A-ROD Suspended for 2014 Season: Arbitrator Fredric Horowitz Reduces Ban From 211 to 162 Games … Alex Rodriguez Plans to Sue in Federal Court

A-ROD STRIKES OUT … SUSPENDED FOR 2014 BASEBALL SEASON.

Arbitrator Fredric Horowitz has handed down his decision and it bans the New York Yankee’s Alex Rodriguez for the entire 2014 MLB season. Horowitz’ ruling actually reduced A-Rod’s suspension from 211 games to 162; however, it is still the longest penalty ever for a drug violation. The 162 game ban plus any post-season games in 2014 of the 14-time All-Star and three-time Most Valuable Player is a 100% endorsement of Major League Baseball’s accusations that Rodriguez scored an array of PEDs from Biogenesis.

Alex Rodriguez get hit by pitch by Ryan Dempster of Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park as the crowd boos A-ROD and then cheers after he is hit … A-ROD’s a CHEATER!!!

Alex Rodriguez has been suspended for the entire 2014 season by arbitrator Fredric Horowitz, who handed down a 162-game ban to the New York Yankees third baseman for his involvement in Major League Baseball’s Biogenesis scandal.

The suspension also includes all potential playoff games in 2014.

Horowitz’s ruling upholds a good portion of the original 211-game suspension levied by MLB, which banned Rodriguez in August after concluding its investigation. Rodriguez continued playing after appealing the decision.

A-Rod vowing to take the fight to federal court.

Statement from Alex Rodriguez:

“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 of 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. (more)

UPDATE I: MLB statement on A-Rod arbitration ruling.

“For more than five decades, the arbitration process under the Basic Agreement has been a fair and effective mechanism for resolving disputes and protecting player rights. While we believe the original 211-game suspension was appropriate, we respect the decision rendered by the panel and will focus on our continuing efforts on eliminating performance-enhancing substances from our game.”