While Ryan Braun was not forced to miss any time because of his positive drug test, his case will have an effect on the rule book.
Major League Baseball and the MLB Players' Association announced changes to their drug-testing agreement following the Feb. 23 decision to overturn Braun's 50-game suspension. Arbitrator Shyam Das ruled that Braun's failed test was the result of the drug collector not following proper protocol. The collector kept the sample, collected on a Saturday, at his residence until Monday before taking it to a FedEx office to have it sent to the lab, which he claimed were the instructions given to him.
The previous drug agreement stated "unless instructed otherwise by CDT, the collector shall deliver the specimens to a FedEx office immediately following the completion of the collection." The new agreement replaces that wording with "absent unusual circumstances, the specimens should be sent by FedEx to the laboratory on the same day they are collected."
Among the unusual circumstances include in the deal are "inclement weather," "a personal emergency," "traffic accident" or "completion of the collection at a time when the collector was unable to reach either of the two FedEx offices identified by CDT prior to their closing."
Ryan Braun's case became one of the most high-profiled baseball stories when it was reported in December that he had tested positive for performance-enhancing substances in an October test. He was coming off an MVP season in which he .332 with 33 home runs and 111 RBIs.
The league and union also agreed to not have Das write a written opinion of his decision. Last month, Das was fired from his position and replaced with another arbitrator.
