Atlanta Braves center field shopping: Ramon Laureano
By Fred Owens
I’m not a fan of or apologist for PED cheats. However, I see no reason that the Atlanta Braves should allow the suspension to get in the way of acquiring Laureano.
Nandrolone makes no sense.
Nandrolone isn’t a new, designer PED created to avoid detection. It’s been around since the 1960s and is easily detected. According to the non-profit Sports Integrity Initiative, Laureano may have never heard of the substance until the positive test.
The post cited here discusses the cases of world-class athletes who received bans after testing positive for the substance and discusses scientific data that shows positive tests can happen after eating pork.
"In a Study performed in 2000, three male volunteers reported nandrolone concentrations in urine between 3.1µg/L and 7.5µg/L ten hours after being fed 310g of pig offal. A standard burrito recipe contains 500g of meat."
MLB contracts with the World Anti-Doping Agency to conduct their tests. WADA acknowledges that these false-positive happen, but while tests are available that determine whether the drug was made in a lab or eaten, WADA doesn’t routinely run that test, nor are they open to discussion about it.
Laureano’s smarter than that.
The other, easier to understand part of this is when they tested Laureano. Laureano was coming off of injury, and players know they’ll get a no-notice test soon after returning from injury.
It makes zero sense to inject a drug this easily discoverable when you know you’re going to get tested; nandrolone doesn’t speed healing; it’s used to create muscle mass. Whatever the cause, he’ll remain suspended for the first 27 games of the season.
Speaking of injuries, on October 1st, the Athletics announced that Laureano had undergone successful core surgery. Core surgery is the latest name for what was once called a sports hernia. The surgery won’t prevent him from reporting to spring training on time.