2011 NL MVP Winner Ryan Braun, Who Edged Out Matt Kemp, Linked Yet Again To Steroid Circles

I know, I should give this one up, as the 2011 race is two years ago. I like Ryan Braun, and I'm over the fact that he won that race. But it's curious to me how much smoke emanates from Ryan Braun, even if there's no explicit fire:

Milwaukee Brewers star Ryan Braun has acknowledged a business relationship with Anthony Bosch, claiming he only consulted with the founder of the Miami-based anti-aging clinic in order to strengthen his appeal of a 2011 positive test result for performance-enhancing drugs.

Braun released a statement Tuesday in response to a report by Yahoo! Sports, which claimed the outfielder's name is listed in records obtained from Biogenesis of America LLC, the clinic that allegedly provided PEDs to several high profile baseball players.

Braun tested positive for elevated testosterone levels in 2011, the year he was named National League MVP.

But the five-time All-Star appealed the result of the test and avoided a suspension when an arbitration panel upheld the appeal, ruling there were questions with how Braun's sample had been handled. [...]

Braun's name is not listed next to any specific PEDs, according to Yahoo! Sports. He is on a list that includes Alex Rodriguez, Melky Cabrera, Francisco Cervelli, Danny Valencia and Cesar Carrillo, the website reported.

According to the Yahoo! Sports report, Braun's name also appeared directly above a line that reads, "RB 20-30K." Bosch listed amounts of money owed next to the names of other players, according to the report.

But Braun asserted in his statement the "moneys owed" to Bosch were merely compensation for his consultation during the appeal process.

Nothing to see here, right? Just move along, move along....

UPDATE 11.54a: Wait, says ESPN.com's Buster Olney! Avoid the rush to judgment on Braun! (link insider only):

Any columnist who wants to write about how open Braun seems and how he might be the innocent victim, again -- or for that matter, how bad this all looks -- please, go play a round of Angry Birds or go pack for spring training. Because you don't know what you're talking about.

Hey, talking about things which we don't know is par for the course for sports media, Buster (see: Manti Te'o, Lance Armstrong, etc.).