Alex Rodriguez's baseball career may be over.
The New York Daily News is reporting that the injured Yankees third baseman will be suspended, along with eight other players, by the end of the week.
According to the newspaper, sources have indicated that most of the players will receive a 50-game suspension, but Rodriguez is among a minority of the accused who will face stiffer penalties for lying to Major League Baseball investigators or interfering with the yearlong investigation of the Biogenesis clinic in Coral Gables, Fla.
The Daily News reported that Rodriguez is scheduled to play a simulated game Thursday and could join the parent organization on Friday in San Diego.
"But at this point," the report added, "it seems unlikely that Rodriguez will ever step foot on a major league diamond again."
The Daily News said that Rodriguez had his longest workout at the Yankees' Tampa complex since team physician Christopher Ahmad diagnosed him with a Grade 1 strain of his left quad on July 21. Rodriguez, who turned 38 on Saturday, showed no signs of any pain or discomfort during agility drills.
He reportedly showed greater mobility and looked fresher performing a series of wind sprints, taking batting practice and infield practice than he had during his minor league rehab assignment earlier in July.
The Daily News said the investigation of Rodriguez has turned up overwhelming evidence that the slugger used performance-enhancing drugs in 2010, 2011, and 2012, citing unnamed sources. League officials are said to have hundreds of emails, text messages and records of phone calls that prove Rodriguez continued to use illegal substances after admitting in 2009 to steroid use from 2001 to 2003 when he played for the Texas Rangers.
Rodriguez's lawyer, David Cornwall, already has indicated that Rodriguez will appeal the looming suspension. But because Rodriguez reportedly will be accused of interfering with the investigation, the Daily News is speculating that commissioner Bud Selig would invoke the right to suspend a player to preserve the integrity of the game.
Such a measure would bypass the joint agreement between the league and the players union allowing players appealing a suspension for drug use to be allowed to play.
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