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You’ve got to hand it to Alex Rodriguez. Just when you think he couldn’t possibly look more ridiculous, he manages to find new ways to top himself. After getting slapped with a 162-game suspension by an independent arbitrator in a process that was agreed upon by Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association (the union), A-Fraud decides to sue MLB and the MLBPA. A man that has admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs in the past has adamantly denied that he was recently using performance-enhancing drugs despite damning evidence to the contrary. He loses an arbitration hearing that both MLB and the MLBPA have publicly stated is a final decision, in accordance to the collective bargaining agreement. Since A-Fraud didn’t get the results he wanted to, he’s going to sue everyone. It’s amazing that the A-Fraud circus continues to get bigger and sillier.
There are so many takeaways from this. Where to begin?
– Several web sites have consulted with legal experts on the chances of A-Fraud getting his case heard by a federal court. All of them have said that it’s extremely unlikely. The reasoning behind these opinions is that federal courts are extremely wary of interfering with arbitration processes that were collectively bargained.
– A-Fraud has some of the dumbest fans in the world. Despite the notes from his presumed PED supplier and several coded BlackBerry messages, they believe their hero is clean. They also believe that a federal court will overturn the ruling, despite what most legal experts are saying. So many of them are trying to apply basic court logic (probably learned from Law and Order reruns) to an arbitration hearing. I’m not a smart man, but I know what love is that comparison is dumb. It doesn’t work that way. My favorite are the ones that say he’s being singled out because he’s Latino. No, he’s being singled out because he’s the only player that disputed the initial Biogenesis suspensions.
– Let’s ignore the fact that A-Fraud was dumb enough to use his personal phone instead of a burner to discuss PED usage. Why the hell was he still using a BlackBerry?!?
– I love that “gummies” was one of the codewords for the PEDs A-Fraud was using. I don’t understand how A-Fraud defenders can dismiss this. Do they think that he was sending messages to a know PED pedaler about when to consume chewable German candy?
– No, MLB isn’t clean in this matter either. Some of the tactics it used to build a case against A-Fraud were sleazy. Many A-Fraud supporters point out that some of MLB’s evidence wouldn’t be admissible in a court of law due to the manner it was procured. However, this was an arbitration and not a court case, so….
For the record, I was never happy that the Yankees signed Alex Rodriguez. I don’t care about his strong performance in the 2009 playoffs that helped win the Yankees a World Series. I’ve loathed him ever since he threw his former best friend Derek Jeter under the bus in a 2001 Esquire article. He has embarrassed the team time and time again and, like I said in the intro, always manages to find new ways to top himself.
All that aside, the evidence against A-Fraud is difficult to dispute. I don’t believe his claim that he’s been clean for the last several years. I do believe that he looks like a crybaby for suing MLB and the MLBPA.
More importantly, I want to get your thoughts on the matter. Do you think his suspension was too harsh? Do you believe that he took PEDs? Do you think a federal court will overturn the arbitration ruling? Kindly vote in the poll below and leave a comment with your thoughts on the latest Alex Rodriguez situation.
[poll id=”189″]
I believe it’s just right. This is something MLB needs to do now for players that are continuing to cheat the system. Also who in the heck voted for it being too lenient.
I believe that was Sony Shane, former 1up mangod.