Alex Rodriguez is in the midst of defending himself during the appeals process of his 211-game suspension handed down from Major League Baseball for his alleged connection with the now-defunct Biogenesis clinic and performance enhancing drugs, and now reports have leaked that A-Rod failed a drug test back in 2006.
The New York Times reports that Rodriguez failed a drug test for stimulants in 2006. According to the report, the finding came from two people involved with the league's collectively bargained drug-testing program. According to the report, players only face bans on testing positive for stimulants after two failed tests, so A-Rod was not publicly identified for having failed the test.
The Times reported that Lanny J. Davis, a representative of Rodriguez's legal team told the paper that Rodriguez did not fail a test back in 2006 and that the reports weren't accurate. The report also states that it is unknown whether or not MLB used the failed drug test at the hearing in front of arbitrator Frederic Horowitz during the sessions where MLB gave its side of the argument, which concluded in October.
Rodriguez's legal team will give their defense in the hearing on Nov. 18 when the case comes back from hiatus. Rodriguez and his side are also suing the MLB along with commissioner Bud Selig while alleging misconduct by the league and Selig in attempting to suspend Rodriguez an unprecedented 211 games for violating the joint drug agreement and the collective bargaining agreement.
ESPN reports that the first conference of the lawsuit will take place on Nov. 7 when the MLB attempts to get the case thrown out and that if there is a trial, it won't occur until sometime next year.
Rodriguez was suspended in August and was one of 14 players to be suspended by the MLB in connection to Anthony Bosch and the Biogenesis clinic linked to performance enhancing drugs. Rodriguez's 211-game ban was the harshest of them all and he was the only one to appeal while Ryan Braun accepted and agreed to a 65-game ban and 12 other players agreed to and served 50-game suspensions.
Rodriguez returned from various injuries and closed out the final games of the season by appearing in 44 contests and hitting .244 with seven homers and 19 RBIs.
The failed drug test seven years ago is the next in line of many twists and turns that have taken place over the course of this hearing and that will likely continue to crop up until things continue with the defense's side on Nov. 18.
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