MICHAEL WEINER
PLENTY TO SMILE ABOUT: Alex Rodriguez’s appeal for a potential Biogensis suspension may not be heard until September, according to Players Association head Michael Weiner. (Bill Kostroun)
So Now we know for certain: Alex Rodriguez’s medical mess will reach a resolution before his legal mess.
And also this: The longer the Biogenesis investigation proceeds, the better it looks for the Yankees.
Michael Weiner, executive director of the Players Association, said yesterday at a Baseball Writers Association of America meeting that appeal hearings for the Biogenesis case probably wouldn’t be heard until September. So unless A-Rod cuts a deal with Major League Baseball — and gosh, that sure seems unlikely, given how invested he is in proving his innocence — he’ll very likely be on the Yankees’ radar for the duration of the season, healthy or unhealthy.
What that means is, should A-Rod ultimately lose his case, he’d serve the entirety of his suspension next year. And the Yankees, determined to get their 2014 payroll under $189 million for the luxury-tax break, would receive much-needed flexibility in that goal. How much flexibility on A-Rod’s $25-million salary for next year, we don’t know yet.
Let’s break down the latest on Biogenesis, after both Weiner and commissioner Bud Selig visited with the BBWAA yesterday:
1. The announcement of suspensions is not quite as imminent as we expected, although it isn’t too far away, either. August sounds most likely.
Weiner said the union has been in near daily contact with MLB concerning the investigation.
“When they are done, we will meet with the commissioner’s office and we will try to work something out,” Weiner said. “If a player deserves a suspension, we’ll try to come up with a suspension. On players who don’t deserve suspensions, we’ll fight [for them]. … We may not have success on every single player, but I hope we have a fair amount of success.”
It has been widely presumed each player suspended — there could be 20 or more — would appeal the penalty, but Weiner’s answer at least allowed for the possibility some players, seeing the case against them, could concede and negotiate an immediate sentence. In such instances, this year’s pennant races would be impacted.
Yet Weiner and his general counsel David Prouty both said they would support any player who wanted to appeal. For sure, prime suspects A-Rod and Ryan Braun, with so much to lose and with accomplished attorneys on their payroll, seemed poised to appeal.
2. Weiner corrected one detail that had become part of this story’s conventional wisdom (I plead very guilty): The penalty scale of 50 games-100 games-lifetime doesn’t apply to non-analytical positives, the term used for players who are disciplined without a failed drug test. It could be, as Weiner said, “five games or 500 games.”
Nevertheless, the 50-100-life scale can be used as a guideline, and Weiner contended players who have not been penalized before — such as A-Rod — should be regarded as first-time offenders.
3. MLB folks appear resolute they will announce the suspensions before the appeals. That’s a change from precedent concerning illegal performance-enhancing drugs. There is a clause in the Joint Drug Agreement asserting a suspension can be announced before the appeal if the allegations already have become public, as is the case here.
The Players Association, however, doesn’t want that to happen.
“We will talk with the commissioner’s office,” Weiner said. “That is something that we’ll have to discuss, obviously.”
4. There is just one arbitrator, Fredric Horowitz, who will hear all of the appeals cases. Each player who appeals is supposed to have his case heard within 20 days of the suspension, and then receive a verdict within 25 days following the opening of the hearing. Given the potential quantity of hearings, though, such a swift schedule might not be feasible. Which is why, if appeals aren’t heard until September, a resolution by even October isn’t likely.
“We’ll get them done as quickly as we reasonably can,” Weiner said.
5. The events also will be complicated, sadly, by Weiner’s failing health. Weiner is in a wheelchair, his right side paralyzed, and he said he has experienced a recent setback in his battle against brain cancer.
A succession plan is in place, Weiner said, although he didn’t name any names. He did say that neither his predecessor Don Fehr nor former union COO Gene Orza would return to leadership roles.