A-Rod's Suspension Altered, He Will Appeal
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – If Major League Baseball has anything to say about, Alex Rodriguez won't be playing baseball in 2014.
Instead of playing third base for the New York Yankees, Rodriguez will be suspended by MLB for 162 games and the postseason as part of his 211-game ban handed down last August for violating the league's joint drug policy. Rodriguez has been under the microscope for the alleged use of performance enhancing drugs.
Rodriguez slammed the decision in a statement released by his publicist.
"The number of games sadly comes as no surprise, as the deck has been stacked against me from day one," A-Rod said. "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."
Twelve players previously accepted 50-game suspensions related to MLB's investigation into Biogenesis and performance-enhancing drugs. Milwaukee Brewers star Ryan Braun served a 65-game ban. Rodriguez plans to appeal the ruling in court.