Almost immediately after the suspension was announced, Rodriguez announced that he would appeal. He was the only player to do so; the others accepted season-ending 50-game suspensions without appeal. Although MLB Commissioner Bud Selig had the option of using his best-interests-of-baseball powers to remove Rodriguez from the field immediately, he chose to suspend Rodriguez under the drug agreement and not the CBA, allowing Rodriguez to continue playing while the appeal was underway. The proposed suspension would include a global lock clause, which would also prevent him from playing in other known leagues, such as Nippon Professional Baseball and the Korea Baseball Championship for example, as the leagues in those nations honor any suspensions imposed by MLB. Rodriguez hired New York criminal defense lawyer Joe Tacopina.