July 2012 - Milwaukee Brewers Wiretap

A man that claims he is the collector who took Ryan Braun's urine samples last fall says he followed the same protocol with the slugger as he had with hundreds of previous samples. In an e-mail sent Tuesday, Dino Laurenzi Jr. said he issued the statement "to set the record straight" about his role in testing Braun, whose 50-game suspension under baseball's drug policy was overturned last week. "This situation has caused great emotional distress for me and my family. I have worked hard my entire life, have performed my job duties with integrity and professionalism, and have done so with respect to this matter and all other collections in which I have participated," Laurenzi said. Braun tested positive in October for elevated testosterone. His case marked the first time a baseball player has successfully challenged a drug-related penalty in a grievance. Friday, Braun proclaimed his innocence. He said the collector had kept the samples for 44 hours in his home, believing that the FedEx office he was to use to ship the samples for testing was closed. Braun said because of the delay, the testing was "fatally flawed."

With the Ryan Braun saga behind them, the Brewers are now focused on extending the contract of Doug Melvin. Milwaukee's general manager, along with manager Ron Roenicke, are both in the final guaranteed years of their contracts. After locking up Melvin, the Brewers will look to do the same with Roenicke. "That's on our agenda," owner Mark Attanasio said. "For Doug, it was business as usual. He said to me he didn't want to get into any other conversations until we got to spring training and knew exactly where we were. "He didn't think it was appropriate to distract us. He didn't want to get into either his contract or Ron's contract until we broke camp. Those are two topics I will be addressing with him before opening day."

Making his first public comments since his 50-game suspension was overturned, Ryan Braun says that "truth prevailed." Braun tested positive for a high testosterone levels after his National League MVP season in 2011. "Today is for everybody who has ever been wrongly accused," he said at a news conference at Milwaukee's training facility in Maryvale, Ariz. "The simple truth is that I'm innocent," the outfielder said. "The truth is always relevant and the truth prevailed." Braun tested positive in October for elevated testosterone. His case marks the first time a baseball player has successfully challenged a drug-related penalty in a grievance.

Ryan Braun, the reigning National League MVP, had his 50-game drug suspension overturned on Thursday in a somewhat shocking development. No player had ever won an appeal of such a suspension in the past. Braun's lawyers never argued about the Milwaukee outfielder taking any sort of performance-enhancing drug, instead they focused on the handling of his urine sample and won. "This," one baseball official said, "is like a criminal getting off because he wasn't read his Miranda rights." The belief is that Braun was exonerated because of a loophole. "It's a kick in the gut to clean athletes," said Travis Tygart, the CEO of the United States Anti-Doping Association.

Ryan Braun's 50-game suspension was overturned Thursday by baseball arbitrator Shyam Das, and a source told ESPN that MLB officials are livid over the decision. Braun's case marks the first time a baseball player has successfully challenged a drug-related penalty in a grievance. The decision was announced Thursday by the MLB Players Association, one day before the 28-year-old outfielder was due to report to spring training with the Brewers.

Matt Kemp says he doesn't believe he should be given the National League MVP award if Ryan Braun is stripped of the title. Braun is appealing a 50-game suspension for a positive performance-enhancing drug test. Kemp finished second to Braun in balloting for the award. "I feel like that would be by default," Kemp said. "I wish I would've won it just by them voting me and me being the MVP. That would be special. But hopefully, I will have the same type of year or even better and win it straight up this year, with us making the playoffs."

Jose Vargas is just the second member of the Brewers to go to arbitration in 14 years. Veras asked a three-person panel Monday for a raise from $1.35 million to $2,375,000. Milwaukee countered with $2 million. Two years ago, outfielder Corey Hart beat the Brewers in Milwaukee's first case since Jose Mercedes won in 1998.

The Tigers signed Prince Fielder to a nine-year, $214 million contract last month, but it hasn't been universally well-received. Dave Cameron of FanGraphs.com, called the signing the second-worst move of the offseason. "Prince Fielder is a good player, but this is three years and about $70 million too much for what he brings to the table," Cameron wrote. "Yes, the Tigers are in win-now mode, and yes, Fielder makes them better in the short term, but the reality is that if the Tigers had this kind of payroll flexibility, they should have simply been far more active earlier in the offseason. Instead, the team overreacted to the Victor Martinez injury. ... "Of all the moves made this winter, this is the one that has the potential to really cripple a franchise."

The Brewers and Shaun Marcum have agreed to a one-year, $7.725 million deal for the 2012 season. The agreement has allowed the two sides to avoid an arbitration hearing. Marcum made $4.05 million in 2011, when he went 13-7 with a 3.54 ERA. He is eligible for free agency after this season.

Nyjer Morgan, who grew up playing hockey in San Jose, lived out a dream on Wednesday by skating with the NHL's Sharks. "Obviously to be out there to skate with my childhood team and just to be out there with the boys was an unbelievable feeling," Morgan said. The Milwaukee outfielder's black sweater featured his familiar No. 2 and the name "Plush" across the back, a nod to his "Tony Plush" alter ego. "Ever since they came to the Bay Area in 1990, [with original head coach] George Kingston, I've always been a fan. I've always been a diehard Sharks fan," he added.