Alex Rodriguez Suspended Through 2014, Plans To Appeal

Alex Rodriguez, the New York Yankees All-Star third baseman, was handed down a suspension by Major League Baseball for the remainder of the 2013 season and through the 2014 season on Monday. Rodriguez allegedly violated the Basic Agreement, Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program through dealings with Miami-based anti-aging clinic Biogenesis.

Rodriguez, according to his attorney David Cornwell, “will appeal the discipline and pursue all legal remedies available.” During the appeals process, Rodriguez will be able to continue playing with the Yankees. Arbitrator Fredric Horowitz will hear Rodriguez’s arguments, and has the task of deciding whether the suspension should be lifted, shortened or upheld, reported MLB.com. It is likely that the appeals process could stretch into December.

Until the appeals are over, Rodriguez plans to continue taking his spot on third base, despite the cloud of controversy that hovers over him and the incessant jeers that will greet him in stadiums across the country. “For me, it's just going to be business as usual,” Rodriguez said before his game on Monday. “My focus is: What can I do to help this team win?"

Rodriguez is not the only professional baseball player who’s been linked to Biogenesis. Yankees catcher Francisco Cervilli and fellow All-Stars Jhonny Peralta, Nelson Cruz and Everth Cabrera have also been suspended by the MLB in addition to several others, reported the Washington Post. Cruz and Peralta have chosen to accept the league’s 50-game suspensions.

In July, some believed that Rodriguez would receive a lifetime ban from the MLB. “They have an overwhelming amount of evidence on [Rodriguez] showing multiple years of [PED] usage,” Jim Axelrod of CBS News said at the time. “He’s met with Major League Baseball. He’s seen the evidence. He is staring down a penalty much, much harsher than Braun’s. It could be years… or even a lifetime suspension.”

The Yankees lost to the Chicago White Sox 8-1 on Monday and will face them again tonight at 8:10 p.m.

– Chelsea Regan

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