Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez May Face Lifetime Ban From MLB (According To Sources)

[PTBG]

Alex Rodriguez could be facing a lifetime ban from Major League Baseball due to his connection with the Biogenesis clinic, CBS News' Jim Axelrod reports. The news comes in the wake of Ryan Braun's 65-game, unpaid suspension.

Per an ESPN.com report, Major League Baseball has even more evidence against Rodriguez than it did against Braun. Sources told CBS Evening News that Rodriguez's suspension, expected to be announced within the next two or three weeks, has a chance to go beyond Braun's punishment.

Rodriguez has admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs while he was with the Texas Rangers from 2001 to 2003. He has denied using PEDs since joining the New York Yankees, however. Although sources close to Rodriguez have told USA Today otherwise, if MLB truly has overwhelming evidence against Rodriguez, he may be forced into a situation where he must admit to using PEDs to potentially avoid harsher punishment from the league, just as Braun did.
Rodriguez was tabbed in April as the player who attempted to buy documents from Biogenesis in order to destroy them before they were found by the league. While technically not evidence of wrong-doing -- the information in the Biogenesis documents did not prove PED use, only that players had been linked to the clinic -- the fact that Rodriguez was so hasty raised suspicions, SB Nation's Steven Goldman wrote:
Having said that, it seems odd that a man who is not guilty would be trying to suppress evidence relating to his own case. Thus we seem to now be in a weird baseball version of Watergate, where the "third-rate burglary" of DNC headquarters eventually took a backseat to the White House's attempt to cover it up.
Rodriguez has yet to play this season for the Yankees due to various injuries.

Alex Rodriguez's name has been linked to the current Biogenesis performance-enhancing drug scandal, but the Yankees third baseman has no intention of negotiating a settlement with Major League Baseball and accepting a suspension, according to a report from USA Today.
Rodriguez is reportedly facing the possibility of a lifetime ban, according to a report from CBS News. Sources close to Rodriguez told USA Today that not only does Rodriguez have no intention of cutting a deal, but he would also appeal any suspension. Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun reached a deal with MLB and accepted a 65-game suspension on Monday.
MLB reportedly has more evidence tying Rodriguez to the Biogenesis clinic than it did Braun and is prepared to suspend Rodriguez for at least 100 games according to USA Today. According to the report, MLB investigators disclosed evidence that Rogriguez purchased and was administered PEDs from the clinic, during a meeting with the third baseman and his lawyers earlier this month. Alleged lies about previous PED use and possible interference in the MLB investigation could also factor into the suspension.
Rodriguez, who has not played in a Major League game this season due to a hip injury, previously admitted to using steroids from 2001-03. The 37-year-old has slightly less than $100 million remaining on his contract. A 100-game suspension would cost him more than $20 million.

 

[FAH1223]

What happens to his contract if he's banned? Voided?

 

[Melt_Man]

The Brewers are set to pay Braun $133 million over the next eight years as part of a 2011 contract extension. Given Braun's suspension, the Brewers could seek to void the remainder of his contract. The decision to do so would involve a careful calculus of baseball and the law. Braun has been one of the best players in baseball over the last seven seasons and, at age 29, is in his prime.
Exploring legal implications of Ryan Braun's suspension - MLB - Michael McCann - SI.com

Then again, how much of Braun's success has been aided by PEDs? What kind of player will he be after his suspension? Will he still generate ticket sales and TV ratings now that he has all but admitted to cheating and lying?

If the Brewers decided to void Braun's contract, they would likely cite two paragraphs in the Uniform Player Contract. Paragraph 7(b)(1) allows for contract termination if a player "fails, refuses or neglects to conform his personal conduct to the standards of good citizenship and good sportsmanship or to keep himself in first-class physical condition or to obey the club's training rules." Paragraph 7(b)(3) allows the club to do the same if a player "fails, refuses or neglect to render his services hereunder or in any manner materially breach this contract."

On the surface, Braun's admission would seem to easily prove he failed to be a good citizen and good sportsman, and that he disobeyed team rules. Braun also says he's "willing to accept the consequences of his actions." The problem for the Brewers -- and the same is true of the Yankees if they try to void Alex Rodriguez's contract -- is that teams have repeatedly failed in efforts to void contracts in the past. This is true in circumstances much worse than a player using PEDs, such when former Padres pitcher Lamar Hoyt was charged with felony drug offenses and pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors in 1983.

Through the grievance process, the Players Association would aggressively challenge any attempt by a team to void a player's contract. That is true for unpopular players, including Rodriguez. The MLBPA would do so not only to protect the player, but also other players as the the Players Association wants to avoid a precedent of "guaranteed contracts" being voidable in any circumstance. A more likely outcome would be for the Brewers or Yankees to negotiate buy-outs of Braun and Rodriguez's contracts so they would receive a substantial amount -- perhaps 70 percent -- of the remainder of their deals and then become free agents. There is precedent of MLBPA permitting buyouts, including when the Rockies paid Denny Neagle about $16 million of the remainder of a $19.5 million deal after he was charged with soliciting a prostitute.


Read More: Exploring legal implications of Ryan Braun's suspension - MLB - Michael McCann - SI.com

 

[PTBG]

ESPN's T.J. Quinn reports that Major League Baseball is considering a lifetime ban for Rodriguez, but likely just to use as a weapon in negotiations. While the evidence against Rodriguez is "far beyond" the evidence MLB had on Braun, experts told Quinn it would be very difficult for MLB to convince an arbitrator to rule in favor of a lifetime ban (Twitter links).

Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes that Rodriguez will likely leverage multiple lawyers to try to fight his suspension. Rodriguez hired David Cornwell, the attorney who helped Braun win his 2011 appeal, back in June to join Jay Reisinger on his legal team. Reisinger, who has a strong relationship with the MLBPA, tells Rosenthal that he no longer represents Rodriguez. One person close to Rodriguez offered Rosenthal the following explanation: "When people don’t tell him what he wants to hear, he goes out and finds someone who will." Rosenthal adds that Cornwell isn't well-liked by the MLBPA for his "bombastic, swing-for-the-fences" tactics.

 

[PTBG]

What happens to his contract if he's banned? Voided?

The question of whether the Yankees have the authority to dump their enormous financial obligation to Rodriguez is another matter entirely. According to MLB's drug-testing agreement, only the league can discipline players for using banned substances.
Here's the relevant passage:

All authority to discipline Players for violations of the Program shall repose with the Commissioner's Office. No Club may take any disciplinary or adverse action against a Player (including, but not limited to, a fine, suspension, or any adverse action pursuant to a Uniform Player's Contract) because of a Player's violation of the Program. [MLB]

The policy does give teams a small exception, but only if a player is either physically unable to play due to drug use, or incarcerated or embroiled in a legal case over banned drugs. Rodriguez currently fits neither of those conditions; the hip injury that currently has him sidelined was the result of a congenital deformity.

That doesn't mean the Yankees won't try to cut him loose. When Jason Giambi admitted in 2004 to taking steroids, the Yankees thought about cutting ties with him, but language in his contract prevented them from doing so.

Depending on how a so-called "moral" clause in Rodriguez's contract is taken, the Yankees could conceivably try to say he violated those terms and thus negated the whole deal. However, there is nothing in his contract that specifically mentions steroids, according to ESPN's Andrew Marchand, so that case would be a tough sell.

A more likely scenario is that the Yankees hope the nearly-38-year-old Rodriguez, with a little quiet prodding, calls it quits and retires. Should he do that, they would be able to recoup up to 80 percent, according to CBS Sports' Jon Heyman.

The only sure thing is that if the league does suspend Rodriguez, the Yankees could withhold payment for the duration of his suspension. Beyond that, though, they'd have to craft a unique interpretation of his contract to try and cut him off, something that would assuredly prompt an expensive fight with the players' union.

A lifetime ban is stipulated under MLB's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program for a player guilty of a third positive test for a performance-enhancing substance or a third violation of the league's drug policies "through the use or possession of a performance-enhancing substance."

 

[Rekkapryde]