How Will Ryan Braun's Potential PED Suspension Affect His Card Values?

It has been revealed that Ryan Braun, the 2011 National League MVP, tested positive for synthetic testosterone and is facing a fifty game ban in 2012. It is rather disconcerting that something like this would happen just as Braun is being recognized as one of the premier stars in the game. Baseball card collectors everywhere should be wondering how this will affect the demand of cards of the Milwaukee slugger (like this 2005 Topps Chrome Update Ryan Braun rookie card).

Ryan Braun is not the first superstar to be affected by the performance enhancing drugs epidemic that has plagued baseball for the last twenty years or so. Manny Ramirez was suspended last year (he ultimately decided to retire). Alex Rodriguez has admitted to using PEDs. Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Mark McGwire have all been accused of partaking in the festivities.

How will this affect his long term collectibility outlook? Let's look at the track record. Collectibles of Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens cooled significantly since accusations came out a few years back. It may be a little early to look at the Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez situations at this time. The most telling case is that of Mark McGwire...

Once one the most sought after collectibles were that of the one time single season home run king. However, strong accusations have sapped the popularity of the one time superstar and his collectibles (like the 1985 Topps Mark McGwire rookie card) have come down in value greatly. Perhaps the biggest single influence on this is his failure to garner enough votes to make it into the Hall of Fame. Induction into the Hall of Fame is among the most important criteria for long term popularity among baseball card collectors. We may have to wait a long time to see if this affects Ryan Braun the same way it affected McGwire.

**It is worth noting that Braun is disputing the test results at this time.