The Alex Rodriguez saga is nearing an end. Major League Baseball will suspend the Yankees third baseman though the 2014 season reports ESPN’s “Outside the Lines.”
In addition to Rodriguez, MLB will suspend roughly 12 other players on Monday.
There had been conflicting reports as to whether Rodriguez and baseball were negotiating a suspension. Talks are now completely off. One source told OTL that MLBPA executive director Michael Weiner called MLB executive vice president Rob Manfred on Saturday asking for a meeting between the union, MLB, the Yankees and Rodriguez’s camp, but MLB refused.
ESPN reports the following:
A source from Rodriguez’s camp told ESPN New York that Rodriguez has no interest in a settlement and is prepared to fight baseball in arbitration. The source said that MLB offered to drop any lifetime bans if Rodriguez accepted giving an arbitrator the flexibility to charge him with more than a 50-game suspension.
Rodriguez’s side “unequivocally” turned down the offer, the source said, pointing to clause 7G of the Joint Drug agreement that states that PED users can “only” be hit with a 50-game suspension. Rodriguez has never failed a drug test.
MLB is expected to declare that Rodriguez is not eligible to play while he appeals, invoking the powers of the commissioner to protect the best interests of the game.
Rodriguez could lose $34.2 million in salary if he is suspended though the 2014 season.
