Ryan Braun Will Know Fate Before Spring Training

Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun will know the result of the appeal of his suspension for performance-enhancing drugs before the start of Spring Training, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Braun and his attorney will make a case in front of a three-person panel of arbiters before the end of January and he will know their ruling before pitchers and catchers report in mid-February, according to the report. No player has ever had a positive test overturned - 12 players have requested hearings since the current policy has been in place, but not one was successful, according to the Journal-Sentinel.

Braun is facing as much as a 50-game suspension for a positive test. According to a report from TMZ, Braun’s positive test resulted from medicine prescribed for a personal medical condition, though that would not necessarily overturn the positive test because MLB has a “strict liability” policy, which means that players can be suspended for unknowingly taking a banned substance, according to the Journal-Sentinel.