Update: Byrd Says HGH Was on the Level

We're just now getting a hold on this Paul Byrd story, and Ken Rosenthal already has another update. (Ken Rosenthal is like some news-breaking robot, constantly set to "Destroy.")

Byrd is not only acknowledging the use of HGH and claiming it was prescribed by a doctor, he is openly discussing it in his new book and talking about it with Rosenthal:

"I have not taken any hormone apart from a doctor's care and supervision," Byrd said. "The Indians, my coaches and MLB have known that I have had a pituitary gland issue for some time and have assisted me in getting blood tests in different states. I am currently working with an endocrinologist and will have another MRI on my head after the season to make sure that the tumor hasn't grown."

In his book, Byrd says, he "shares some of the temptations I have had in MLB to cheat by scuffing baseballs and taking more than the prescribed dose of a particular hormone to increase the speed of my fastball. In the end, as scouts can testify, I did neither."

In the book, Byrd apparently discusses his lifelong hormone imbalance, which caused his mother to put him on Ritalin as a child and which pushed him to see a doctor in adulthood.

So ... yeah. No idea what to make of all of this, but Byrd is handling the situation with open discussion and explanation instead of disguises and "no comments," which is encouraging. It could all be nonsense, and Paul Byrd could be every bit as guilty of cheating the system as anyone else. Either that, or he's really, really savvy at book promotion. At this point, who knows?