Answers unlikely to come when Ryan Braun reports Friday

Phoenix - Milwaukee Brewers leftfielder Ryan Braun is scheduled to report to spring training Friday, and he has already sent notice to the team's media relations department that he will not answer questions pertaining to Yahoo Sports' report linking him to a Miami clinic that is alleged to have sold performance-enhancing drugs to several baseball players.

The story broke Feb. 5, and Braun's only reaction has been a statement released by his public-relations firm that same day. In the statement, Braun explained that his lawyers had contacted the clinic while doing research to aid in his successful appeal of a 2011 positive test.

Manager Ron Roenicke, meanwhile, is taking a wait-and-see approach. Major League Baseball is investigating the clinic and those listed in the report.

"Right now, to be honest with you, I'm not even thinking about handling it or anything," Roenicke said. "Until there's more information on what is there, I can't make any comments on things I know nothing about.

"I've talked to Ryan. He's coming in, and I know he's going to have to deal with some press issues. But we're just going to move on with it as if nothing's there."

Last year, the first 10 days of spring training were a major distraction for the team as Braun reported while he was appealing a 50-game suspension for a positive test for elevated testosterone that occurred in October 2011.

Braun ultimately won his appeal, setting the stage for a memorable day-after news conference held on the field at Maryvale by the 2011 National League MVP.
This year, nobody really knows what to expect.

"It was different last year," Roenicke said. "We knew what the specifics were last year. I knew what to address, what I wasn't supposed to talk about. I knew where he was on those issues. I don't know anything (this time).

"We'll see where we are. It may be nothing. If it's the thing with the lawyer and payments, then it's nothing."

Roenicke left no doubt about the fact he has an issue with Braun's name being mentioned in the Yahoo Sports report when the newspaper that originally broke the story about the clinic, the Miami New Times, didn't mention Braun because it couldn't verify he was linked to anything illicit.

"I've had this pet peeve: Don't bring up anybody's name and put it in there if you're questioning it," he said. "If there's something going on and it's definite, fine. That's your job to put it out there. But don't bring up names you're not sure of and then retract it later, because it never is retracted from the fans or the people who are out there. Never.

"There will be some people that will say, 'OK.' But the majority, it's still there in their minds. It shouldn't be out there. That's what I have an issue with. It's very unfair to a player."


(jsonline.com)