Alex Rodriguez will sue MLB if ban isn’t completely lifted, per report

Sources “directly connected to A-Rod” tell TMZ that the veteran slugger feels “persecuted” by the league and that he is prepared to take Bud Selig and company to Federal court if he does not get the desired outcome -- i.e. complete vindication -- from his appeal.

On what ground A-Rod would sue is unclear at this point, given that the appeals process already in play seems a rather fair way to make his case against the league.

The reported reason that A-Rod plans to go so hard after MLB if his name isn’t cleared is that he has been tested for PEDs as many as 11 times since 2011, but has never once tested positive. The sources believe that it is “absurd” for the league to hand out such a lengthy penalty to A-Rod when Ryan Braun -- who does have a positive test in his past -- was suspended only 65 games, calling the league’s investigation “abusive and borderline illegal.”

The sources added that the league has “no proof” that Rodriguez impeded with it’s investigation, and claim that MLB is harassing and intimidating witness. Rodriguez’s attorney, David Cornwell, stated in an interview Tuesday that the legal team had yet to see the league’s evidence against Rodriguez, so how TMZ’s sources would know that the league has “no proof” of A-Rod’s wrongdoing without that evidence is not readily apparent.

Cornwell also stated that he and his team plan to fight the allegation that A-Rod is guilty of multiple violations of MLB’s drug policy, but didn’t give any indication of being able to clear him completely.

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