Call it Major League Baseball’s “Appeal Hearing of the Century.”
However geeked you are about baseball’s postseason, it can’t match the industry-wide anticipation over Alex Rodriguez’s showdown with Bud Selig and company, which will start Monday morning at MLB’s Manhattan headquarters.
You want colorful characters, ill will and high stakes? It’ll all be in a conference room in Park Avenue, when A-Rod finally, formally grieves the 211-game suspension Selig gave him on Aug. 5.
Let’s break it all down with questions and answers:
Why is this happening?
MLB suspended a total of 14 players for their involvement in Biogenesis, the shuttered anti-aging clinic in South Florida. Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun accepted a 65-game suspension, and 12 others accepted 50-game bans. Only Rodriguez chose to fight — not surprising, given the historic length of his suspension. As per baseball’s Joint Drug Agreement and Basic Agreement, Rodriguez is allowed to appeal the punishment, and he was permitted to play with the Yankees during the lag time because he’s considered a zero-time offender — his confessed illegal performance-enhancing drug usage from 2001-03 occurred when MLB didn’t penalize players.
Exactly what allegations is A-Rod appealing?
The ones detailed in MLB’s August press release, when announcing the Rodriguez suspension: “Use and possession of numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including Testosterone and Human Growth Hormone, over the course of multiple years,” as well as “attempting to cover-up his violations of the Program by engaging in a course of conduct intended to obstruct and frustrate the Office of the Commissioner’s investigation.”
Who will hear the appeal?
Fredric Horowitz, an independent arbitrator who is based in Southern California. This will be his first assignment in this role — he replaced Shyam Das last year after MLB fired Das for ruling in Braun’s favor over a positive drug test. Both MLB and the Players Association have the right to dismiss the arbitrator at any time.
How long will the hearing last?
Horowitz has scheduled the next five days to hear the appeal. If more time is needed beyond Friday, then the case will go on hiatus until Horowitz is available again, likely within a few weeks. Whether more time is needed largely will depend on how much latitude Horowitz gives the two sides during the hearing.
When will Horowitz issue his ruling?
He’s supposed to do so within 25 days of the hearing’s first day, as stated in the Joint Drug Agreement. But we’ve learned, thanks to this A-Rod case, that these deadlines are loose. Especially if the hearing hasn’t yet finished by Friday.
What is at stake?
For Rodriguez, it’s about $31.4 million in salary ($25 million next year plus roughly $6.4 million for the first 49 games of 2015) and the risk that, if he misses so much time, he physically wouldn’t be able to play anymore. Plus the further stain on his already tarnished career, although the dreaded court of public opinion probably won’t be very forgiving no matter how Horowitz rules.
For Yankees, it’s that same $31.4 million, which is especially important as they try to get under the $189 million luxury-tax threshold for next year. Eliminating A-Rod’s $25 million salary would go a long way toward making that a reality. The Yankees’ relationship with Rodriguez also has dramatically worsened, thanks to some side issues (A-Rod’s complaints about team president Randy Levine and the quality of the club’s medical team) that won’t factor into this hearing, so the team would greatly enjoy seeing Rodriguez suffer. And any sort of found guilt surely would motivate the Yankees to further investigate voiding their contract with Rodriguez, an endeavor that is the longest of long shots.
For Selig, who announced on Thursday he will be retiring in January 2015, it’s his legacy, as he tries to further establish the strength of baseball’s drug-testing program. And for Rob Manfred — MLB’s executive vice president of economics and league affairs, who oversaw both the Biogenesis investigation and the preparation for this hearing — it’s his candidacy as Selig’s successor.
Who will participate in the hearing?
As has been well-documented, Rodriguez is utilizing (and paying for) a dream team of legal advisers, including the high-profile Joseph Tacopina (who will cross-examine MLB’s witnesses), David Cornwell (the sports law expert who helped acquit Braun), James McConnell and Jordan Siev. MLB Players Association general counsel David Prouty also will be part of A-Rod’s group.
On the MLB side, Manfred and senior vice president of general counsel-labor Dan Halem will lead the way and will be joined by outside counsel Howard Ganz and Neil Abramson of Proskauer Rose.
The two sides have been in regular contact even before the suspension was announced, and to say there has been tension wouldn’t do justice to how much they — particularly MLB’s attorneys and A-Rod’s personal lawyers — dislike each other. Furthermore, Rodriguez’s side wasn’t pleased with the union when Players Association executive director Michael Weiner publicly admitted he recommended Rodriguez settle for a reduced suspension — a concession that Weiner didn’t think A-Rod was completely innocent.
What is the hearing’s procedure?
It’s like a trial, only without the jury and the accompanying theatrics. That means there are no opening arguments. MLB, with the burden to prove its allegations, will begin by introducing witnesses and evidence. Team A-Rod can cross-examine witnesses. Then it’s the defense’s turn to introduce witnesses and evidence, with MLB getting the same opportunity to cross-examine. From there, each side will present a rebuttal argument and file briefs that essentially are written closing arguments.
What is MLB’s case against A-Rod?
Anthony Bosch, the founder of Biogenesis, is the hearing’s star witness. The moment Bosch agreed to cooperate with MLB, in May, proved to be the investigation’s turning point. Bosch is purported to have extensive proof, including myriad text messages, of his relationship with Rodriguez, including the sale of illegal PEDs and discussion of how to defeat MLB’s testing. The fact that 13 other players gave up based on Bosch’s testimony will strengthen his credibility.
Furthermore, MLB will call upon witnesses to support its obstruction allegation. For one, MLB believes Rodriguez attempted to purchase Biogenesis documents to keep them from MLB investigators.
MLB also would love to introduce the fact A-Rod was involved with Anthony Galea, the Canadian doctor who was convicted for bringing mislabeled medications (illegal PEDs) into the USA. However, so far, Rodriguez’s grand-jury testimony has remained sealed.
How is A-Rod’s team going to try to escape this penalty?
It’s a two-pronged approach. Tacopina, the most bombastic of the bunch, will cast a wider net as he tries to impugn the credibility of MLB’s greater case. He’ll cross-examine Bosch, and he has indicated that private investigators have dug up dirt about the conduct of MLB’s investigators in South Florida as they collected evidence.
On a smaller scale, Cornwell and Prouty will focus on contesting the duration of the suspension. The fact there is no hard penalty for a non-analytical positive (evidence besides a failed test) gives both sides leeway to argue about what constitutes the proper penalty. And the obstruction allegation — a charge that really is unprecedented in baseball legal circles — will prompt fierce debate as to what punishment, if any, is proper.
How will this conclude?
The two sides could settle at any time prior to Horowitz’s ruling, so keep that in mind. The full showing of each other’s cards could influence that dynamic.
Short of a settlement, though, the overwhelming consensus in baseball circles is that A-Rod’s suspension will be curtailed without being eliminated. Think somewhere between 100 and 150 games.
If the penalty is fully upheld by Horowitz, there will be surprise. And if the sentence is fully eradicated, there will be shock.