Alex Rodriguez, seen at one point as the the heir-apparent to the great sluggers of baseball’s past, is reportedly going to receive a lifetime ban from baseball, according to the USA Today. Nothing official has been announced yet about Rodriguez’s situation, though MLB commissioner Bud Selig is expected to make an announcement either tomorrow or on Friday. Multiple unnamed sources with access to the as-yet restricted MLB information confirmed that the shortstop-turned-third baseman will get the harshest punishment that can be given to a player. The news comes as no shock to the baseball-watching world, who has suspected for sometime that the Yankee third baseman would be banned from the game. Truly the only question was for how long Rodriguez would have to be out of baseball. Leading up to the verdict, Rodriguez’s agent has continually said that they will fight and appeal any suspension he was given.
Technically, this would be Rodriguez’s first punishable offense, since he admitted to taking PED’s from 2001-2003 before baseball was officially testing for them. Due to his infraction coming at that point in time, it meant that baseball officials could not suspend or punish the 14-time All-Star, since he had not broken any league rules by the letter of the law. Still, Selig and other officials have been making it clear from the beginning that they were determined to punish Rodriguez as a repeat offender.
For the Yankees, this could mean that the remaining chunk of his original 275 million dollar mega-contract will be voided, though the official ruling remains to be seen.
Rodriguez, known by his common nickname “A-Rod,” first debuted in the majors in the strike-shortened season of 1994. Since then, he terrorized opposing pitchers and hit a combined 647 home runs, 2,901 hits, 1,950 RBI, and a career .300 batting average. Also, he was paid more money in team salary than any other baseball player in history. This included a 10-year, 250 million-dollar contract with the Texas Rangers, and a subsequent 10-year, 275 million-dollar deal with the Yankees (after having been traded to New York in the winter of 2003).
In terms of all-time records, Rodriguez still sits more than 100 home runs behind fellow controversial star, Barry Bonds (now retired). His career achievements, already cast in a skeptical light following his first PED admission, will now be all but thrown out as serious statistics should he receive the ban.
