A-Rod’s suspension has been reduced to 162 games
Alex Rodriguez, the star player for the New York Yankees, is perhaps better known these days for his involvement with Biogenesis, a closed anti-aging clinic in Miami that has been accused of providing several MLB players with performance enhancing drugs. As a result, Rodriguez was hit with a 211-game suspension back in August, but that has since been reduced to 162 games thanks to independent arbitrator Fredric Horowitz.
Despite the reduced sentence, Rodriguez continues to fight the ruling, denying that he used any performance-enhancing drug. In a statement released Saturday he says, “I have been clear that I did not use performance enhancing substances as alleged in the notice of discipline, or violate the Basic Agreement or the Joint Drug Agreement in any manner, and in order to prove it I will take this fight to federal court. I am confident that when a Federal Judge reviews the entirety of the record, the hearsay testimony of a criminal whose own records demonstrate that he dealt drugs to minors, and the lack of credible evidence put forth by MLB, that the judge will find that the panel blatantly disregarded the law and facts, and will overturn the suspension.”
The Major League Baseball Players Association also released its own statement in which they stated that while they agree with the arbitrator’s assessment, they in no way support it. “The MLBPA strongly disagrees with the award issued today in the grievance of Alex Rodriguez, even despite the arbitration panel’s decision to reduce the duration of Mr. Rodriguez’s unprecedented 211-game suspension. We recognize that a final and binding decision has been reached, however, and we respect the collectively bargained arbitration process which led to the decision. In accordance with the confidentiality provisions of the JDA, the Association will make no further comment regarding the decision.”
A-Rod should at this moment take a page from the MLBPA and just accept it. That’s an additional 42 games he’ll be allowed to swing a bat at and at some point you just have to cut your losses and run.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/11/alex-rodriguez-suspended-162-games_n_4581499.html?utm_hp_ref=sports&ir=Canada
