Alex Rodriguez banned for a full season

A decision was finally made in the case of Alex Rodriguez, the New York Yankees star. He was banned for 162 games, the longest suspension in the MLB drug program’s history. The ban for allegedly using performance-enhancing drugs will extend to any postseason games and will cost Rodriguez $25 million in this year’s salary, plus millions from lost performance incentives.

Here's what the player had to say about this in a statement that was posted on his official Facebook page:

“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.”

Interesting article.  So basically, he has never failed a drugs test by the looks of it.  It seems pretty outrageous to me.

I've been reading about this case a bit and my impression is that there are not enough evidence, but I think that we can't know all and only selected information are released.

I've been reading about this case a bit and my impression is that there are not enough evidence, but I think that we can't know all and only selected information are released.

It will be interesting to see the outcome of this case assuming it does go to an appeal / court of law.

It's hard to decide and I'm sure there so much more they aren't saying.  It's a pretty big punishment for them not to have solid evidence!

It's hard to decide and I'm sure there so much more they aren't saying.  It's a pretty big punishment for them not to have solid evidence!

I agree with you fried-eggs.  There must be something they know which they're not telling.

It'll be interesting to see the outcome.

Agreed. They got something on that guy and personally Im not mad. It is unfathomable that the MLB would take such action if he was not in to shady shtuff.

I'm not surprised to be honest, they surely wouldn't have taken such action against a superstar without solid proof.

Doping nowadays doesn't necessarily mean failing a drugs test. Take cycling for instance: a cyclist has to report his whereabouts at all times to the International and National Doping agencies, if he's not found where he reported he would be he gets banned for two years.

I'm not surprised to be honest, they surely wouldn't have taken such action against a superstar without solid proof.

 

Doping nowadays doesn't necessarily mean failing a drugs test. Take cycling for instance: a cyclist has to report his whereabouts at all times to the International and National Doping agencies, if he's not found where he reported he would be he gets banned for two years.

Wow I had no idea that was a rule.  Quite harsh tbh.

It does seem harsh but they had to adapt the regulations to the ever increasing creativity of the doping practices.