Just when Major League Baseball thought it had moved past the steroid era, Ryan Braun failed his drug test and tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. He didn’t win a batting title, his forearms didn’t swell up to the size of tree trunks, and his performance didn’t dramatically improve. But like so many players before him, he adamantly denies ever having taken a performance-enhancing drug.

Braun, an outfielder for the Milwaukee Brewers, was this year’s National League MVP. He had a huge hand in helping his team get to the playoffs, and has been a favorite in Milwaukee. He doesn’t act like a diva, he doesn’t get into problems off the baseball field, and he plays for the Brewers, a team with a squeaky clean image. The shock that came from Braun testing positive for the drugs was huge. It just didn’t add up.

When the news was first released, columnists, sports analysts and fans wanted Braun to give the award back. What makes this difficult is that the award was voted on before the playoffs started, and Braun’s failed drug test was during the postseason. Of course, taking steroids is completely wrong, and if Braun doesn’t successfully appeal the charges, he will have to serve a 50-game suspension, leaving him unavailable until May 31. If he wins the appeal, he’ll still have the steroid allegations casting doubt over him.

Braun silenced all of his critics on this past Saturday night by officially accepting the award from the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Braun made the right decision. On Thursday, he went before an appeals court and appealed the drug test. If the appeals court overturns their decision, he’ll be the first player to ever have his decision overturned.

Had Braun not accepted the award, he would have admitted to his guilt. Had the Baseball Writer’s Association of America refused to give it to him and the decision was overturned, they would have lost a lot of credibility.

Should MVP runner-up Matt Kemp accept the award if the Baseball Writer’s Association decided to give it to him? If Kemp were to accept the award, he’d be accepting an award that he didn’t deserve.

Regardless of the outcome, this year’s MVP selection has been a disaster. There will always be the stigma of steroids hanging over it, even if Braun is found clean.

The MLB has some major problems to solve. When it finally seemed that they had implemented tough steroid testing policies, this happens. If the decision is overturned, the MLB will have to answer as to why their policies could have allowed this to happen. It seems that they still have a long ways to go before they can move past the steroid era.