The Major League Baseball Players Association has formally filed Alex Rodriguez's appeal to Major League Baseball's 211-game suspension, sending the case to an independent arbitrator, according to the Associated Press.
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Union spokesman Greg Bouris confirmed the appeal and said the players' association had no further comment.
The suspension was scheduled to go into effect Thursday, which is an off day for the Yankees. The appeal allows Rodriguez to remain eligible to play until the arbitration hearing takes place, and Michael Weiner, the union's executive director, says that could happen in November or early December.
Rodriguez, who was back at third base and batting third for the New York Yankees against the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night, said he had "no reaction" to the filing of the grievance.
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Rodriguez was suspended through the 2014 season on Monday as part of the league's investigation into the former Biogenesis clinic's distribution of banned performance-enhancing drugs. Rodriguez elected to appeal his suspension.
The two sides could negotiate a settlement at any time during the appeal process, but that does not appear to be a likely outcome. At the very least, it looks like Rodriguez will play for the Yankees through the end of this season.
According to USA Today, Legal experts say Major League Baseball will have the burden of proof in its case against Rodriguez.
Even though appellants typically have to prove their case because they are the ones starting the legal action, Michael Volpe, a partner in the New York firm of Venable LLP, said baseball's collective bargaining agreement and joint drug agreement stipulate that MLB has to show just cause in its application of discipline.
The league said Rodriguez's punishment is based on his alleged use and possession of banned performance-enhancing substances, including testosterone and human growth hormone, for multiple years. They also accuse him of "engaging in a course of conduct intended to obstruct or frustrate" their investigation into the matter.
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Wallace Matthews from ESPN New York wrote that Rodriguez is a winner in the process that allowed him to play through his suspension. If A-Rod didn't fight his penalty, he said, "it would have been a career ender."
However, his career will eventually be in jeopardy. If the MLB wins the case, Rodriguez will have a very difficult 2014 and part of his 2015 season.
According to Sports On Earth's Howard Megdal, "If he intends to return to baseball, he'd be 40 years old in 2015, already a difficult age to play and play well. He's been through multiple hip surgeries, further compromising him. Add in an extended layoff without playing in competitive games, and that complicates his return even more."
And even harder will be for A-Rod to find a competitive game during a MLB suspension. "Like any other player, a suspended player who is under reserve to a club (albeit on the restricted list while he is serving out a JDA suspension), cannot play for an independent team, Japanese team, Taiwanese team or any other team," Major League Baseball Players Association spokesman Gregory Bouris said.
So if Alex Rodriguez's suspension is upheld, it's going to be awfully difficult for him to play baseball anywhere, for anyone, ever again.
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