Alex Rodriguez Suspended For 211 Games Over Steroid Scandal

Alex Rodriguez took the money, took the banned drugs, and on Monday he took his place in baseball history when Major League Baseball suspended the steroid-stained slugger for 211 games for multiple violations of sport’s drug policy.

Rodriguez is going to fight the unprecedented 211-game drug suspension Major League Baseball handed him Monday for his role in the Biogenesis doping scandal, casting disgrace upon the once-celebrated player who, unless he prevails in his appeal to an arbitrator, is likely at the end of his operatic nine-year stint with the Yankees.

Baseball says the Rodriguez ban is “based on his use and possession of numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including testosterone and human growth hormone, over the course of multiple years,” as well as “engaging in a course of conduct intended to obstruct and frustrate” an investigation by the office of commissioner Bud Selig.

The ban goes into effect on Thursday, and will be stayed until the completion of his appeal if Rodriguez files a grievance.

So Rodriguez is expected to be activated and in the Yankee lineup Monday night against the White Sox in Chicago, but his playing days appear to be numbered: An appeal to arbitrator Fredric Horowitz would be heard sometime in September, and if baseball’s voluminous evidence holds up, the player who was once a surefire Hall of Famer and on track to join the Yankees’ pantheon of heroes, faces an uncertain future at best.

Wracked with injuries and endlessly mired in controversy, he had already become a ball and chain on the injury-plagued Yankees.

Now it looks likely that the thirty-eight-year-old third baseman will be near 40 by the time he is allowed back on the field. The Yankees still owe him about $100 million on a contract that doesn’t expire for four and a half more seasons.

The suspension, based on non-analytical evidence -- Rodriguez has not failed a drug test since baseball’s 2003 survey testing year -- rests partially on the penalties for at least three failed drug tests plus the additional charges.

“This case resoundingly illustrates that the strength of our program is not limited only to testing,” said Selig in a statement issued Monday. “We continue to attack this issue on every front – from science and research, to education and awareness, to fact-finding and investigative skills.”

Baseball investigators, who have worked on the case surrounding the Biogenesis anti-aging clinic and its founder, cooperating witness Anthony Bosch, for a year, gathered massive amounts of evidence connecting Rodriguez to performance-enhancing drugs in 2010, 2011 and 2012, as well as evidence that he interfered with Selig’s investigation by intimidating witnesses and destroying evidence, and lied to MLB officials who had previously interviewed him about the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Rodriguez, a three-time Most Valuable Player and 14-time All-Star, joined former National League MVP and five-time All-Star Ryan Braun on the suspended list, demolishing what remained of the argument that MLB protected its stars from steroid shame. (Braun, a five-time All-Star and 2011 National League MVP, was suspended July 22 for 65 games, the remainder of this season. He accepted his suspension without appeal, as did a dozen other players, a sign that MLB’s evidence is significant.)

Braun and Rodriguez were the most prominent of the players linked to the Biogenesis anti-aging clinic and its founder, Anthony Bosch.

The defunct clinic is where Rodriguez and numerous major leaguers procured performance-enhancing substances in violation of the game’s drug agreement. It was Bosch’s detailed descriptions of massive drug use, injections gone awry, email and text correspondence and records of payments for drugs that helped baseball investigators nail Rodriguez, who admitted to steroid use from 2001-2003 and has long believed to have been acquiring PEDs even as he became the highest-paid player in the history of the game (signing a 10-year, $252 million contract in 2000, which was extended by the Yankees in 2008 for a total of $275 million, for which he is still owed $100 million by the Yankees).

Rodriguez, who hired an army of lawyers, advisers and crisis managers and engaged in a public battle in an attempt to save his contract and what is left of his reputation, attacking the Yankees on Friday night, accusing them of conspiring to keep him off the field.

Rodriguez has missed the entire 2013 major league season as he recovers from hip surgery, but the suspension is seen as a death sentence for a once-promising career that appeared to be on the fast track to Cooperstown after Seattle made him the No. 1 pick in ‘93. He won his first MVP after the 2003 season while playing for Texas, three years into his record contract.

A year after that MVP honor, A-Rod joined the most famous sports franchise in the world, in a trade that brought the game’s biggest name to the Bronx, alongside the face of the Yankee franchise, Derek Jeter.

"Wow, what a reception," Rodriguez said Feb. 17, 2004 at the old Yankee Stadium, where Jeter, Reggie Jackson, Hal Steinbrenner and Joe Torre were in attendance, speaking his first public words as a Yankee. "I still feel like someone is going to pinch me and wake me up. . . . I feel very special and honored. I hope that translates into being a good team player."

MLB's investigation into Rodriguez, Braun and other players associated with Biogenesis began last year, when the Daily News first reported that Melky Cabrera, now with the Toronto Blue Jays, had created a fictitious website for a supplement the outfielder claimed had inadvertently caused him to test positive for elevated levels of synthetic testosterone. Cabrera, who was suspended for 50 games for the drug violation, was assisted by Juan Carlos Nunez, a Bosch associate who worked with Cabrera's agents, Sam and Seth Levinson.

The News first reported in January that MLB was investigating Bosch, who had been a well-known figure among current and former Latin ballplayers living in South Florida. Bosch and his father, physician Pedro Bosch, had already come under scrutiny by MLB in 2009 for their links to Manny Ramirez after the then-Dodgers slugger was suspended that year for 50 games for using a banned substance.

Rodriguez’s career with the Yankees was marked by controversies and clumsy attempts to explain instances of embarrassing behavior by Rodriguez, including revelations by Sports Illustrated in 2009 that he had tested positive for banned substances in MLB’s 2003 survey testing year and his bizarre admission that he had taken PEDS from 2001-2003 when he played for the Texas Rangers.

It was also reported in 2009 that Rodriguez cut ties to controversial Canadian doctor Anthony Galea not long after American and Canadian law-enforcement agencies launched investigations into the Toronto sports physician and human growth hormone proponent in 2009, after American authorities found HGH and other drugs in his assistant's car as she tried to cross the border. Galea, who said he treated A-Rod with a blood-spinning technique called platelet-rich plasma therapy (PRP), was indicted on five drug-related counts in October of 2010, but the U.S. government agreed to drop four of the charges if he complied with a plea agreement and cooperated with prosecutors pursuing other investigations.

The indictment said Galea traveled to the United States more than 100 times between 2007 and 2009 to treat more than 20 patients in their homes and in hotel rooms. He pleaded guilty in July of 2011 to transporting misbranded and unapproved drugs into the United States. He was sentenced to a year of supervised release in December of 2011.

Several high-profile players failed drug tests in 2012, including Melky Cabrera, Guillermo Mota, Bartolo Colon, Marlon Byrd, Yasmani Grandal and Carlos Ruiz. Those incidents led MLB and the Players Association to revamp the drug-testing program to include the more sophisticated carbon isotope ratio exam that can detect the presence of exogenous testosterone in a player's urine sample.

The hefty penalties are proof that Major League Baseball, which appeared to turn a blind eye to steroid use for many years during the 1990s and early 2000s, is dead serious about eradicating doping and protecting athletes who refuse to use banned drugs. The Biogenesis investigation represents an unprecedented step by Selig, who ordered his executive vice-president for economics and league affairs, Rob Manfred, to spare no expense in identifying and prosecuting drug cheats.

MLB used every means at its disposal to bring the players it believed were using PEDs to justice, filing what was considered to be a longshot lawsuit against Bosch and others involved in Biogenesis, and purchasing damaging Biogenesis documents from Bosch’s associates. Without subpoena power, MLB faced an uphill battle in convincing witnesses to cooperate -- but once the lawsuit was filed, and the defendants’ lawyers’ fees began to pile up, the wall of silence crumbled.

Bosch became a cooperating witness after MLB agreed to drop Bosch from the lawsuit, pick up his legal bills and indemnify him as long as he provided them with credible evidence and information.

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Eight of the players suspended by Major League Baseball on Monday issued statements on through attorneys Jay Reisinger, Thomas Farrell and Tina Miller of Farrell & Reisinger, a Pittsburgh law firm.

Texas Rangers' Nelson Cruz: I have been notified by the Commissioner of Major League Baseball that I have been suspended for 50 games for violation of the Joint Drug Agreement. I have decided to accept this suspension and not exercise my rights under the Basic Agreement to appeal. From November, 2011 to January, 2012, I was seriously ill with a gastrointestinal infection, helicobacter pylori, which went undiagnosed for over a month. By the time I was properly diagnosed and treated, I had lost 40 pounds. Just weeks before I was to report to spring training in 2012, I was unsure whether I would be physically able to play. Faced with this situation, I made an error in judgment that I deeply regret, and I accept full responsibility for that error. I should have handled the situation differently, and my illness was no excuse. I am thankful for the unwavering support of my family, friends and teammates during this difficult time. I look forward to regaining the trust and respect of the Rangers organization, my teammates, and the great Rangers' fans, and I am grateful for the opportunity to rejoin the team for the playoffs.

Yankees' Fernando Martinez: I have been notified by Major League Baseball that I am to be suspended for 50 games for violation of the Joint Drug Agreement. I accept this suspension and will not exercise my right under the Basic Agreement to appeal. I made a serious mistake during the 2012 season and I accept full responsibility for this mistake. I look forward to regaining the trust and respect of the Yankees' organization, their fans and most importantly, my family. I am hopeful that I can make significant contributions to the Yankees in 2014.

Mets' Jordany Valdespin: I have been notified by the Commissioner of Major League Baseball that I have been suspended for 50 games for violation of the Joint Drug Agreement. I have decided to accept this suspension and not exercise my rights under the Basic Agreement to appeal. I made certain errors in judgment during the 2012 season and I accept full responsibility for those errors. I look forward to regaining the trust and respect of the Mets' organization, Mets' fans and my family, and look forward to contributing to the Mets in 2014.

Mets' Cesar Puello: Today, I was notified by the Commissioner of Major League Baseball that I have been suspended for 50 games for violation of the Joint Drug Agreement. Out of respect for the Mets' organization, my teammates, and my family, I have decided to accept this suspension and not exercise my rights under the Basic Agreement to appeal. I made certain mistakes during the 2012 season and I accept full responsibility for those mistakes. I look forward to regaining the trust and respect of the Mets' organization, Mets' fans and my family, and ultimately helping the club win a championship.
Jay K.

Philadelphia Phillies' Antonio Bastardo: Today, I was notified by Major League Baseball that I have been suspended for 50 games for violation of the Joint Drug Agreement. I have decided to accept this suspension and will not exercise my rights under the Basic Agreement to appeal. I made significant errors in judgment during the 2012 season and I accept full responsibility for those errors. I look forward to regaining the trust and respect of the Phillies' organization, Phillies' fans and my family, and look forward to helping the Phillies win a championship in 2014.

San Diego Padres' Fautino de los Santos: I was notified by Major League Baseball that I am to be suspended for 50 games for violation of the Joint Drug Agreement. I willingly accept this suspension and will not exercise my rights under the Basic Agreement to appeal. I made certain unsound decisions during the 2012 season and I accept full responsibility for those decisions. I look forward to regaining the trust and respect of the Padres' organization, their fans and most importantly, my family. I look forward to helping the San Diego Padres in 2014.

Seattle Mariners' Jesus Montero: I have been notified by the Commissioner of Major League Baseball that I have been suspended for 50 games for violation of the Joint Drug Agreement. I have decided to accept this suspension and not exercise my rights under the Basic Agreement to appeal. I made certain mistakes during the 2012 season and I accept full responsibility for those mistakes. I look forward to regaining the trust and respect of the Mariners' organization, Mariners' fans and my family. I look forward to making significant contributions to the Mariners in 2014.

Houston Astros' Sergio Escalona: I was notified by Major League Baseball that I have been suspended for 50 games for violation of the Joint Drug Agreement. I will accept this suspension and not exercise my right under the Basic Agreement to appeal. I made errors in judgment during the 2012 season and I accept full responsibility for those errors. I will make every attempt to regain the trust and respect of the Astros' organization, their fans and most importantly, my family. I am hopeful that I can make significant contributions to the Astros in the 2014 season.







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