Sports fans will be aware of the controversy over National League MVP Ryan Braun’s positive test for anabolic steroids. Braun tested positive for very high levels of testosterone last fall and was suspended by Major League Baseball for 50 games under baseball’s drug testing policy. He filed a grievance through the baseball players’ union, and a panel of three arbitrators heard the case. Last week, the panel issued a ruling overturning the suspension. Because the panel consists of one arbitrator appointed by the league and one appointed by the union, the third arbitrator is effectively the decisionmaker. That arbitrator was Shyam Das, who has been the chairman of baseball’s arbitration panel since 1999 and has arbitrated many of the most prominent baseball labor disputes over the last three decades. Das cast the deciding vote to overturn the suspension.

The decision to overturn the suspension has been controversial, to say the least. One common theme is that the decision exonerates Braun. Another is that the decision is an outrage. Meanwhile, Major League Baseball makes noises about going to court to challenge it. But all of those perspectives miss the point, which is this: Das did exactly what he was supposed to; he should not be excoriated for doing that; what he did tells us nothing at all about Ryan Braun’s steroid use; and no court is going to say “boo” about any of it.

Braun’s urine sample was collected on Saturday, October 1. The individual who collected the sample, Dino Laurenzi,  took it home and put it in his refrigerator and then sent it on to the lab for testing the next business day, Monday, October 3. And therein lies the problem. Baseball’s agreement with the union provides that “absent unusual circumstances, the specimens should be sent by FedEx to the laboratory on the same day they are collected.”  Das’s job was to decide whether MLB complied with its obligations under the contract. That’s his only job. He interprets the contract and decides whether its terms were followed. He decided that its terms were not followed. A thoroughly unremarkable decision.

This decision does not exonerate Braun. Das was not asked to decide whether Braun took steroids, and he did not do so. The samples arrived at the lab sealed, giving no indication that there had been any tampering. Laurenzi has explained that he did not want to leave the sample unattended at a FedEx drop box, so he took them to his house and kept them in the fridge until Monday. It does not appear that he did anything to call into question the positive test result. But all of that was irrelevant to Das, who only had to decide whether MLB complied with the agreement.

No court will take issue with his conclusion that MLB did not comply with the agreement. When parties agree to arbitration–particularly parties to a collective bargaining agreement–they agree that the arbitrator will serve as their agent to interpret their agreement. As long as the arbitrator in fact interprets the agreement, as Das certainly did here, the arbitrator’s decision is not reviewable by a court. And that’s the end of the matter.