Kemp says Braun should lose MVP
TORONTO — Some observers have called into question the legitimacy of Ryan Braun’s 2011 National League MVP award following the Brewers outfielder’s suspension for violating baseball’s drug policy.
Add the man who finished behind Braun in the MVP vote to the list.
On Tuesday afternoon, the day after Braun’s ban was announced, Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp was asked if he believed Braun should be stripped of the award.
“Do I feel like it should be stripped? I mean, yeah, I do,” Kemp said before the game against the Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre. “I feel like it should be. But that’s not for me to decide. That’s not for me to decide.”
Braun tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone in 2011 but he successfully appealed a 50-game suspension on the basis that his urine sample had been improperly handled. On Monday he accepted a ban for the rest of the season arising from baseball’s investigation into players linked to Biogenesis, a now-closed Florida anti-aging clinic.
Kemp said his attention was focused first and foremost on recovering from his ankle injury and returning to the field, but was “disappointed” by the news.
“I think everybody was a little disappointed at what’s been going down the past couple of days,” he said.
“Before any of this happened, we had conversations. I considered (Braun) a friend,” he added. “I don’t think anybody likes to be lied to. And I feel like a lot of people have felt betrayed and that’s not just me. That’s the whole Brewers organization, a lot of his teammates. I think a lot of people feel that way. It’s just tough to talk about those things.
“I think a lot of people are disappointed, a little shocked. But I think we all must move on.”
It is unlikely the award will be rescinded. “The decision was already made. He won it,” Jack O’Connell, secretary-treasurer of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America said Monday in an email to The Associated Press.
Kemp said he was glad baseball was cracking down on performanceenhancing drugs — a sentiment Blue Jays manager John Gibbons also expressed.
“I’m all for that. You want a clean game,” Gibbons said. “You want it a fair game. Baseball’s always been a game based on numbers you know and when guys get that extra advantage and numbers become inflated, you’re messing with the game.”
Toronto outfielder Melky Cabrera has also been linked to Biogenesis. Gibbons said he hoped Cabrera, who served a 50-game suspension for an elevated testosterone result last season, would escape further punishment.
“He served his time. I know he regrets that,” Gibbons said.