NEW YORK – An arbitrator has upheld most of the ban on playing major league baseball games imposed on slugger and accused performance enhancing drugs user Alex Rodriguez.
Arbitrator Fredric Horowitz reduced the ban from 214 games to 162 games on the Yankee third baseman. Rodriguez AKA “A-Rod” has been linked to a scandal at Biogenesis, a company known for allegedly supplying pro athletes with banned substances.
A-Rod has vowed to fight the ban, issuing the following statement via social media:
“The number of games sadly comes as no surprise, as the deck has been stacked against me from day one. 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.
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. No player should have to go through what I have been dealing with, and I am exhausting all options to ensure not only that I get justice, but that players’ contracts and rights are protected through the next round of bargaining, and that the MLB investigation and arbitration process cannot be used against others in the future the way it is currently being used to unjustly punish me.
I will continue to work hard to get back on the field and help the Yankees achieve the ultimate goal of winning another championship. I want to sincerely thank my family, all of my friends, and of course the fans and many of my fellow MLB players for the incredible support I received throughout this entire ordeal.”
BANNED FROM BASEBALL FOR 2014 SEASON
(sportspickle.com photo)
Wish I would of known about those gummies he takes before games when I was in high school? things would of been different. Good bye jarheads and hello Hawkeyes.
I do believe that there is more to this between A-roid and MLB. I think he is telling the truth that baseball wants contracts like his to no longer exist. They want the guaranteed money and years to be far less than the, was it 15 year contract, A-Rod has. He is gonna miss the 2014 season but as long as he is suspended and not banned for life he will still get the $20 million ish still on his contract.
What a pompous a$$. Glad he is gone for at least one year. He won’t have squat left IF he ever returns. Keep juicing taco boy. GO TWINS!
EVERY single pro sports player is on some sort of PED. Even your precious twins have drug users.
Where is your proof? It doesn’t seem to be helping the twins much if what you say is true.