A-Rod Suspended Through 2014? Sources Claim MLB To Hand Down Big Decision

Alex Rodriguez will be suspended on Monday and will miss the 2014 season, according to sources for Outside The Lines.

According to insiders, talks between A-Rod and Bud Selig completely broke down on Saturday, and they are now done with attempted negotiations.

Rodriguez is likely among 13 players who will be suspended when the MLB hands down its final decision on Monday.

According to Outside The Lines, MLBPA executive director Michael Weiner attempted to setup a meeting between the union, MLB, the New York Yankees, and A-Rod’s people, but the MLB refused the request.

Even before Weiner attempted to setup the meeting, the MLB had said the Yankees had no place in negotiations. Major League Baseball has stuck beside its claim that only commissioner Bud Selig can determine Alex Rodriguez’s fate.

Another source at OTL says 12 players have agreed to accept 50-game suspensions. Those settlements allowed each player to avoid the same type of full-season suspension now being faced by A-Rod.

Rodriguez, in the meantime, has continued to play with the Yankee’s Double-A affiliate, the Trenton Thunder. A-Rod’s suspension hasn’t stopped him from working out in Chicago on Sunday with the hopes of playing for the Yankees on Monday.

Speaking to ESPN, a source claims that “Rodriguez has no interest in a settlement and is prepared to fight baseball in arbitration”

A-Rod’s legal team has been pointing to clause 7G of the Joint Drug agreement, which states that PED users can “only” be hit with a 50-game suspension. It should be noted that Alex Rodriguez has never failed a drug test.

If Rodriguez is thrown out of the 2014 season, he will lose $34.2 million in salary including $25 million in 2014.

Alex Rodriguez missed the 2013 season with a hip injury. While he believes there are still five more years of good baseball left in his aging body, that timespan could be cut short if he’s forced to miss two seasons in such a short period of time.

Do you think A-Rod will actually face a full 2014 season suspension?