Will Baseball Wunderkind A-Rod Get A Lifetime Ban?

Did Alex Rodriguez learn nothing from Lance Armstrong?

The record-breaking baseball superstar has admitted to steroid use in the past, but is firm on the point that, this time, Major League Baseball has got it all wrong. MLB disagrees. They're all set to hand A-Rod a lifetime ban for using performance-enhancing drugs unless he agrees to a plea deal, which he's reportedly working on.

It's been a busy time over at MLB, where they've been busy dealing with the scandal since early this year. That's when a pissed-off employee at the Biogenesis "rejuvenation" clinic came forward with the news that a whole bunch of baseball stars had been using it to, uh, rejuvenate with illegal performance-enhancers. Lots of them.

Alex Rodriguez is the most high-profile of the nine baseball stars in hot water over claims that they went to the clinic specifically to do a Lance Armstrong. (Well: same shit, different drugs.) A-Rod is considered one of the greatest baseball stars of all time, and was the youngest player to hit 500 home runs. He also had the most lucrative baseball contract in baseball history.

Back in 2009, A-Rod admitted to steroid use when he was with the Texas Rangers between 2001 and 2003, and the MLB ultimately decided not to charge him.

Now, history's repeating itself a bit: "Nobody is hiding anything," A-Rod has said of the Biogenesis charges. "It's weird."

In spite of all the "weirdness" of facing a lifetime ban from the game, A-Rod is reportedly caving to negotiations. Rumor has it that the MLB has evidence that Rodriguez tried to coerce a witness into not testifying, and is now agreeing to a plea deal that will see him suspended rather than banned. The length of the suspension will depend on how many games he spent high on those sweet, sweet performance-enhancers.

Also linked to Biogenesis was Milwaukee Brewers player Ryan Braun, who was suspended for the next 65 games and didn't contest the charges. The other players are expected to receive bans of roughly 50 games. At least 20 baseball players have been linked to Biogenesis, but according to reports, there isn't enough evidence to charge them all.