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Milwaukee Brewers position players report to spring training on Friday. That means Ryan Braun is coming to face the music. He’ll continue to face it throughout 2014. Maybe he’ll let it get to him.

Or maybe not.

Braun giving in to all the negative attention he’ll be facing this season would be a heck of a story, one that would definitely make my fingers find the nearest keyboard. But this is Ryan Braun we’re talking about. He has plenty of experience in dealing with negative attention. It’s really all he’s done recently.

It was in late 2011 that Braun failed a test for performance-enhancing drugs. Early in 2012, he escaped punishment on a technicality. On the eve of spring training that year, he acted totally innocent anyway. He then found himself involved in the Biogenesis scandal early in 2013 and was the first major leaguer to bite the dust when he was suspended for the rest of the season in July.

All PED suspensions are bad. But since Braun’s had the context of his past troubles…Yeah, it was worse. And with Alex Rodriguez officially out of the picture, Braun is Public Enemy No. 1 heading into 2014. To that end, history is already repeating itself.

But history will be repeating itself again if Braun makes like it’s 2012 and has an outstanding season (read: NL-high .987 OPS) in the face of all the negative buzz coming from the media and the fans. And while it won’t be as easy this time around, Braun can do it.

In particular, he seems ready for the media. The knights of the keyboard (as Ted Williams called them) will be after him in 2014, but they’ll have trouble getting through the suit of armor he’s crafted.

Think back to the first step in Braun’s 2014 comeback tour: the lengthy statement he released in August 2013 that, summed up, basically said, “I’m really sorry, you guys.”

Not a bad way to start, but Albert Chen of Sports Illustrated pointed out that Braun left the big question unanswered. Though he pledged to give a “specific account” of what got him in trouble, Braun only said:

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…

That’s it. Braun didn’t specify what kind of injury he had. He didn’t specify exactly which products he took, or how said products were administered. Nor did he mention Biogenesis or Anthony Bosch.

Chen therefore had good reason to warn that Braun had better be ready for “demands for him to go further in explaining himself.” But here’s the thing about that: Judging from his two meetings with the media since his suspension, he is.

The first meeting was in November at a charity function outside Miller Park. The very first question he was asked was why he lied about being involved with PEDs, and Braun let it bounce off his armor.

“Obviously I’ve been through a lot and as I expressed in my statement that I felt was pretty lengthy and specific, I got into a lot of details at that point. I’m not really going to go into any further details,” he said, via Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

When pressed for additional information later in the session: “Again, I’m not going to get into the specifics and continue to go backward. I’m moving forward and I’m not going to get into too many specifics on that.”

When Braun appeared at the Brewers’ “On Deck” function in late January, it was the same old refrain. Once again via Rosiak of the Journal Sentinel:

Again, I appreciate there is still interest in this stuff, but I addressed everything in November when I was here for the charity event, and I think I addressed it pretty specifically in the statement that we gave.

There’s honesty, and then there’s diplomacy. Braun has been using the latter, and not just when it comes to the specifics about his troublemaking. He has canned answers for other hot topics:

• On Dino Laurenzi Jr., the sample collector he threw under the bus two years ago: “We’ve made amends and I think we’re both excited to be able to move forward and put this behind us.”
• On the possibility of being selected to another All-Star Game: “I really haven’t thought about that kind stuff. My goal is always to go and be the best player that I can be. I’m not motivated by individual accolades.”
• On the Hall of Fame: “I haven’t even thought that far ahead, and I think it’s almost disrespectful to even discuss the Hall of Fame. I’ve only played in the league for less than seven years.”
• On the 2011 MVP: “Like I said, I’m continuing to move forward. I think that’s all I can do. I’m not going to go back and discuss the things that have happened in the past.”

One thing Braun said in January is that “there’s no blueprint” for how to deal with a situation like his. But if you take his canned answers with how he apologizes at seemingly every turn, it’s clear that he and some helpers spent some time trying to devise some sort of blueprint while the spotlight was elsewhere after his suspension. He’s come back with his guns loaded and, indeed, has stuck to them.

Factor in how Braun has always been confident and articulate in his dealings with the media, and, well, you know what a guy like that becomes when armed with some coaching?

An anti-headline. That’s what.

If Braun can continue to be that, 2014 will be a breeze. If he can handle the media, goodness knows he should also be able to handle the fans.

Sure, there was some griping among Brewers fans when Braun was first suspended—Kevin Massoth of MLB.com spoke to fans who used sentiments like “very disappointing,” “bad example” and “tarnished”—but the slugger pulled off a deft maneuver when he started calling season ticket holders last fall to apologize directly, and there wasn’t much ill will when he confronted fans at the “On Deck” function in late January.

The Associated Press (via ESPN) reported that there was a heckler, but only one. Apart from that, Dennis Punzel of the Wisconsin State Journal noted that Braun’s autograph session “attracted by far the largest crowd” and that the fans were largely positive.

“I was talking to people in line, and people all seemed to be happy he’s back. And you look at the amount of people in line for him, that should make him feel good,” said one fan.

File this under: “Well, shoot, what did you expect?”

Brewers fans had every right to feel betrayed when Braun’s suspension came through, but mass forgiveness was inevitable. Maybe some will support him begrudgingly, but the Brewers fans supporting him will far outnumber the Brewers fans shunning him. Surely many of the shunners will come around once Braun starts producing. 

Ah, but will Braun produce in 2014? He wasn’t so great in 2013, after all, and maybe that’s because he was off the juice!

Or maybe it was the injuries. Braun battled a neck injury in early April, and then spent much of the rest of the season battling a right thumb injury that landed him on the disabled list in June.

No hitter likes having a bad neck, and we’ve seen injuries in the hand and wrist areas be particularly damaging for power hitters. Maybe that was the case with Braun, as power was really the only area where he wasn’t himself at the plate last year:

In theory, a return to good health in 2014 will help fix this problem. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Miller Park is one of the most power-friendly ballparks in baseball.

Ah yes, but what about when Braun plays on the road? The environment will be a lot tougher, and not just because of the ballparks. The fans will be on him too!

Yeah, Braun knows. And as you’d expect, he doesn’t care.

“I really don’t think about stuff like that very much,” he said in January. “I try not to focus on the things that are out of my control. With that being said I’ve already experienced this already in the past a couple times. Dealt with it in 2012, dealt with it for the majority of 2013, so I think I have an idea of what I’m getting myself into.”

Braun is right. And if you go look at his splits (via FanGraphs) during his healthy season in 2012, you’ll get the sense that he wasn’t exactly intimidated by the general nastiness he encountered on the road:

Braun had a .396 Weighted On-Base Average on the road in 2012. That ranked sixth in MLB, making him one of the elite road warriors in the league that year. Not exactly the mark of a guy who can’t handle boos.

Again, it would be a heck of a story if Braun folded under the weight of his critics in 2014. You can picture him there at the plate, bat quaking in his hands and choking back the tears as the boos come cascading down. And there, up in the press box, writers rubbing their palms together and saying, “Good, good.”

But nah. Braun will have Brewers fans on his side, and he ought to be ready for everyone else.

Note: Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted. 

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For every Josh Donaldson or Matt Carpenter, there’s an Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton. Even as comparatively predictable as baseball is to other sports, perfectly projecting all of the breakouts and disappointments is too tall of an order for even the savviest of sabermetricians. 

And that’s why the opposite ends of the production spectrum either dread or relish “next season.”

Take Matt Kemp, for instance. After almost winning the 2011 NL MVP Award and posting a park-adjusted 147 OPS+ in 2012, Kemp was a gimpy dud this past season. In fact, his 105 OPS+ and 263 plate appearances were his worst showings since his rookie year. Needless to say, Kemp is eager for the 2014 season to arrive.

Read on to see the rest of MLB players who are thrilled or devastated to see 2013 end.

All statistics sourced from Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs.com.

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The New York Mets have inquired about the availability of Milwaukee Brewers slugger Ryan Braun, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.

Heyman shared the details of the brief exchange between Mets general manager Sandy Alderson and members of the Brewers, saying Alderson asked, “What’s up with Braun?” earlier this offseason.

Even though it was just a quick inquiry, it shows that the Mets have some degree of interest in acquiring the embattled Braun, who was suspended the final 65 games of last year for his role in the Biogenesis performance enhancing drug scandal and for his actions during a separate PED situation in 2011.

The Braun/Mets rumors picked up steam last week when Matthew Cerrone of Metsblog.com reported that there was a “better chance” the Brewers would trade away Ryan Braun than Norichika Aoki in a possible deal for first baseman Ike Davis. A day later, Brewers general manager Doug Melvin discredited the rumors and said the team has “no intentions” of trading Braun, per Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel.

There’s no doubting Braun’s talent, but he comes with a ton of extra baggage that would be put in the spotlight in New York, much more so than Milwaukee. Right now, Braun is something of a villain in baseball and a poster child of the new era of performance enhancing drugs.    

After being implicated of wrongdoing in 2011 and eventually being cleared, Braun faced the media and decried his innocence. It turned out to be a bold-faced lie and he drew the ire of many of his contemporaries.

Even though many of his past accomplishments, like winning the 2011 NL MVP, are tarnished, Braun’s ability in the batter’s box is undoubted. From 2007 to 2012, Braun posted a slash line of .313/.374/.568 with yearly averages of 34 homers and 107 RBI while being named to five All-Star teams.

He just turned 30, and though Melvin told Heyman “four or five” teams are interested, it doesn’t sound like Braun is going anywhere at this time. The Brewers would be wise to hold on to a rare hitting talent like Braun, even if it means there will be a few more cameras in the locker room.    

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In case you didn‘t know by now, Ryan Braun is really sorry. He’s sorry to have let down Milwaukee Brewers’ fans, Major League Baseball, his family and friends and of course his sponsors.

All that and more can be found in Braun’s statement that the former MVP released yesterday. In a typical move by those who get caught cheating, Braun hid from the media and cameras by releasing a written statement likely by someone not named Ryan Braun.

The statement in itself is a joke to most people as Braun attempts to apologize, rationalize and make amends with those affected by his cheating ways.  It can almost be read as a sarcastic form of comic relief.

Let’s look at how Braun starts off his statement:

Now that the initial MLB investigation is over, I want to apologize for my actions and provide a more specific account of what I did and why I deserved to be suspended.  I have no one to blame but myself. I know that over the last year and a half I made some serious mistakes, both in the information I failed to share during my arbitration hearing and the comments I made to the press afterwards.

In other words, now that I’ve been caught let me say I deserve to be suspended and want to apologize for my actions—but only now that the initial investigation is over, not in the past when I had the opportunity to come clean with the truth.

Also, his attempt at saying “I deserved to be suspended” and attempt to now place all the blame on himself is equivalent to a kid hitting another kid on the playground, only to say “It’s okay, hit me back to make it even” when the other starts to cry.

I have disappointed the people closest to me – the ones who fought for me because they truly believed me all along. I kept the truth from everyone.  For a long time, I was in denial and convinced myself that I had not done anything wrong.

Oh, you mean like your Wisconsin buddy Aaron Rodgers betting his entire 2013 salary on Braun being innocent?

If you had to convince yourself that you weren’t doing something wrong, odds are you were probably doing something wrong. If it goes against the rules set by the league you’re playing in, it’s wrong no matter the circumstances.

It is important that people understand that I did not share details of what happened with anyone until recently. My family, my teammates, the Brewers organization, my friends, agents, and advisers had no knowledge of these facts, and no one should be blamed but me. Those who put their necks out for me have been embarrassed by my behavior. I don’t have the words to express how sorry I am for that.

This is one of the few points I believe Braun is telling the truth. He probably is embarrassed about how this came back to smack him in the face in a moment of ultimate karma as well as those who defended the Brewers’ slugger. It’s one thing to soil your name but now others will be affected for their association with a known cheater.

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.

Finally Braun gets to the “what had happened was” moment of the statement. Only instead of giving actual details about his PED use, Braun gives a generalized account. A cream and a lozenge? What exactly was in this stuff? What banned substance did you actually use?

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.

You felt self-righteous and had a lot of anger? I’m sure you were angry since you felt “victimized” by the system and how you were vindicated after winning the appeal. Notice that when Braun felt he was in the right he was all too happy to receive media attention.

Now that you’re guilty, you hide behind a typed piece of paper? As Chris Carter loves to say, “C’mon man!“

Also, in his previous paragraph Braun states he knew he was taking things that he wasn’t supposed to do. But in his next paragraph Braun states that he didn‘t think he was doing anything wrong. Didn’t he learn in school about how peer pressure works and how it’s not a viable excuse?

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.

More of the “I didn‘t know what I was doing was wrong” shtick. And his “coming to grips with the truth” line? Sounds more like he knew the hammer was coming and began his PR rescue mission early.

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.

Would Braun have been so forthcoming if his name hadn’t been brought up in the Biogenesis scandal or if the Brewers were in playoff contention?

It’s not so much his admission that fans are attacking him for, it’s how he’s handled the situation since the truth has come to light. Sports fans in America are very forgiving if athletes present us with the truth (or at least be convincing enough to make us believe they’re being honest) but Braun fails to do much of that in his statement.

I love the great game of baseball and I am very sorry for any damage done to the game. I have privately expressed my apologies to Commissioner Selig and Rob Manfred of MLB and to Michael Weiner and his staff at the Players’ Association. I’m very grateful for the support I’ve received from them. I sincerely apologize to everybody involved in the arbitration process, including the collector, Dino Laurenzi, Jr. I feel terrible that I put my teammates in a position where they were asked some very difficult and uncomfortable questions. One of my primary goals is to make amends with them.

Laurenzi is the man Braun accused of working against Braun because he was a Cubs fan and an anti-Semite. In the same article Braun also reportedly attempted to reach out to some MLB veterans in an attempt to earn their support.

But I thought he was under the pretense he wasn’t doing anything wrong? Why would he need to lobby for support and make those kind of accusations if he was innocent?

I understand it’s a blessing and a tremendous honor to play this game at the Major League level. I also understand the intensity of the disappointment from teammates, fans, and other players.  When it comes to both my actions and my words, I made some very serious mistakes and I can only ask for the forgiveness of everyone I let down.  I will never make the same errors again and  I intend to share the lessons I learned with others so they don’t repeat my mistakes. Moving forward, I want to be part of the solution and no longer part of the problem.

Braun now wants to be a team player and help clean up the PED issue in baseball. You know what Braun could’ve done to help clean up baseball? Not take PEDs in the first place.

Braun states that he’ll never make the same mistakes again and at this point I’m not sure whether that means he won’t make the mistake of getting caught or taking PEDs once he comes back to baseball.

I support baseball’s Joint Drug Treatment and Prevention Program and the importance of cleaning up the game.  What I did goes against everything I have always valued- achieving through hard work and dedication, and being honest both on and off the field.  I also understand that I will now have to work very, very hard to begin to earn back people’s trust and support. I am dedicated to making amends and to earning back the trust of my teammates, the fans, the entire Brewers’ organization, my sponsors, advisers and from MLB. I am hopeful that I can earn back the trust from those who I have disappointed and those who are willing to give me the opportunity.  I am deeply sorry for my actions, and I apologize to everyone who has been adversely affected by them.

Braun says he supports the program that only one year prior had championed against, attempting to say he’d been a victim and that the truth prevailed. If Braun really wanted to earn the trust and support of everyone he mentions, he should’ve held a media conference and fielded questions about his PED use.

Just take a look at how Andy Pettitte was caught years ago. He read from a pre-typed statement but at least faced the media to answer a few questions. Now look where Pettitte is, still pitching in the major leagues and has moved on from the PED scandal he found himself in.

All in all Braun completely failed to do what his statement was intended to do, which is help stop the bleeding from his PED scandal. The statement in itself seems more like a joke or half-hearted attempt to make amends rather than an actual apology. Braun immediately went to play the injury card that has been used too many times before.

There is a right way to go about repairing his image and Braun simply isn’t doing that right now. He can still come back and be a player that is liked by both players and fans because, as mentioned before, America is willing to forgive and move on if the proper measures are taken.

Until then Braun can find his name next to Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds among others as the face of the PED problem in Major League Baseball.

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Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun is digging a deeper hole for himself following his recent apology acknowledging his use of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs).

Braun issued a statement Thursday—the full text of which can be found here—apologizing for his use of PEDs and further explaining his actions.  Yet his apology may be too little and too late. 

Braun, and his clouded reputation, shall forever be stained by this incident.  However, there are things the 2011 National League MVP can do to at least return his image to something respectable.

For starters, Braun should speak with the media.

The nature of that potential conversation shall be described shortly; yet how did Braun get to this point in the first place?

Braun is no stranger to allegations of PED use. 

In his 2011 MVP season, Braun had tested positive for PEDs, yet was able to successfully appeal a 50-game suspension; he became baseball’s first player to win such an appeal.

Despite the success of the appeal, one might think that Braun had learned his lesson.  His reputation, albeit tainted, was still intact and he had escaped suspension and the scrutiny that would have accompanied it.  It should have been a foregone conclusion that Braun would stay clean having come so close to ruining his character.

Braun did not take the wiser of the two courses.  In the wake of the second accusation of PED use, Braun may now seem more foolish than ever before. 

Despite not being directly linked to any specific PED from the hands of the Miami-based Biogenesis clinic, Braun’s involvement and subsequent actions certainly did not put him on the right path.

When Major League Baseball announced that they would seek Braun’s suspension, Braun’s statements and actions were anything but adequate. 

In a February 5 article written by Tim Brown and Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, Braun stated that he had nothing to hide and never had any relationship with the clinic’s operator, Anthony Bosch.

Braun further elaborated:

During the course of preparing for my successful appeal last year, my attorneys, who were previously familiar with Bosch, used him as a consultant.  More specifically, he answered questions about [testosterone-to-epitestosterone] ratio and possibilities of tampering with samples.

Braun’s first explanation seems about as hollow as his most recent one.  The only difference is that Braun has now acknowledged PED use instead of denying it. 

Yet as previously mentioned, why would Braun even bother dealing with Bosch and his reputation within the Biogenesis clinic?

To make matters worse, Braun was then alleged to have gone after Dino Laurenzi Jr., the Comprehensive Drug Testing employee who had handled his 2011 urine sample.

Regardless, Braun’s interactions and subsequent denials further drove a wedge between him and the fans, as well as the media.

Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel sums up the aftermath perfectly when he wrote:

Fans don’t take kindly to PED cheats and certainly not to someone who lied about it publicly for so long.  In other words, Braun’s reputation is trashed, his integrity non-existent and his achievements forever tarnished.  Think about that when you suggest he got off lightly because it “only” cost him $3 million or so in salary while suspended.

Before this scandal ever took place, Braun’s popularity was something to be commended.  Now, it seems as if Braun has little chance to rectify the situation and make things right with the fans and MLB.

In the wake of Braun’s most recent attempt to apologize and clear his name, his reputation may be worse off than before.

ESPN baseball analyst Tim Kurkjian elaborated via an article published by Bill Chappell of NPR by saying:

While Braun used a lot of the right words, we need more specifics than this.  And I really thought that after this, he would get in front of a microphone, maybe even take some questions.  But from all indications, this might be it until spring training, or whenever.

That would be the first step in correcting a series of poor decisions on Braun’s part. 

At this point, fans are becoming numb to Braun’s denial and subsequent apologetic comments.  At best, they seem hollow and still lack the credibility necessary for Braun to once again earn the respect within the game.

Major League players are also disgusted with Braun’s decision-making as well as how he has handled things up to this point.

Detroit Tigers pitcher Max Scherzer stated via an ESPN article:

I thought this whole thing has been despicable on his part.  When he did get caught, he never came clean.  He tried to question the ability of the collector when he was caught red-handed.  So that’s why the whole Braun situation, there is so much player outrage toward him.

Rather than make a statement reiterating only the words Braun wants to speak, he needs to step forward in front of a microphone, as Kurkjian said. 

Braun will need to face the facts, admit them and begin the healing process necessary in the aftermath of this scandal.

Former MLB pitcher, and current broadcaster, Mike Krukow also stated in an interview with the San Francisco-based radio station KNBR that Braun’s most recent attempt did not help his character at all.  Instead Krukow reiterated what others have already said: Braun needs to stand in front of a microphone and answer every question—tough questions—truthfully and honestly.

Instead, we are left with a hollow apology.

CBS Sports senior baseball columnist Scott Miller summed up how many are feeling about this recent apology.  He writes:

Far as I can tell, Braun’s apology doesn’t even come close to covering the ground he needs to cover.  Starting with his urine collector.  Are you kidding me?  Braun demonizes the poor guy who collected his polluted piss while the stained slugger desperately worked to wiggle out of a suspension two winters ago.  He is positively Nixonian in telling one brazen, unadulterated lie after another.

Instead, Braun should be doing much more than issuing hollow statements filled with discredit.  He also should be issuing a huge apology to Laurenzi Jr., as San Francisco Chronicle writer John Shea tweets above.

While his current apology to Laurenzi is a start, the fact that Braun referred to him as an anti-Semite deserves more than just a few words.

If Braun does nothing more to repair his image, his character will remain in shambles.  If this is a start of more action on his part, he could regain some credibility.

Fortunately for Braun, if there is any good fortune, there is still time to do this.

Braun can benefit from the fact that baseball and the media are growing tired of steroids in the game.  He can also benefit from the fact that society tends to be forgiving if it receives a heartfelt apology and time is allowed to heal the wounds.

Remember when Jason Giambi and Andy Pettitte were linked to PED use? 

They both made apologies that were seen as adequate and both were able to move on and have successful careers without the scrutiny that Braun has brought upon himself.

The road ahead for Braun will not be as easy.  He has already tarnished his reputation as a player and his actions following this scandal have certainly not helped.

Even if Braun does right from here on out, he may never again be seen as the likable Milwaukee slugger who was once viewed as a perennial MVP candidate.  Yet he could better his situation and hopefully put himself back on track to earning the respect of both players and fans.

Braun could still turn this negative into a positive. 

It is an obvious conclusion that he needs to stay clean from this point forward.  He could be a spokesperson for continued testing in the hopes that his experience may actually provide some benefit to baseball years down the road.

This, in turn, would show that Braun is a human being who has dealt with struggles in the past and has concerns about how PEDs could affect baseball in the future.  Fans would like to see that.

If anything, Braun needs to step in front of the media and answer questions as both Krukow and Kurkjian suggested.  He needs to answer each and every question with integrity and honesty.  Braun also needs to make a deeper apology instead of the flat statement he issued on August 22.

Braun needs to apologize to his teammates.  He needs to apologize to each of the players that faced him up to this point.  He needs to apologize to his coaches.  Most importantly, he needs to apologize to the fans. 

After all, fans are the sole reason baseball exists.

Peter Panacy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report.  Follow him @PeterMcShots on Twitter.

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In the court of public opinion, the truth will set you free.

That fact has finally sunk in for suspended Milwaukee Brewers slugger Ryan Braun, who is expected to come clean about his past use of performance-enhancing drugs—including that he did, in fact, use them during his MVP-winning season in 2011—according to USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale.

Not only is Braun expected to admit to his past use, but he is expected to issue formal apologies to his teammates, peers and the fans—and to two people in particular, commissioner Bud Selig and Dino Laurenzi Jr.

If you remember back to Braun’s first suspension in 2011, which he had successfully overturned by an arbitrator, Laurenzi Jr. was the drug testing sample collector whose life was turned upside down by Braun and his team of attorneys.

When Braun accepted a 65-game suspension from MLB last month and offered a cookie-cutter apology that clearly wasn’t coming from the heart, Laurenzi Jr. was on the minds of a number of people, including former major league pitcher Mark Mulder and ESPN’s Buster Olney:

Even former NFL offensive lineman and current ESPN personality Mark Schlereth got in on the action:

Whether you think Braun owes the man an apology or not, it’s the right thing to do.

It’s the first step on the long road that Braun must travel to get some semblance of his reputation back.

Just ask Andy Pettitte, who sucked it up and faced the music only two days after his name was included on the Mitchell Report back in 2007:

Had Braun followed Pettitte’s lead, had he admitted that yes, he made a mistake and used performance-enhancing drugs when his name was first associated with them, all would be forgiven by now—and his career would not forever be tarnished by a dark cloud.

Instead, we got this:

While nobody likes a liar, we are a forgiving society who gives second chances to those people who admit their mistakes.

We’ve forgiven Michael Vick for his role in a dog-fighting operation. We’ve forgiven Mike Tyson for decades of transgressions. And don’t forget Bill Clinton, who stared into the eyes of every American and was willing to lie, but has now redeemed himself into one of this country’s most beloved political figures.

We can forgive Ryan Braun as well.

But forgiveness comes with a price.

It won’t be easy, and it won’t come overnight, but Braun has a chance for redemption—and his timing couldn’t be any better.

While Alex Rodriguez continues to defend himself against what MLB claims is an overwhelming amount of evidence that he has used performance enhancing drugs—including as recently as 2012, according to an earlier report from Nightengale—Braun has a chance to gain major points in the court of public opinion by being humble and contrite in his public admission.

Tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. He needs to take his medicine like Pettitte did, no matter how painful it may be. He needs to go in depth about his past PED use, detailing when he took them, what he took and why he took them.

Only then, when the public hears the real Ryan Braun speak and can see the emotion on his face, can the healing process begin.

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Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun is reportedly planning on doing something he’s avoided since first testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2011.

That something? Telling the truth. 

According to USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale, Braun is ready to admit that he used PEDs in parts of the 2011 season—the same year he was crowned National League MVP and led the Brewers to the NLCS. 

Braun’s friends shared the news with Nightengale on the condition of anonymity because the 29-year-old slugger has yet to make an announcement; however, they claim the list of individuals who will receive an apology for being lied to includes MLB commissioner Bud Selig, drug testing sample collector Dino Laurenzi Jr., teammates and peers. 

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is probably on that list, too. 

Despite being involved in two separate PED scandals since the news broke in December 2011, Braun has maintained his innocence concerning steroid use. 

Braun, who was suspended by MLB in July for the remainder of the 2013 season, was initially able to escape punishment from the league for his 2011 failed drug test. He managed to win his appeal of a 50-game suspension on a technicality—Laurenzi made a mistake in handling the urine sample. 

After leading the NL in home runs (41) during the 2012 season, Braun was back in the news for steroids this offseason. Tim Elfrink of the Miami New Times implicated Braun as part of the Biogenesis clinic scandal, and MLB dropped the hammer for his involvement with clinic owner Anthony Bosch.

As Braun makes his apology circuit official, he might have even more explaining to do, with new details emerging that far precede his MLB career. According to ESPN, his former friend, Ralph Sasson, has filed a defamation lawsuit against Braun with claims that include the slugger used steroids and accepted improper benefits when he was a student at the University of Miami. 

When it rains, it truly pours. 

For Braun, the past few weeks have to feel like a torrential downpour. 

The truth won’t restore his tainted legacy or eliminate any of the obstacles he’ll face over the next couple of seasons, but it’s a nice start toward true redemption. 

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In addition to being hit with a 65-game suspension and missing the remainder of the 2013 MLB season, Milwaukee Brewers superstar Ryan Braun lost a major sponsor in Nike on Friday.

ESPN.com’s Darren Rovell broke the news of Braun’s contract being terminated in the wake of his involvement in the Biogenesis performance-enhancing drugs scandal. KeJuan Wilkins, a Nike spokesman, confirmed that Braun and Nike no longer have a relationship.

The 29-year-old left fielder has been wearing Nike baseball cleats and batting gloves for all seven years of his major league career, according to Rovell. Also noted in the report is that Nike recently began rolling out Braun T-shirts in its stores, with sayings like “Big Bat Like Braun” and “Braun Owns Milwaukee.”

It is the latest in a long line of endorsement deals that Braun has lost, including associations with Muscle Milk and Wisconsin-based Kwik Trip. Nike is undoubtedly the most notable sponsor to sever its ties with the 2011 National League MVP, though.

Braun’s brand had already been damaged significantly by his decision to take performance-enhancing drugs, and this move from Nike is just another serious knock on his image. To get back into good graces with sponsors and baseball fans alike, Braun clearly has a lot of work to do.

In 61 games this season for the Brewers, the five-time All-Star batted .298 with nine home runs and 38 RBI.

The Braun saga makes what has already been a tough season in Milwaukee even more trying. The Brewers sit last in the NL Central division with a 46-62 record entering Friday’s home game against the Washington Nationals.

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The hits just keep on coming for Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun in the wake of his 65-game suspension for involvement with a Miami Biogenesis clinic. Many of Braun’s current teammates have been questioned by the media, but it is a former teammate in Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke who is now making headlines.

According to Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times, Greinke is extremely disappointed by the entire situation. Greinke was Braun’s teammate in 2011 and part of 2012, and he was one of many who believed him when he said he was innocent of performance-enhancing drug allegations.

The main thing is, yeah, he lied to us. He forced us to lie for him, threw people under the bus in order to help himself out and didn’t care, blamed others for his mistakes and it’s just a lot of things you don’t expect from people.

Greinke could have been referencing Dino Laurenzi Jr., who took a drug-testing sample from Braun back in late 2011. The result of that test set the wheels in motion for Braun’s current suspension, as he was originally suspended for 50 games.

Braun got the suspension overturned due to a protocol breach in the handling of his sample, but he took the opportunity to bash Laurenzi publicly even though he had gotten away with something very serious.

According to Hernandez, Greinke said that Braun put up a very convincing front: 

Oh, yeah, 100% believed him. Everything was so convincing. He had people to blame. He seemed like a really good guy. He was a good teammate at the time. You don’t know the guys that he was pinning it on. I’m not positive, but I think everyone 100% believed him at the time. Especially the next year, he looked just as good as the year before. His numbers his whole career, Hall of Fame numbers. How could you not believe him? He was so convincing.

While Braun’s history with performance-enhancing drugs calls into question the elite numbers he has put up over the course of his career, Greinke believes that the perception of Braun as a person is even more important.

Not even talking about the player. It’s just the person. Just the fact that he was willing to use anyone that got in his path. The closer you were to him, the more he would use you. It’s just disappointing that a human being could be like that.

Greinke believes Braun owes a lot of people an apology, saying, “The fact that even to this day he hasn’t had a real apology is really upsetting to me. I thought about it a bunch. He still hasn’t really apologized.”

Greinke‘s sentiments are likely shared by many of the players and fans who believed Braun over the past year.

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Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp doesn’t want any revisionist historians giving him the 2011 NL MVP award, won by now-disgraced Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun. 

He just doesn’t think Braun deserves to have it, either. Asked by reporters before Tuesday night’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Kemp acknowledged that he feels Braun should be stripped of the award.

“I mean, yeah, I do,” Kemp said (per the Associated Press, via ESPN). “I feel like it should be, but that’s not for me to decide, you know?”

The Milwaukee slugger was suspended for the remainder of the 2013 season by Major League Baseball Monday for his part in the Biogenesis performance-enhancing drugs scandal. Braun released a statement acknowledging his mistakes, per an ESPN report:

As I have acknowledged in the past, I am not perfect. I realize now that I have made some mistakes. I am willing to accept the consequences of those actions. This situation has taken a toll on me and my entire family, and it … has been a distraction to my teammates and the Brewers organization.

Braun’s suspension culminates MLB‘s two-year chase of Braun.

Kemp finished second behind Braun in the 2011 vote, finishing with 332 points and 10 first-place votes. The 28-year-old center fielder batted .324 with 39 home runs, 126 RBI and 40 steals, finishing just 15 batting average points away from winning the Triple Crown.

Braun hit .332 with 33 home runs, 111 RBI and 33 steals, winning the vote in large part thanks to Milwaukee’s team accomplishments. The Brewers finished 96-66 and atop the NL Central by six games, while Los Angeles missed the playoffs. Braun received 20 first-place votes and 388 points.

The Brewers slugger first came under fire after testing positive in October 2011 for elevated testosterone levels. Braun was initially suspended by the commissioner’s office 50 games for the first-time PED offense, but later had that conviction overturned by an arbitrator on a technicality.

But even with Braun exposed as a cheater, Kemp has no plans seeking retribution by going after that 2011 trophy, according to the Los Angeles Times’ Dylan Hernandez:

“Honestly, it doesn’t have anything to do with me,” Kemp said. “I was in a race to win the MVP, I got second. It is what it is. The voters had an opinion about who they wanted to pick as the MVP. That’s who they picked, that’s who they felt was the MVP. You have to respect them for that. The other stuff, it is what it is, man. For me, all I’m worried about is getting healthy and getting back on the field and helping my team win.”

And it’s probably a good thing Kemp doesn’t have his heart set on that recognition. Jack O’Connell, secretary-treasurer of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (the entity that decides the award), told the AP no change would be made.

“The decision was already made. He won it,” O’Connell said.

Braun has not released any subsequent statements on the matter. There is no word on whether the Brewers outfielder plans on turning in his MVP award (Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez and others who have been implicated in PED scandals have not given up their awards in the past)—or whether the BWAA would accept the act of contrition.

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