New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez will miss the entire 2014 Major League Baseball season, seeing his 211-game doping ban reduced to 162 games.
Rodriguez, 38, was implicated in August in the long-running Biogenesis investigation into the alleged use of performance-enhancing substances.
Major League Baseball initially prohibited him from competing during the remainder of the 2013 season and the following 2014 campaign — a total of 211 games — though he has been allowed to play while his ban remained the subject of an appeal.
Arbitrator Fredric Horowitz was asked to look into the claims and on Saturday he opted to reduce A-Rod's suspension to 162 games — although the ruling will cover the Yankees' 2014 season, as well as any potential postseason games.
The suspension is a significant black mark against a player who has denied the allegations.
Despite seeing his ban reduced, Rodriguez reacted to the ruling and vowed to fight to clear his name in court.
"The number of games sadly comes as no surprise, as the deck has been stacked against me from day one," Rodriguez said in a statement.
"This is one man's decision, that was not put before a fair and impartial jury, does not involve me having failed a single drug test, is at odds with the facts and is inconsistent with the terms of the Joint Drug Agreement and the Basic Agreement, and relies on testimony and documents that would never have been allowed in any court in the United States because they are false and wholly unreliable.
"This injustice is MLB's first step toward abolishing guaranteed contracts in the 2016 bargaining round, instituting lifetime bans for single violations of drug policy, and further insulating its corrupt investigative program from any variety defence by accused players, or any variety of objective review.
"I have been clear that I did not use performance-enhancing substances as alleged in the notice of discipline, or violate the Basic Agreement or the Joint Drug Agreement in any manner, and in order to prove it I will take this fight to federal court.
"I am confident that when a Federal Judge reviews the entirety of the record, the hearsay testimony of a criminal whose own records demonstrate that he dealt drugs to minors, and the lack of credible evidence put forth by MLB, that the judge will find that the panel blatantly disregarded the law and facts, and will overturn the suspension.
"No player should have to go through what I have been dealing with, and I am exhausting all options to ensure not only that I get justice, but that players' contracts and rights are protected through the next round of bargaining, and that the MLB investigation and arbitration process cannot be used against others in the future the way it is currently being used to unjustly punish me.
"I will continue to work hard to get back on the field and help the Yankees achieve the ultimate goal of winning another championship.
"I want to sincerely thank my family, all of my friends, and of course the fans and many of my fellow MLB players for the incredible support I received throughout this entire ordeal."