Toronto’s Melky Cabrera, was a list of players who received PEDs, and that there is “no other reason to be on that paper.”

Truthfully, I’d like this source to come forward and discuss this list in public. That probably won’t happen for legal reasons, but I’d love to hear what he or she has to say.