He’d be eligible for a longer, or lifetime, ban based on the obstruction of justice stuff related to Biogenesis, not just for having tested dirty.
That’s not the way I understand it. I guess we’ll see what they say.
I don’t see how it is not a perfectly appropriate punishment for the offense.
When it comes to taking PEDs, there are relatively well structured punishments that the league can hand out. They can’t go too far afield before a player can successfully appeal.
Now, I think the obstruction of justice, the attempt to scuttle the investigation entirely, is something that can be punished all on its own, and is basically without precedent.
With the Yankees scheduled to play the White Sox here in Chicago both tonight and tomorrow night, and the weather forecast indicating thunderstorms are likely on both evenings (which could lead to one or both games getting postponed or cancelled), the “does A-Rod get into a game in 2013” saga could last a bit longer. 
That’s effectively a lifetime ban as far as him playing again. He’s what…38 now? He’d be 40 by the time the suspension is up, and his skills ain’t going to improve while he isn’t playing. I guess in theory he’d remain eligible for the HoF, but it ain’t like he’s actually going to get voted in in the foreseeable future. He better drag that appeal at as long as possible, because if he loses, he’s done as a player.
It isn’t about playing anymore, either for him or the Yankees. It’s about the time left on his contract, at $25M/yr, and there’d still be 3 (?) years left on it starting in 2015. He wants to keep the Yankees obligated to pay it, they want not to be anymore. As long as he’s eligible, they’re obligated, no matter how sucky he gets. They cut him, they’re still obligated. And the team has no leverage out of their obligation other than suspension time. The Yankees and Selig would love to reach a settlement for maybe half the remaining money, in return for Rodriguez just going the fuck away somehow, but he has no reason to.
Blame the Yankees for offering such a ridiculous contract, and blame the owners for allowing the players to get all contracts guaranteed in their union contract, unlike the other major leagues.
Yes. And one hopes so.
The Yankees have no say in this, although I have no doubt they want him to go away already. I have a feeling the last round of negotiations, or proposed negotiations, involved Rodriguez’s people telling baseball he’d accept a suspension as long as he still got paid and baseball explaining that it doesn’t work like that.
What would be his motivation for recruiting other players to Biogenesis? Sounds like all risk and no reward.
If in fact he recruited other players to Biogenesis, that’s an argument in favor of him being innocent (& that he recommended them for non-steroid services).
You would have to think these players are all guilty, or more of them would have appealed. And if they’re all guilty it’s hard to imagine that AR is the only one who isn’t. Still, that’s something of an argument.
Wanting to help friends? Company? His pathological need for everybody to love him? Sheer stupidity? I don’t think it really matters. Particularly not if there are pages and pages documenting a regimen of 19 drugs, which is supposed to be the case, as well as evidence that he bought other clinic records and destroyed them, or tried to.
After you’ve established that it’s true, it doesn’t matter why he did it. But that it makes little or no sense for him to have done it makes it less likely that he did.
None of this relates to him recruiting other players.
Sure, but the documents showing him purchasing PED, HGH, SUB-Q, etc. for thousands of dollars per week are the arguments in favor of him being guilty.
If that’s your point, which you did a poor job conveying, I absolutely agree.
signed,
etv78
proud resident of
Red Sox Nation
I’m not convinced that it makes no sense. Guys do share tricks of the trade sometimes - Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte did that - and he’s done all manner of stupid things. You know as well as I do (if not moreso) that there are reasons prosecutors don’t have to provide a motive.
I’m watching his press conference right now. What an asshole.
He did a fine job conveying that point - you were the one totally off base. Where in the world did you dig up “east coast bias” or that Loach “cheers for a team that hasn’t been competitive this century”? Were you ranting about some other post in this thread and clicked the wrong button?
Isn’t there a federal criminal probe of that clinic? A-Rod may have bigger problems coming…like an obstruction of justice charge.
Yes. The Yankees-White Sox game just started. I’m not the only one wondering if he’s going to get beaned, am I? I’m not saying I really expect it, but I wonder.
I put the over/under on beer bottles in the home plate circle at 4.
I guess at 211 games, that’s it for Rodriguez. And going out this way I don’t expect to be seeing him in the hall of fame any time soon. Or getting product endorsements for health care clinics.