The verdict is in. Alex Rodriguez will not play a single game in the 2014 Major League Baseball season. After being suspended 214 games for his involvment in illegal substances from the Biogenesis clinic in Miami, Rodriguez appealed the suspension. The end result was a suspension that will keep Rodriguez out of the game for 162 games.
The added penalty beyond proof that he used performance enhansing substances came for interfering with an investigation. But yet, Rodriguez still is crying that the suspension is an injustice and that he is a victim.
Rodriguez released a statement in which he still claims innocence:
"The number of games sadly comes as no surprise, as the deck has been stacked against me from day one," Rodriguez said in the statement. "This is one man's decision, that was not put before a fair and impartial jury, does not involve me having failed a single drug test, is at odds with the facts and is inconsistent with the terms of the Joint Drug Agreement and the Basic Agreement, and relies on testimony and documents that would never have been allowed in any court in the United States because they are false and wholly unreliable.
"This injustice is MLB's first step toward abolishing guaranteed contracts in the 2016 bargaining round, instituting lifetime bans for single violations of drug policy, and further insulating its corrupt investigative program from any variety defense by accused players, or any variety of objective review."
Instead of taking the penalty and being quiet, Rodriguez will go through the great expense of appealing to a Federal judge, still denying any use whatsoever of illegal substances:
"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," Rodriguez said in his statement. "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.
Give it up, A-Rod.
Meanwhile, the New York Yankees will save $25 million in Rodriguez's salary in 2014. That could help the team pony up the cash to sign Masahiro Tanaka while remaining under the Luxury Tax threshold of $189 million.
