In a surprising move, Alex Rodriguez has decided to drop his lawsuit against Major League Baseball and the players union.
Cassandra Negley from Sporting News reports:
Alex Rodriguez on Friday dropped his lawsuit against Major League Baseball. Rodriguez sued MLB and its players union in January in an attempt to overturn his 162-game suspension (plus any 2014 postseason games) for taking banned substances and twice trying to obstruct baseball’s investigation.
A-Rod filed his lawsuit two days after arbitrator Fredric Horowitz shortened the penalty from its original 211-game term. The suit accused the MLB Players Association of “bad faith” and alleged the union breached its “duty of fair representation.” It also alleged the MLB and MLBPA imposed the suspension without just cause. A-Rod and his lawyers asked to have the ban thrown out.
A-Rod filed papework Friday to dismiss his lawsuit against MLB and the MLBPA.
“We have been informed that Alex Rodriguez has reached the prudent decision to end all of the litigation related to the Biogenesis matter,” Major League Baseball said in a statement Friday afternoon. “We believe that Mr. Rodriguez’s actions show his desire to return the focus to the play of our great game on the field and to all of the positive attributes and actions of his fellow Major League Players. We share that desire.”
From the MLBPA: “Alex Rodriguez has done the right thing by withdrawing his lawsuit. His decision to move forward is in everyone’s best interest.”
Neither A-Rod nor his lawyers have spoken publicly about withdrawling the lawsuit.
Despite being dealt the most severe punishment in the history of the baseball’s joint drug agreement with the players, A-Rod is still a member of the New York Yankees and is allowed to attend spring training, which is not included in the suspension. It doesn’t look as though he’ll be doing so, however.