Biogenesis suspension deals deadline - 6pm Sunday ! We shall see whether A-Rod does or doesn't take whatever deal is on the table from MLB....

Did A-Rod's commentary after Friday night's Trenton Thunder  game burn his last bridge  to MLB and the Yankees Organization and spoil any settlement deal ?

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/yankees/expected_tells_union_suspended_deal_akTnSJJmLkD42XpRsqmboO

MLB tells union A-Rod deal is off the table; Yankees star expected to be suspended until 2015

• By DAN MARTIN and KEN DAVIDOFF in Trenton, N.J. and JOEL SHERMAN in New York
• Last Updated: 5:02 PM, August 3, 2013
• Posted: 5:01 PM, August 3, 2013
• Yankees Blog

AP

Yankees' Alex Rodriguez is expected to be suspended through the 2014 season.

Alex Rodriguez struck out even before he got on the field Saturday.

Sources told The Post that Players Association executive director Michael Weiner reached out to Major League Baseball Saturday to discuss a possible settlement in the Biogenesis investigation and baseball told them that was no longer on the table.

Without a settlement, baseball is expected to suspend Rodriguez for the rest of this season and all of 2014, although commissioner Bud Selig still could look to pursue a lifetime ban.

On Saturday, Rodriguez’s camp refused comment.

Rodriguez has infuriated MLB and the Yankees throughout the Biogenesis investigation and did so again after Friday night’s game in Trenton, when he all but accused the league and the Yankees with conspiring against him to void the remainder of his contract.

In MLB’s eyes, Rodriguez has had more than enough time to cooperate with the investigation, and the league wasn’t interested in reopening discussions now that the expected deadline for suspensions is so close.

The third baseman and his camp also are believed to have contacted the Yankees on Saturday about the possibility of working out a deal on the remainder of his contract, which runs through 2017 and still is worth nearly $100 million. They were rejected on that front, as well.

Rodriguez has vowed to fight any suspension, and if he is penalized under the Joint Drug Agreement, he would be allowed to play for the Yankees while he awaited his hearing. If Selig used the “best interests of baseball” clause in the Basic Agreement based on MLB’s belief he obstructed the investigation by lying to them, he would have to sit out while he awaits his fate.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/mlb-talking-ready-ban-a-rod-latest-outburst-article-1.1416810

Alex Rodriguez just talked himself out of a possible settlement with Major League Baseball and faces a  214-game suspension to be handed down on Monday, the Daily News has learned.

Following Rodriguez’s explosive comments after Friday night’s minor league rehab game in Trenton in which Rodriguez basically said Major League Baseball and the Yankees were conspiring to keep him off the field in order to void his contract, MLB officials have rejected Rodriguez’s request to negotiate a suspension settlement, a baseball source familiar with the situation said.

According to the source, Players Association chief Michael Weiner reached out to MLB on behalf of Rodriguez Saturday morning in an attempt to talk settlement but was told that baseball is no longer interested in negotiating with the disgraced third baseman.

“They asked for a meeting this morning and were told ‘no,’” said the source. “Baseball is more than comfortable with what they have.”

Another source told the Daily News that despite accusing the Yankees Friday of trying to get out from under his contract, Rodriguez also reached out to the club Saturday in an attempt to discuss negotiating a settlement on the remaining $100 million the Yankees owe A-Rod. The Yankees also declined to talk with Rodriguez about his contract, according to the source, telling him this is a drug issue under the purview of MLB.

MLB investigators have gathered what they believe is voluminous evidence proving that Rodriguez violated the game’s collectively bargained drug agreement  in 2010, 2011 and 2012 by obtaining performance enhancing drugs from Anthony Bosch and his Biogenesis anti-aging clinic, and that he also violated the "just cause" provision (rule 7 G.2) of the collective bargaining agreement by obstructing commissioner Bud Selig’s investigation and for lying to MLB officials about performance-enhancing drug use. Rodriguez will be suspended under both provisions, according to the source.

****

MLB officials were clearly angered by Rodriguez’s comments Friday, in which he not only said he was being singled out as a serial user of PEDs by Major League Baseball and by his own team in order, he said,  to find “creative ways to cancel your contract” but claimed to want to “get rid of PEDs; that’s a must. “

*****

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/yanks-dismiss-a-rod-conspiracy-theory-article-1.1416746

( Yanks respond to A- Rod's conspiracy gambit against Yankees Team and MLB as out to get him )

* * *

Yankee officials were both saddened and amused at Alex Rodriguez's latest outburst on Friday night following his rehab game with the Trenton Thunder: saddened by his insinuation that the Yankees were conspiring to keep him off the field in order to void his contract; and amused by his claim that "I think we all agree that we want to get rid of PEDs; that's a must."

"This is typical Alex," one Yankee official told the Daily News on Saturday. "Instead of taking responsibility for his actions, he blames everybody else. It wasn't the Yankees who introduced [RODRIGUEZ]to Anthony Bosch. It wasn't the Yankees who introduced him to Dr. Galea, or anybody else." (The official was referring to Rodriguez's association with Bosch, who is believed to have distributed performance-enhancing drugs to scores of athletes, and to Galea, a human growth hormone proponent who treated Rodriguez in 2009.)

Rodriguez's comments were clearly meant to send the message that he feels he is being singled out as a serial user of PEDs by Major League Baseball and by his own team in order, he said, to find "creative ways to cancel your contract."

"I think that's the pink elephant in the room," Rodriguez said, referring to the remaining $100 million the Yankees owe him on his $275 million deal. "I think we all agree that we want to get rid of PEDs; that's a must. All the players, we feel that way. But when all this stuff is going on in the background, and people are finding creative ways to cancel your contract, that's concerning for present [PLAYERS]and I think it should be concerning for future players, as well."

* * * 

At stake, of course, is what remains of his massive contract. If Rodriguez is suspended under baseball's drug agreement, he would immediately appeal unless he agrees to a settlement that would keep Selig from banning him for life. An appeal would prevent Rodriguez from losing salary until an arbitrator rules on his case. If Selig uses his powers to suspend A-Rod, he would immediately lose salary. While MLB officials could not have been happy with Rodriguez's comments, they must have been surprised, as were the Yankees, with his claim that he is among the players who want to get rid of PEDs. MLB officials have shown their evidence, believed to include hundreds of emails, text messages and phone records detailing his dealings with Bosch, to Rodriguez and the Players Association and have had discussions about a possible settlement, although one source described those talks as less than productive.

Rodriguez's lawyers' only proposal, the sources said, was for a reduced suspension of 100 games and the promise from Rodriguez that he would then retire. MLB rejected that settlement because it was unclear how Rodriguez's lawyers planned to handle the remainder of his contract and any insurance issues that might arise. If a player simply retires, his contract is voided; he is only paid the remainder of the contract if he is deemed physically unable to perform.

* * * 

A-Rod deal deadline Sunday night, ban coming Monday

• By JOEL SHERMAN and KEN DAVIDOFF
• Last Updated: 6:34 PM, August 2, 2013
• Posted: 1:15 PM, August 2, 2013
• Yankees Blog

APS

Major League Baseball has given the players who are in line for suspensions tied to the Biogenesis case – including Alex Rodriguez – a deadline of Sunday at 6 p.m. to accept a deal, with an announcement of punishments to come Monday, The Post has learned.

As the weekend began, MLB was working more with union and lawyers for around nine players, but not Rodriguez, to see if they could finalize suspensions and avoid the grievance process. Sources say that there was still limited to no dialogue between the A-Rod camp and MLB, and the union was being used as the middle man for information.

MLB was hoping to have all of the suspensions completed on Friday. But the number of moving parts -- various lawyers, the union, teams, etc -- had made that move from possible to doubtful to all but unrealistic.

MLB felt it could make the announcement on Sunday, but to do that it would have to be before 1 p.m. Eastern and games. Monday suspensions would allow teams that are impacted by the decisions time to get players to a new city and the beginning of a series and the affected players the ability to avoid either going to a new city or not going to a ballpark.

MLB has wanted to complete the suspensions before teams reach 50 games or fewer on the schedule. The idea was that would allow those players being sanctioned for 50 games to complete their suspensions this year and have a clean slate going into the offseason and next year. MLB viewed that as a carrot to motivate players not to appeal.

Rodriguez is facing a much harsher penalty. It is believed, if A-Rod would accept, that MLB would banish him for the rest of this season and all of next year. If he refuses, MLB has prepared to ban him for life, though that is still seemed as an extreme position.

As of Friday morning, the A-Rod camp was still signaling it would fight any suspension through the arbitration process. However, it remained possible that was a leverage play and that, in the end, Rodriguez would accept the punishment as a way to protect his salary from 2015-2017, roughly $60 million.

What will be fascinating is what happens if Rodriguez comes through rehab games this weekend in good shape, he is suspended and appeals. Do the Yanks activate him? If so, does Bud Selig invoke the best interest of baseball clause to bar him from playing until an arbitration is decided. There was growing belief that Selig would not invoke that rule, which could lead to this bizarre scenario -- Rodriguez suspended Monday morning and playing his first game for the 2013 Yankees at night.

Rodriguez was scheduled to play a rehab game for Double-A Trenton on Friday and another game on Saturday.

http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/9532766/alex-rodriguez-new-york-yankees-wants-play-fight-end-source-says

TRENTON, NJ -- The mindset of embattled New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez is to fight any suspension and return to the majors as soon as possible.

"His attitude right now is all he wants to do is play and fight this to the end," said a person with direct knowledge of Rodriguez's thought process.

  The commissioner's office is still deciding what punishment to mete out to Rodriguez for his role in the Biogenesis performance-enhancing drug scandal. While there was hope that a decision about any suspension or banishment would be made by Friday, the new goal is now Monday, a source told T.J. Quinn of "Outside The Lines."

In the meantime, Rodriguez, 38, continues to rehab from his offseason hip surgery and Grade 1 quad strain. Rodriguez was in the Double-A Trenton Thunder lineup on Friday, batting second and playing third base. He is expected to play five innings and have three at-bats 

The Thunder expected about 150 media members, which is more than 10 times what the team usually has. The team said the game was a sellout. Rodriguez is expected to play a second rehab game for the Thunder on Saturday night.

If Rodriguez is able to make it through both rehab games feeling well, he could return to the Yankees as soon as Sunday, barring a suspension. The Yankees have declined to outline his schedule past Saturday.

Major League Baseball and Rodriguez's representatives have talked about a possible settlement, but Rodriguez's side has not deemed anything palatable.

http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/9530007/sources-mlb-alex-rodriguez-far-apart-suspension-settlement

Negotiations between Alex Rodriguez and Major League Baseball are apparently stuck on Rodriguez's desire to make sure he can cash in on at least some of the remaining $100 million owed under his contract, and there's also a wide gap between the suspension he is willing to accept and the one MLB would like to issue, two sources familiar with the talks told ESPN's "Outside the Lines."

  

The suspension of Rodriguez and eight other major league players should be announced within the next few days, with most of the other eight expected to accept 50-game suspensions without appealing.

If Rodriguez does not agree to a lengthy suspension without appealing, one source said, MLB has threatened to suspend him for life, forcing him to fight the league through arbitration. The sources did not say what length of suspension either side would accept, only that the two camps "aren't anywhere close," according to one.

Rodriguez's representatives repeatedly have said he will fight any suspension.

Sources said the Yankees have not been part of conversations, and that MLB apparently has taken the position that Rodriguez's discipline has nothing to do with his contract with the club.

Meanwhile, the Yankees announced Thursday that Rodriguez will join the Double-A Trenton Thunder on Friday to play in a rehabilitation assignment game. If he is not suspended and prevented from playing pending an appeal, A-Rod could rejoin the Yankees as early as Sunday in San Diego or in Chicago on Monday.

Whatever punishment MLB issues should be announced by Sunday, however. If Rodriguez does not agree to a suspension, any MLB discipline likely would include a ban from playing while he appeals, a move Rodriguez and the players' association are expected to fight.