Ryan Braun said his relationship with Anthony Bosch was limited to legal consultation. (AP)

Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports spoke with Dennis & Callahan on Wednesday about Ryan Braun‘s connections to a clinic linked to PEDs, and what the repercussions will be for the other players whose names appear in that clinic’s records.

Alex Rodriguez, who also was mentioned in the records of Biogenesis America LLC, had responded by calling them a forgery. That claim that was seriously discredited when Braun said Tuesday that he had consulted with clinic founder Anthony Bosch while appealing his 2011 positive PED test.

“I think beyond a shadow of a doubt, what happened yesterday confirmed that these records are indeed legitimate,” Passan said. “Ryan Braun coming out and acknowledging some sort of relationship with Anthony Bosch, and Francisco Cervelli doing the same — that’s two players right there whose names were in the records. And I believe, based on the number of sources to whom I’ve spoken, whom I’ve contacted in the first place, that these records were nothing but legitimate.

“It would take the most massive conspiracy I have ever seen, the most massive conspiracy ever, to fake a logbook of this magnitude and put names on there. … Thankfully, we had enough people talk to us that confirmed the veracity of this, and if nothing else it’s very interesting to see Ryan Braun, a guy who’s been under the microscope before, tied again to a guy who he probably shouldn’t be tied to.”

Passan said he doesn’t think random blood testing for HGH, which will begin this year, will bring about a rash of positive tests.

“Honestly, [players are] always ahead of things, and the HGH test, for as good as people make it want to be, is not that effective,” Passan said. “You need to catch somebody within days of using the product. Is that likely to happen? Sure, it’ll happen maybe once or twice a year. But beyond that, I think for the most of them, they’re smart, and there’s some dummies, and I think we can tell the dummies by the ones who use guys like Tony Bosch and guys like ‘deer antler boy’ as the people who are being their consultants on improving.

“That, to me, is the funniest part of this whole thing. You’d think these millionaires would have a boutique drug doctor. No, they use the shady guy in Miami and the former male stripper who’s selling Bambi’s antlers.”

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Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun released a statement Tuesday saying his lawyers consulted with Anthony Bosch in appealing his 2011 positive PED test. (AP)

Ryan Braun said in a statement Tuesday that he consulted Anthony Bosch, the founder of the Miami-based anti-aging clinic that allegedly provided PEDs to several baseball players, during his appeal of his positive PED test result in 2011.

Braun’s name is in the records of Bosch’s clinic, Biogenesis of America LLC, under the heading “Moneys owed,” along with Alex Rodriguez and Melky Cabrera, among others.

But Braun said that’s only due to a dispute over compensation for Bosch’s role in the appeal. The appeal was upheld by an arbitration panel when there were questions over how Braun’s sample, which had tested positive for elevated testosterone levels, had been handled.

“During the course of preparing for my successful appeal last year, my attorneys, who were previously familiar with Tony Bosch, used him as a consultant,” Braun said in his statement. “More specifically, he answered questions about T/E ratio and possibilities of tampering with samples.”

David Cornwell, who led Braun’s defense team in the appeal last winter, also issued a statement on Tuesday saying that Bosch’s role in the process was minor.

“I was not familiar with Tony Bosch prior to Ryan Braun’s case. Bosch was introduced to me at the earliest stage of Ryan’s case,” Cornwell said. “I found Bosch’s value to be negligible and I followed my prior practice of relying on Aegis [Sciences Corporation] in the preparation of Ryan’s winning defense.”

Braun led the National League in home runs, slugging percentage and runs last year after being named NL MVP in 2011, the year he tested positive for elevated testosterone levels.

“I have nothing to hide and have never had any other relationship with Bosch,” Braun said. “I will fully cooperate with any inquiry into this matter.”

Ryan Braun addresses the media after his suspension was overturned. (AP)

When Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun successfully appealed his 50-game suspension for a positive performance-enhancing drug test, he did not prove his innocence but rather got off because of a procedural error in the way the sample was handled after it was collected. In a way, Braun’s appeal was a type of victory for players since it proved players can get away with a positive test in certain circumstances. He was the first major leaguer to successfully appeal a suspension for performance-enhancing drug use.

According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, many players are unhappy with the successful appeal.

“They are furious that a player who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs won by challenging the administration of his test rather than contesting the presence of synthetic testosterone in the urine,” Olney wrote.

One quote from a national league pitcher called Braun’s successful appeal “a joke.” Another pitcher claimed, “this one really hurts.”

The dissatisfaction, Olney wrote, is a sign of a shift from players who will stick together as a union at all costs to players who care about protecting the integrity of the game.

“But if this recent straw poll of players is a proper reflection of the union as a whole, there has been a dramatic shift of thought among the brethren,” Olney wrote. “I’m guessing 80 to 90 percent of the players I spoke with expressed dissatisfaction with the outcome of last week’s case, in varying degrees. Some agents and executives say they’ve drawn the same responses in their conversations with players.”

Braun won the NL MVP last season after hitting .332 with a league-leading .597 slugging percentage and .994 OPS. Braun hit 33 home runs and knocked in 111 runs, numbers that are slightly below his career-average 36 home runs and 118 RBIs.

Welcome to Friday’s Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.

FRIDAY’S BROADCAST HIGHLIGHTS:
NBA: Suns at Celtics, 7:30 p.m. (CSNNE; WEEI)
NBA: Lakers at Magic, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
NBA: Timberwolves at Clippers, 10:30 p.m. (ESPN)
College basketball: Green Bay at Cleveland State, 8 p.m. (ESPNU)
NHL: Canadiens at Penguins, 7 p.m. (NHL Network)
College hockey: Providence at Boston University, 7:30 p.m. (NESN)

SATURDAY:
NHL: Rangers at Bruins, 1 p.m. (NESN)
NHL: Sharks at Canucks, 4 p.m. (NHL Network)
NHL: Canadiens at Maple Leafs, 7 p.m. (NHL Network)
NBA: Nuggets at Knicks, 7:30 p.m. (NBA TV)
College basketball: Wake Forest at Boston College, noon (WEEI)
College basketball: Alabama at Kentucky, noon (CBS)
College basketball: Missouri at Baylor, 2 p.m. (ESPN)
College basketball: UConn at Tennessee, 4 p.m. (CBS)
College basketball: Florida State at Duke, 4 p.m. (ESPN)
College basketball: Syracuse at Notre Dame, 6 p.m. (ESPN)

SUNDAY:
NFL playoffs: Ravens at Patriots, 3 p.m. (CBS; WEEI)
NFL playoffs: Giants at 49ers, 6:30 p.m. (Fox; WRKO)
NHL: Bruins at Flyers, 3 p.m. (NESN)
NHL: Capitals at Penguins, 12:30 p.m. (NBC)
NBA: Celtics at Wizards, 1 p.m. (CSNNE; WRKO)
College basketball: Virginia Tech at Virginia, 6 p.m. (ESPNU)

AROUND THE WEB:

♦ Brewers star Ryan Braun reportedly began his appeal of his positive drug test Thursday, as the National League MVP attempts to avoid a 50-game suspension.

Braun is presenting his case to a three-member arbitration panel, according to the New York Daily News, and he’ll have to prove that “the presence of a prohibited substance in his urine was not due to his fault or negligence.”

Braun will receive his MVP award Saturday at the annual dinner of the New York chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. He is expected to give a speech but not take questions from the media.

♦ Mets legend Gary Carter, who has been battling brain tumors for the past year, made a rare public appearance at a charity golf tournament in Florida on Sunday and said, “I’m not feeling all that good.” On Thursday, the family found out that new tumors have appeared on the 57-year-old Hall of Famer’s brain. “He’s having a hard time moving around, but I still believe if anyone can beat this, it’s Gary,” said former teammate Howard Johnson.

♦ Indians pitcher Fausto Carmona was arrested in the Dominican Republic when he tried to renew his visa. Officials there claim he has been using a false identity. They say his real name is Roberto Hernandez Heredia, and that he’s 31 years old, three years older than listed by the Indians in their media guide.

ON THIS DAY TRIVIA: On Jan. 20, 1996, in the NHL All-Star Game at what was then called the FleetCenter in Boston, which Bruin scored with 38 seconds remaining in regulation to give the East a 5-4 victory over the West?

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Two days after reports emerged that 2011 NL MVP Ryan Braun tested positive for a performance enhancing substance, Major League Baseball Players Association Director Michael Weiner (who was traveling to Latin America on Monday, when news of Braun’s test became public), issued the following statement from Venezuela:

“Our  Joint Drug Agreement is designed to protect a player from a  rush to judgment before he can challenge a reported positive test  result. Fairness dictates that Ryan Braun be treated no differently. I urge all to reserve judgment on this matter until the JDA’s process has played itself out.”

The statement went on to say that, because of the confidential nature of the program and restrictions set forth in the JDA, the Union will have no further public comment on the matter.

The 2011 MLB All-Star Game is still a couple of months away, but the National League roster is slowly starting to take shape.

In the early voting results released Tuesday, Albert Pujols is the lead vote-getter with 988,784 followed closely by the Rockies’ Troy Tulowitzki (975,777), the Brewers’ Ryan Braun (971,809), and the Cardinals’ Matt Holiday (927,778).

If the voting ended today, the NL would have the Giants’ Buster Posey at catcher, Pujols at first, the Reds’ Brandon Phillips at second, Tulowitzki at shortstop, the Phillies’ Placido Polanco at third, and Braun, Holliday, and the Cardinals’ Lance Berkman in the outfield.

The voting will continue until June 30 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

Welcome to Monday’s Morning Mashup. For the latest news, start at our WEEI.com home page or click here for the top stories from our news wire.

WHAT’S HAPPENING LOCALLY MONDAY:
No games scheduled

AROUND THE WEB:

♦ Derek Jeter‘s feud with Yankees teammate Alex Rodriguez was real, and it was worse than it appeared to the public, according to a Jeter biography due out next month. The New York Post has the highlights from “The Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter” by Ian O’Connor, including how A-Rod unsuccessfully begged for forgiveness at Jeter’s house after making derogatory comments in a newspaper article.

When pressed by a friend to make A-Rod feel more welcome in the clubhouse, Jeter allegedly replied: “Don’t you think I’ve tried? I try, and sometimes I’ve just got to walk away and come back and try again, but you know I’ve tried. And every time I try, he’ll do something that pushes me away.”

♦ A female Brewers fan held up a sign at Friday’s game asking outfielder Ryan Braun to marry her. However, she missed his call of thanks for her support. That’s because her mailbox was full from the more than 200 calls and 600 text messages she received from other fans who saw her cell phone number on the sign.

♦ According to a study by researchers at two colleges, traffic deaths rise in the hometowns of sports teams that win close games. “We find that the closer a game is, the more automobile fatalities there are, especially those involving alcohol,” the study concludes, noting that “going from a blowout to a nail-biter increases observed fatalities by 133 percent.”

♦ The Los Angeles Times catches up with former Bengals punter Pat McInally, the Harvard product who aced the Wonderlic test in 1975. McInally now coaches a high school team in Southern California.

ON THIS DAY TRIVIA: On April 25, 1950, who became the first black player chosen in the NBA draft when he was selected by the Celtics in the second round?

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