Major League Baseball is done negotiating and is ready to impose a 214-game suspension on Alex Rodriguez on Monday, according to the New York Daily News. The final straw? Rodriguez’s “explosive comments” Friday night in which he basically said the Yankees were in cahoots with the MLB to void his contract. MLB officials apparently rejected a request to negotiate a suspension settlement Saturday morning.
“They asked for a meeting this morning and were told ‘no,’” a source tells the Daily News. “Baseball is more than comfortable with what they have.” Officials seem to believe they have more than enough evidence against Rodriguez and aren’t interested in opening up discussions so close to the deadline when they believe he has refused previous efforts to cooperate. The New York Times also hears word that Rodriguez reached out the Commissioner’s office on Saturday through the union and even contacted the Yankees directly for a meeting. The Yankees also declined to talk, saying the MLB is the one in charge now.
The New York Post notes that while the MLB is expected to suspend Rodriguez for the rest of the season and all of 2014, “commissioner Bud Selig still could look to pursue a lifetime ban.”
