By Joe Schnebly, Rookie Reporter

Alex Rodriguez, third baseman for the New York Yankees, has recently been given a 211-game suspension by Major League Baseball’s commissioner Bud Selig.

The suspension came after an anti-aging clinic was searched by MLB for suspected selling performance-enhancing drugs to 14 players.

Of the players suspended, Rodriguez has the longest suspension and the longest in MLB history. A-Rod tried to appeal his suspension to a shorter period, but on the final day of the appeal, Selig did not show up to make his case. A-Rod feels that he “is being railroaded” by Selig. The 211-game suspension will leave A-Rod inactive all the way through the 2014 season and may possibly make retirement an option.

Most people, even those that hate Rodriguez, feel that Selig is just doing it to punish him. A-Rod has made some mistakes in his career, but does he have to be punished for every wrong doing? Yes, he has been a jerk and a pig. The guy was throwing baseballs out to girls with his phone number on them during the 2012 playoffs. He has bad mouthed other players on his team and other teams to try and seem like he isn’t the bad guy.

Despite this, he has a valid point. This is “technically” his first offense to the new MLBPA drug policy. The other players have only taken a 50-game suspension. Fifty games, compared to 211? You would be mad, too, if you couldn’t work the job of your dreams.

He does not deserve a punishment that is more than four times greater than the other 13 players that have made the same decision. Wouldn’t it just be easier, for everyone, to fine him and shorten his suspension than to keep a record of the games and be loyal to the rules that were set before?