The New York Yankees and Alex Rodriguez will be stuck with each other for the foreseeable future, an arrangement that only figures to get more uncomfortable.
Major League Baseball on Monday suspended Rodriguez for 211 games, citing multiple violations of its drug policy and an alleged effort by the player to "obstruct and frustrate" the league's investigation into performance-enhancing drugs supplied by Biogenesis, a now-closed South Florida anti-aging clinic. Rodriguez appealed the decision and is permitted to play at least until his appeal is heard, which probably won't happen until the offseason.
Monday evening, at Chicago's U.S. Cellular Field, Rodriguez probably summed up the feelings of both franchise and player when asked if he felt the Yankees want him to return.
"If I'm productive," he said, "I think they want me back."
Calling the last seven months of his life "a nightmare," thanks in part to January hip surgery in a year he turned 38, Rod riguez did his best to play the part of aggrieved athlete rather than the performance-enhancing drug abuser MLB has portrayed him in levying its suspension.
"If I don't defend myself," he said, "no one will."
It probably won't be the Yankees, not at this point.
The war of words between Rodriguez and the team that's played out both in public and behind the scenes.
STATEMENT: A-Rod Will fight through the process
Monday, manager Joe Girardi did not hesitate to pencil Rodriguez - who hasn't played this season due to hip surgery and a quadriceps strain - into his lineup, batting fourth and playing third base in his season debut.
The front office took a slightly different approach.
The Yankees took the occasion of Rodriguez's suspension to lash out at their third baseman and his associates for apparently insinuating that the club did not have his best interests and recovery from hip surgery at heart, and that the team somehow aided MLB's investigation in hopes of not having to pay the more than $100 million remaining on Rodriguez's contract.
PUNISHED: A-Rod, 12 others suspended
Another Yankees player, catcher Francisco Cervelli, who is currently on the disabled list, accepted a 50-game MLB ban for his role in the Biogenesis scandal.
"We are compelled," the club said in a statement, "to address certain reckless and false allegations concerning the Yankees' role in this matter. The New York Yankees in no way instituted and/or assisted MLB in the direction of this investigation; or used the investigation as an attempt to avoid its responsibilities under a player contract; or did its medical staff fail to provide the appropriate standard of care to Alex Rodriguez.
"Separately, we are disappointed with the news today of the suspension of Francisco Cervelli. It's clear that he used bad judgment."
The difference in wording was noticeable: The Yankees said they were "di sappointed" in Cervelli while terming both public and private proclamations regarding Rodriguez as "reckless and false."
Friday night, after playing in a minor-league game in Trenton, N.J., as he recovers from a quad injury, Rodriguez strongly insinuated what had been bubbling beneath the surface: His belief the Yankees would rather he not return.
"There are a lot of layers to it," Rodriguez said. "My job is to be able to take the field. As far as the legal stuff, I can't answer that. There are a lot of fans and teammates wondering and asking what is going on.
"There is more than one party that benefits from me not stepping on the field. It is not my teammates, it is not the Yankees. People have been trying to get creative trying to cancel my contract."
When asked who the party was, Rodriguez said, "What do you think?"
Asked to clarify these comments Monday, Rodriguez eased off, if only a little.
"I said what I said," Rodriguez said. "That 's Friday night; today is another day. I'm focused on what my job is, my responsibility to the New York Yankees, the fan base of New York."
PHOTOS: Alex Rodriguez through the years
Earlier Monday, Rodriguez and attorney David Cornwell released statements tha t expressed more disdain for MLB's penalty than the Yankees, though Friday's outburst by Rodriguez and Monday's statement together illustrate the battle he's fighting on two fronts.
"I am disappointed with the penalty and intend to appeal and fight this through the process," Rodriguez said. "I am eager to get back on the field and be with my teammates in Chicago tonight. I want to thank my family, friends and fans who have stood by myself through all this.
Said Cornwell: "It is regrettable that the Commissioner's office has taken this unprecedented action. Major League Baseball has gone well beyond the authority granted to it in its Joint Drug Agreement and the Basic Agreement. Consequently, we will appeal the discipline and pursue all legal remedies available to Alex."
For Rodriguez, there is plenty at stake. After this season, he has at least $86 million remaining on a contract that runs through 2017. In fact, Rodriguez entered Monday wiht 647 home runs; he will receive a $6 million bonus if he hits 13 more to tie Willie Mays for fourth place on baseball's all-time list.
He should get support on the ground level for that quest; Rodriguez's teammates have largely stood by him him as he's rehabbed from hip surgery.
The enmity, instead, has been between player and front office, with GM Brian Cashman famously telling Rodriguez to "shut up" in profane fashion when Rodriguez tweeted news of his impending rehab games.
Now, that player is returning to the field as Cashman's third baseman for the foreseeable future.
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