NYDN: Selig may invoke commissioner’s power to ban A-Rod

Via NYDN: Commissioner Bud Selig is prepared to invoke one of the office’s most extreme privileges and ban Alex Rodriguez from baseball if the embattled Yankees does indeed pass on a plea deal to fight a Biogenesis-related suspension. Article XI, Section A1b of the Collective Bargaining Agreement allows the commissioner to ban someone to preserve the integrity of the game, basically.

If Selig were to go to that extreme, he would be bypassing both the grievance/appeals process and the Joint Drug Agreement, the only document that addresses performance-enhancing drug discipline. They’d rely on evidence showing A-Rod tried to interfere with the Biogenesis investigation, not necessarily evidence showing he purchased a banned substance. It’s pretty obvious MLB and the league is leaking this stuff in an attempt to pressure Alex, and even if Selig did invoke the rule to ban him, it would result in a monster legal battle. A-Rod would have nothing to lose at that point. Seems like a scare tactic, really.