Alex Rodriguez hopes to rejoin the Yankees on Monday, but a suspension from Major League Baseball could come before that.
Alex Rodriguez’s effort to get back in the Yankees’ lineup before Major League Baseball issues its expected suspension of him is moving into a decisive, somewhat mind-boggling phase, with the possibility that the games he is set to play in minor league settings over the next few days could be his last ones for a long time, perhaps forever.
Rodriguez, the 38-year-old third baseman now in baseball’s crosshairs, will play in a simulated game on Thursday at the Yankees’ complex in Tampa, Fla., followed by a minor league game at an undisclosed location on Friday, perhaps at Class AA Trenton.
The tentative plan calls for him to meet his Yankees teammates on Monday in Chicago, where the team will begin a series against the White Sox. But, if baseball has its way, that may be too late for Rodriguez.
For the second time in two days, baseball officials met with their union counterparts on Wednesday to inform them of the suspensions the sport is about to hand down in connection with its investigation of a South Florida clinic suspected of dispensing performance-enhancing drugs.
Major League Baseball is preparing to suspend Rodriguez and more than a half dozen other players, perhaps by Friday. Rodriguez is expected to incur by far the heaviest penalty, with the commissioner’s office signaling it might subject him to a lifetime ban or even seek to punish him under provisions of the collective bargaining agreement that would not allow him to immediately appeal his punishment.
With all that looming, Rodriguez has moved steadily closer to being able to play in major league games for the first time since he had hip surgery in January. General Manager Brian Cashman addressed the situation in a conference call with reporters.
Cashman did not rule out Rodriguez’s playing in more minor league rehabilitation games over the weekend. The Yankees have a three-game series against the Padres in San Diego this weekend, and Rodriguez is unlikely to join them for that.
After that comes the three-game series against the White Sox. Rodriguez could take part in those games, although by then he might be appealing a hefty suspension. Or, if Commissioner Bud Selig circumvents the normal appeals process in punishing Rodriguez, he might not be able to play at all, providing the Yankees with yet one more plot twist in this season of unending injuries that has weakened their lineup and playoff chances.
Rodriguez and the other players expected to be suspended have been linked to the activities of a now-defunct anti-aging clinic that operated under the name Biogenesis. But Rodriguez stands out from the others because baseball believes he tried to obstruct its investigation of the clinic, and for that reason he is facing a penalty that could put the rest of his career in jeopardy.
It was unclear if Rodriguez might be open to accepting a deal that would be less harsh than a lifetime ban and might even allow him to play at some point in 2014. Some officials involved in the matter are believed to be having a dialogue with the players union about Rodriguez.
In the conference call, Cashman said he had no information about the investigation and was proceeding as if Rodriguez would play for him again this season.
But Rodriguez is not Cashman’s only concern in connection with the Biogenesis investigation. Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli is also on the list of players who have been linked to the clinic. Like Rodriguez, Cervelli is recovering from an injury.
Cashman said that Cervelli’s injuries had not healed, and that he probably would not make it back this year. It will soon be known if he is also facing a suspension.
“I can’t rule out that he can get back, but we are running out of time,” Cashman said of Cervelli, referring only to the injury. “It’s looking more and more like it’s going to be unrealistic to see Cervelli.”
But Cashman said Rodriguez was due to get on a plane and rejoin the team soon.
“That is correct, absolutely,” he said. “We have a plan in place with a schedule that Alex, my trainer, Tim Lentych, and myself all worked through the other day.”
Despite the tough signals it has been sending out, baseball would prefer that Rodriguez follow the path established by Ryan Braun on July 22, when he agreed to a 65-game ban that will sideline him for the rest of the 2013 season because of his own connections to Biogenesis. If Rodriguez agreed to a ban, however, it would be for a significantly longer period of time. And if that deal is reached in the next day or two, Rodriguez would not rejoin his teammates at any point in the rest of the season.
Rodriguez turned 38 on July 27. If he ultimately accepted a deal that would leave him unable to play until 2015, he would be 39 by the time he got back on the field. Coming back at that age after missing two full seasons in the major leagues would be a steep challenge, and maybe even an impossible one.
For now, Rodriguez continues to work out as if his return were within days. But with the timing so tight, the days could become months, or even years.
