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I just talked to someone familiar with Ryan Braun's positive drug test and he insisted that the Brewers' star left fielder will be cleared on the appeal process and that this information never should have come out.

The ESPN report said Braun tested positive for an abnormally high level of testosterone in his system. No player ever has had a positive drug test overturned in appeal.

If Braun’s suspension is upheld, it would start at the beginning of the 2012 regular season. Brewers spokesman Tyler Barnes said the club had not been informed by the commissioner’s office that Braun tested positive for a banned substance and faced a suspension.

Creative Artists Agency, which represents Braun did release a statement indicating the positive test is being vehemently disputed:

“There are highly unusual circumstances surrounding this case which will support Ryan's complete innocence and demonstrate that there was absolutely no intentional violation of the program. While Ryan has impeccable character and no previous history, unfortunately, because of the process we have to maintain confidentiality and are not able to discuss it any further, but we are confident that he will ultimately be exonerated.”

A CAA spokesman said that neither Braun nor his agent, Nez Balelo, would have a comment during the appeal process.

But a source familiar with the situation told the Journal Sentinel that a second test requested by Braun was negative and was being used in the appeal process to overturn the first results. That source also indicated the banned substance was not a performance-enhancing drug.

“The truth will prevail; I really feel good about that,” said the source. “It just stinks that this got out before the appeal process is finished. Initial positive tests have been overturned before, proving the player is innocent, and nobody ever knows.”

Obviously, this person was on Braun's side of the story but he was vehement that he knew enough details to support his comments.

Former NBA star Reggie Miller, not an analyst for TNT, lives next to Braun in Malibu, Calif., and posted this tweet after the report surfaced: “Just spoke with my neighbor, Ryan Braun. He says test is bogus, can only believe a man for his word. Truth will always come out.”

And, I'm not sure how USA Today's Bob Nightengale got hold of Braun, but he quoted him as saying "It's B.S.", referring to the ESPN report that he tested positive for a PED and faces a 50-game suspension.

The source said Braun was tested in early October, at the start of the postseason, and was apprised of the positive result a couple of weeks later. Braun immediately requested a second test, which came back normal. Whether the lag time between the first and second test compromises Braun's appeal, I couldn't tell you.

A first positive test results in a 50-game suspension, followed by a 100-game suspension for a second and a lifetime ban for a third. A player is not paid his salary during such suspensions.

Braun, who signed a five-year extension in April worth $105 million that committed him to the Brewers through 2020, was a major force in the Brewers’ surge to their first NL Central crown and 96-victory season. He batted .332 with 33 home runs, 111 runs batted in, 109 runs scored, 33 stolen bases and a .597 slugging percentage, tops in the league.

No reigning MVP ever has been suspended for a positive drug test. The reward is presented by the Baseball Writer’s Association of America, and that association’s president, Bill Shaikin, noted that Alex Rodriguez’s 2003 American League MVP award was not stripped after admitting later to steroid use during that period.

Braun has admitted to no such use, so any calls for stripping his MVP Award are premature until all of the facts of the case are made public.

The ESPN report indicated Braun’s positive test was triggered by elevated levels of testosterone. A more comprehensive tested revealed that testosterone was synthetic and therefore not produced by his body.

ESPN’s sources did not indicate how high above the threshold Braun’s sample tested. But the report said Braun told people he did not knowingly take a banned substance and hoped to prove that with his appear.

Even if that’s true, however, it does not mean Braun’s suspension will be overturned. A player must prove that he was not in any way negligent to successfully appeal.

MLB’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Policy went into effect after the 2003 season after a period of enhanced-offensive performance known as “The Steroid Era.” Beyond PEDs, amphetamines later were added to the list of banned substances. In the new labor agreement just completely, players will be subject to blood testing for HGH beginning in 2012.

The policy provides little leniency for players, saying MLB is “not required to otherwise establish intent, fault, negligence or knowing use of a prohibited substance on the player’s part to establish such a violation.”

In other words, if a player claims he did not knowingly take a banned substance, he must show he was not negligent in any way to have a positive test overturned.