I& #39;m as skeptical as anyone when an athlete says "I have no idea how this got in my system." But here& #39;s why @TresBarrera13& #39;s suspension leaves some room for doubt. The drug found in his system is Turinabol, which is as old-school as they get. (It was popular in East Germany.) 1 https://twitter.com/BNightengale/status/1287010807889498112">https://twitter.com/BNighteng...

A knowledgeable doper wouldn& #39;t take it. There are too many modern options that leave the system within days. Could it have come from a supplement? Maybe, but right now USADA has only one Turinabol-tainted product on its "high risk" list, which is subtly called "Turinabol 10." 2

Barrera didn& #39;t claim to take a tainted supplement. He also didn& #39;t test positive for other drugs. His agent, Scott Lonergan, tells me Barrera had been tested in the previous six months, which doesn& #39;t prove someone is clean, but Turinabol is the sort of drug you can& #39;t hide. 3

The testing technology changed in recent years, making Turinabol easier to detect at far lower levels and for longer than had been the case. Great little footnote: the person who developed the more sensitive test is Grigory Rodchenkov. 4

Rodchenkov was the head of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency and the mastermind behind the Russian doping scandal. He was featured in the documentary film "Icarus" and is currently in hiding. He might be a cheat, but the man makes a good test. 5

None of this exonerates Barrera. Sometimes athletes make inexplicably stupid decisions. And sometimes a trainer or a friend hands an athlete a concoction and says "take this - it& #39;s legal," and the athlete uses it. But it& #39;s worth keeping an open mind in lieu of more facts. 6

And not for nothing, this is one benefit of MLB& #39;s policy (like WADA& #39;s) of identifying the drug. The NFL does not, so it& #39;s impossible to measure the credibility of someone& #39;s denial. 7