Major League Baseball will seek to suspend about 20 players connected to the Miami-area clinic at the heart of an ongoing performance-enhancing drug scandal, including Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Braun, possibly within the next few weeks, "Outside the Lines" has learned. If the suspensions are upheld, the performance-enhancing drug scandal would be the largest in American sports history.
Tony Bosch, founder of the now-shuttered Biogenesis of America, reached an agreement this week to cooperate with MLB's investigation, two sources told "Outside the Lines," giving MLB the ammunition officials believe they need to suspend the players.
One source familiar with the case said the commissioner's office might seek 100-game suspensions for Rodriguez, Braun and other players, the penalty for a second doping offense. The argument, the source said, is that the players' connection to Bosch constitutes one offense, and previous statements to MLB officials denying any such connection or the use of PEDs constitute another. Bosch and his attorneys did not return several calls. MLB officials refused to comment when reached Tuesday.
If Braun's camp argues that nothing was ever proven in the first case, there could be lawyers involved very soon. This is going to get messy.
Most teams are within a few games of 62 now, so if this is happening "in the next few weeks" and was upheld, it would mean the 2013 season is over for those involved.
If I was doing fantasy baseball and had Braun, I'd be very concerned. If I didn't have Braun, I'd be trying to get him cheap from the guy who did No idea how this will turn out.
Originally posted by thecubsfan If I was doing fantasy baseball and had Braun, I'd be very concerned. If I didn't have Braun, I'd be trying to get him cheap from the guy who did No idea how this will turn out.
I traded Braun in the off-season in my keeper league because I was worried about exactly this scenario.
The Yankees are already mad about how slowly A-Rod's rehab is progressing, so if that happens for him, it just means more time to rehab and potentially get something out of what would be an albatross of a contract for any other team.
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Originally posted by Mr. BoffoThe Yankees are already mad about how slowly A-Rod's rehab is progressing, so if that happens for him, it just means more time to rehab and potentially get something out of what would be an albatross of a contract for any other team.
Actually, if there's anything to this at all, I think A-Rod's days in baseball are done. The Yankees would have enough legal grounds to void his contract (which they would do in a heartbeat due to A-Rod's age and a clear lack of return on investment) and given his age, ego, injury problems and the circus atmosphere he'd invite, it'd be hard to imagine another team picking him up. The smart move for A-Rod (again, assuming he doped again) when this whole thing started coming out would have been to retire quietly, using the hip injury as the excuse, but obviously his ego prevented that. He'd have lost a ton of money, but he'd be getting a lot less scrutiny now.
smark/net attack Advisory System Status is: Elevated (Holds; June 18, 2006) While the switch from Cena to RVD should alleviate some complaints, the inevitability of the belt's return to Cena (note where Summerslam is this year) and the poor initial showing by the new ECW are enough to keep the indicator where it is for now. The pieces are in place, though, especially on RAW, for improvements to be made to the IWC's psyche in the near future.
Know what happens if MLB finds cause to discipline A-Rod? He gets disciplined. Know what sets forth the discipline for a PED violation? The Joint Drug Agreement. Know what does not allow for voiding a contract for PED discipline? The Joint Drug Agreement.
Of course the Yankees want A-Rod’s contract voided. It’s a crappy contract. They wanted Jason Giambi‘s voided too and didn’t try to do it after exhausting their options. Or at least appearing to exhaust them. Which is what I think this really is: red meat for the angry fans. The Yankees way of showing them and the talk radio hosts that they’re upset too and, man, how bad that A-Rod guy is.
But they know they can’t void the deal. There are no grounds to do so and no mechanism to do so. But as long as this makes someone feel better for a while I suppose it’s OK.
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A-Rod's contract is actually insured, so the Yankees can get around 80 percent of its value back if he has to retire due to his hip injury (A-Rod still gets paid in full, but the insurance companies pay the Yankees 80 percent back, so roughly 70 million bucks).
If MLB doesn't have more evidence than just this one sketchy guy's testimony, they'll have no chance to get any suspensions. The appeals process alone will take months and probably years.
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