Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees has dropped his lawsuit against Major League Baseball and will now accept a 162-game suspension received for his involvement with performance-enhancing drugs.
When the suspension was originally handed down last summer it was for 211 games, but it has since been reduced. The 38-year-old third baseman filed legal papers in federal court in Manhattan on Feb. 7, which essentially dismissed the lawsuit he launched a month ago.
MLB released a statement which said, “We believe that Mr. Rodriguez’s actions show his desire to return the focus to the play of our great game on the field and to all of the positive attributes and actions of his fellow Major League players. We share that desire.”
Rodriguez, who is a three-time winner of the American League MVP Award, will have to sit out the entire 2014 baseball season and will be eligible to return to the Yankees for the 2015 campaign. He will also have to forfeit his 2014 salary of $25 million and he may have a hard time cashing in on contract bonuses when he returns to the team.
Rodriguez’s lawyer Joseph Tacopina confirmed that his client has dropped all legal action against MLB and commissioner Bud Selig, but declined to make any comment on the decision.
Meanwhile, Selig and MLB said it was the right thing to do and it’s in everybody’s best interest if Rodriguez serves his suspension and then continues with his career. However, no reason was given why Rodriguez dropped the lawsuits and he still hasn’t admitted to using any banned substances.
Paul Haagen, who specializes in sports-contract law at Duke University School of Law, said it would have been tough for Rodriguez to win the lawsuits since courts will very rarely overturn a decision that an arbitrator made.
Selig suspended the 14-time All-Star last August when the commissioner stated that Rodriguez used human growth hormone and testosterone for several years and also attempted to obstruct an MLB investigation into Biogenesis of America LLC.
Biogenesis was an anti-aging clinic located in Coral Gables, FL, and it was believed that Rodriguez was acquiring banned substances from the clinic’s owner founder Anthony Bosch.
In his lawsuit, Rodriguez claimed that the arbitrator MLB used to hear his case was biased and he also said the player’s union didn’t properly protect his rights according to the MLB collective bargaining agreement. Rodriguez also claimed that Selig and MLB were on a witch hunt and were attempting to ruin the player’s reputation and career.
He went as far as to allege that investigators for MLB threatened some witnesses and bribed others, impersonated law-enforcement officer, paid for stolen documents and provided the press with confidential information. However, after hearing testimony from Bosch, the arbitrator upheld Rodriguez’s suspension.
In the past, Rodriguez admitted to using banned substances between 2001 and 2003 when he played for the Texas Rangers, but claimed he never used any after 2004 when he joined the Yankees.
Rodriguez’s production has tailed off recently and he’s suffered from injuries. He batted .244 last year and hit just seven homers in 44 games. The most home runs he’s hit in the past three years has been 18 in a season.
