And you think Alex Rodriguez is backed into a corner.
SI.com is reporting that an arbitrator's ruling on a 211-game suspension for the embattled New York Yankees slugger is expected to come no later than Wednesday.
While the New York Daily News is reporting that Rodriguez and his team of lawyers are prepared to seek an injunction if the length of the suspension is upheld, SI.com is suggesting that arbitrator Frederic Horowitz stands to lose his job if he reduces A-Rod's suspension.
According to SI.com, "There would seem to be very little chance that Rodriguez's suspension will be overturned in its entirety, and it's very likely that any reduction will result in Horowitz's dismissal by MLB, something of which Horowitz is surely aware. Shyam Das, the arbitrator who overturned Ryan Braun's initial 50-game suspension in February 2012, was fired that May. Most famously, Peter Seitz, the arbitrator who redefined the reserve clause in the Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally case in 1975 was handed a letter informing him he was fired mere moments after delivering his decision to Baseball's lawyer, John Gaherin. (According to John Heylar's Lords of the Realm, upon signing Seitz's decision, Gaherin handed Seitz the letter saying, 'That's that, and this is for you')."
The Daily News report indicated that Rodriguez's defense team is bracing for an unfavorable ruling.
"The papers are all ready," one source said. "They are just waiting for the announcement."
The Daily News went on to say that A-Rod's lawyers would argue that the 211-game suspension, which would be unprecedented, violates federal labor law because the arbitration process had it in for Rodriguez from the beginning and he never received a fair hearing.
SI.com also suggests that if Horowitz reduces the suspension and MLB fires him, the action could assist the claim by Rodriguez's lawyers that the process has been biased.
Both SI.com and ESPN.com are reporting that A-Rod may accept a lesser suspension -- 65 games or fewer -- because it makes sense financially.
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