After months of speculation about his future, judgment day finally arrived on Monday for New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.
The 38-year-old has been issued a 211-game suspension, which runs through the end of the 2014 season, from Major League Baseball due to his involvement in the scandal surrounding the Miami-based Biogenesis clinic. The suspension will take effect beginning on Thursday as a violation of the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program and the Basic Agreement. Rodriguez’s suspension also stems from subsequent efforts to obstruct evidence that he purchased HGH and other performance-enhancing drugs from clinic owner Anthony Bosch. This comes according to the following statement released from the Commissioner Bud Selig’s office:
“Rodriguez's discipline under the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program is based on his use and possession of numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including Testosterone and human Growth Hormone, over the course of multiple years. Rodriguez's discipline under the Basic Agreement is for attempting to cover-up his violations of the Program by engaging in a course of conduct intended to obstruct and frustrate the Office of the Commissioner's investigation. The suspension, which will become effective on Thursday, August 8th, will cover 211 Championship Season games and any 2013 Postseason games in which Rodriguez otherwise would have been eligible to play.”
Rodriguez’s suspension becomes the longest non-lifetime ban in the history of Major League Baseball. The 38-year-old indicated he will appeal the suspension, making him eligible to be on the field in Chicago for his season debut on Monday night.
"I am disappointed with the penalty and intend to appeal and fight this through the process,” Rodriguez said in a statement. “I am eager to get back on the field and be with my teammates in Chicago tonight. I want to thank my family, friends and fans who have stood by my side through all this."
The suspension brings over a year’s worth drama stirring between Rodriguez, the New York Yankees, and Major League Baseball to a head. The drama first began during last season’s postseason run, when Rodriguez was benched after a 2-for-16 showing that included nine strikeouts in the American League Division Series. Rodriguez played just three games in the American League Championship Series and was spotted flirting with a bikini model while on the bench during Game 1 of the series.
While speaking to reporters on Friday night, Rodriguez indicated that the process has a lot of layers and echoed his belief that both entities were conspiring to keep him off the field and away from the game.
“There’s more than one party that benefits from me not ever stepping back on the field,” Rodriguez had said. “That's not my teammates, and that's not the Yankees fans.”
Reading between the lines makes it clear that Rodriguez believes the Yankees and Major League Baseball were conspiring against him, which the Yankees vehemently denied in an excerpt from a statement issued after Rodriguez's suspension on Monday:
"...We are compelled to address certain reckless and false allegations concerning the Yankees' role in this matter. The New York Yankees in no way instituted and/or assisted MLB in the direction of this investigation; or used the investigation as an attempt to avoid its responsibilities under a player contract; or did its medical staff fail to provide the appropriate standard of care to Alex Rodriguez."
The statement also noted that the Yankees "recognize and respect" the appeals process, and would not comment on the suspension until that process was complete under the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.
With $96 million and five years remaining on his current contract, Rodriguez described himself as “the pink elephant in the room” on Friday night. He acknowledged feeling singled out as he set the scene of what has happened over the past few months.
“When other stuff is going on in the back lot and people are finding creative ways to cancel your contract and stuff like that, I think that's concerning for me,” Rodriguez told reporters.
Rodriguez and Major League Baseball had reportedly been looking to strike a deal which would allow the veteran third baseman to accept a lesser suspension and be able to recoup more of the remaining money on his contract. The talks had stalled late last week, and after his explosive post-game comments on Friday, MLB refused his requests to continue negotiating on Saturday. The New York Yankees also denied Rodriguez’s request to discuss a buyout.
The three-time American League MVP currently ranks fifth on Major League Baseball’s all-time home runs list with 647 and is just 99 hits shy of reaching the 3,000 plateau. He has yet to play in 2013 as he works his way back from off-season hip surgery and more recently, a Grade 1 quad strain.
During his rehab assignment from that quad strain, Rodriguez went 1-for-2 with a home run and five walks in two games with the Trenton Thunder.
Major League Baseball also issued 50-game bans to 12 players due to their Biogenesis involvement on Monday. This list included Rodriguez’s teammate Francisco Cervelli and Yankees minor league outfielder Fernando Martinez.
Dan is Examiner.com’s beat writer for the New York Yankees and the Trenton Thunder. Follow him on Twitter at @danpfeiffer74 for all the latest New York Yankees news.
