Alex Rodriguez 2014

[Guest d'Kong76]

Out for season, gets 162 game suspension.

[Frayed Knot]

He pledged to appeal anything over about 100 games or so, and there were stories about how he kept changing legal teams if he wasn't getting the answers he wanted from the previous team - like from guys who were telling him to negotiate for a lesser sentence rather than leave it up to the arbitrator.
So it sounds like it's only a matter of time until the lawsuits start flying.

[Frayed Knot]

�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 defense by accused players, or any variety of objective review.�



Wow! The only thing I can figure he leaves out here is the implication that a grassy knoll was somehow involved.

[Guest d'Kong76]

[fimg=500:1i7xer95]https://si0.twimg.com/profile_background_images/152121055/DUHPOPE.jpg[/fimg:1i7xer95]
"I do not bless this decision one bit!"

[bmfc1]

Congratulations to the MFYs which had the benefit of a PED-using Rodriguez and now don't have to pay him (and clear cap space) while he's less effective.

[Lefty Specialist]

Hal Steinbrenner, come on down, you just won 25 million dollars.

[Frayed Knot]

Sure, but they still have to replace him in the lineup and at 3B this season. And as much as he's sukked lately as compared to his contract, a faded copy of ARod still projects to give them more than would most replacements. That's a lot of HRs gone without both his bat and Cano's.
Looked at another way, they just had to pay him full freight for an injured season in which he got only 150 ABs, and now will be without him for a year in which he's (presumably) healthy.
They also still owe him various bonuses -- they just had to pay him some $3 mil this week for stuff unrelated to salary.
And of course they still own him and owe him for three seasons beyond this coming one to the tune of some $61 million (again, plus some bonuses) at which point they'll have an even older and rustier version of him, one that will have sat for the better part of two seasons.


Where this helps Hal and his accountants is with the luxury tax. If they can sneak under that $189 figure this year it "re-sets" the penalty figure. The Yanx have been over the lux-tax figure for so many years now that they've long been taxed at the 50% level for every dollar they're above. But getting under the cap, even for just one season, re-sets your status so that even if they were to go on another huge spending spree and go back over the limit for 2015 they would only be taxed at the first-offender rate which I believe is more like 15%. That's why they've been so anxious to get under the goal this year because doing so will pay them back (or at least not cost them as much) down the road.

[MFS62]

He'll probably take it to Federal Court.
And, since he never FAILED a drug test, I think he'll win.
And when the evidence comes out that MLB bought their "proof", I think anything that followed will be declared "fruit of a poisoned tree"* and the case will be dismissed. Its not against the law to lie to your boss.

Later

* = cases get thrown out when the charge is based on illegally obtained evidence.

[Frayed Knot]

He'll probably take it to Federal Court. --- He's certainly threatened to do just that

And, since he never FAILED a drug test, I think he'll win. --- Highly doubtful from what I've heard. His problem is that this is a binding arbitration process agreed to by both his employer AND his union. The legal eagles who have commented on this topic say that the burden of proof falls on ARod and his team to not just show that the decision is wrong but that the arbiter conducted bad law by reaching it. IOW not only does the decision have to be wrong but the process he used to get there needs to be too.

And when the evidence comes out that MLB bought their "proof", I think anything that followed will be declared "fruit of a poisoned tree"* and the case will be dismissed. Its not against the law to lie to your boss. --- Remember that this isn't a court of law, it's an employment ruling. That, and the answer to Part 2 above, represents a HUGE roadblock for him. Also consider that MLB chose to come down with an increased penalty because, they claim, he got caught plus a whole lot more, and an independent arbiter agreed (most of the way anyway).

[MFS62]

I can hardly wait to see how this plays out.

Later

[Edgy MD]

Frayed Knot wrote: They also still owe him various bonuses -- they just had to pay him some $3 mil this week for stuff unrelated to salary.

He swept out Hank's garage last weekend.

[smg58]

I think any thread titled "Alex Rodriguez 2014" should be put in the non-baseball forum.

[metsmarathon]

smg58 wrote: I think any thread titled "Alex Rodriguez 2014" should be put in the non-baseball forum.

Bam!

I still think its utter bullshit for him to get a day over 50.

Did any player who was on that 2003 list ever subsequently test positive a second time? If so, would not that player only face 50 games? Why so much more for alex. If obstructing investigation was a factor, why did memo only get 50?

Just about any way youslice it, the punishent is arbitrary, and should be in full violation of the CBA

[Edgy MD]

Sorry, who is Memo?

[metirish]

Interesting article here from Rosenthal about possible future labor strife

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/alex-rodriguez-case-a-window-into-future-baseball-labor-strife-ped-ban-bud-selig-fredric-horowitz-011114

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

She's the one who made Roy slump, if I recall correctly.

[Frayed Knot]

metsmarathon wrote: I still think its utter bullshit for him to get a day over 50. Did any player who was on that 2003 list ever subsequently test positive a second time? If so, would not that player only face 50 games? Why so much more for alex. If obstructing investigation was a factor, why did memo only get 50? Just about any way youslice it, the punishent is arbitrary, and should be in full violation of the CBA

That's the thing though, MLB obviously thought they had a good chance to get more or they wouldn't have shot for the outrageous 211 games. I said all along that the worst thing Selig could do was get shot down over this and that any final decision short of say 100 games would have seemed like a victory for ARod's side. Plus there were numerous stories about Rodriguez's legal teams and elements of the union begging him to open talks with MLB with a view towards settling for something in between 50 & 211. And then ultimately the independent arbiter sided much closer to MLB's side then the penalty as written for supposed first-time offenders, so whatever evidence MLB has that adds up in their minds to warrant more than triple the proscribed punishment it must be pretty good.

60 MINUTES is running a piece on this tonight; maybe more info will come out then.





btw, it seems that because the penalty is for 162 games rather than 183 days (the legal length of a full baseball season) the Yanx still need to pay ARod a relatively small portion (somewhat over $3 million) of his 2014 salary, an amount which will count against the salary cap figure.

[Ceetar]

The Yankees also save a bit of HR milestone markers. (guess that's only $30 total, and unlikely he hits the last markers now)

Alex isn't going to quietly disappear this season, even if the suspension is as stands. I am surprised they didn't reduce it a little, beyond the time he played while appealing though.

He's sounding a little like Canseco did when insisting steroids were rampant about the contract guarantees for future CBAs but that might have been the players association sticking in a first volley too.

Wonder if ESPN is thinking of hiring A-Rod for the season, that'd be kind of amusing.

[smg58]

A-Rod should have figured out that the one thing benefiting him to this point in the court of public opinion is that the full details of the league's case against him have not been made public yet, and the best way to keep that from happening would be to quietly walk away. The league obviously felt that the evidence against A-Rod corresponded to 2+ violations, and ultimately the arbiter agreed with that.

[ashie62]

Tony Bosch on 60 minutes tonight with texts and claiming he himself injected Arod.

[nymr83]

Ashie62 wrote: Tony Bosch on 60 minutes tonight with texts and claiming he himself injected Arod.

Admitting to additional crimes on National TV, brilliant!

Bosch deserves a long jail sentence, the real crime here is that the feds are giving him any kind of pass for cooperating with MLB. If he wants to talk to MLB or even sell them information thats fine, but it shouldnt lessen or delay his criminal punishment.

[Guest d'Kong76]

In case you missed the 60 Minutes piece ...

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-case-of-alex-rodriguez/

[Frayed Knot]

Nymr83 wrote: Bosch deserves a long jail sentence, the real crime here is that the feds are giving him any kind of pass for cooperating with MLB. If he wants to talk to MLB or even sell them information thats fine, but it shouldnt lessen or delay his criminal punishment.

That's what disturbed me in the BALCO case too, that the prosecutors seemed more interested in finding the end users than they were in Victor Conte. One generally sees law enforcement trying to use the addicts in order to flip the dealer, not the other way around the way they did with the BALCO case.
But of course MLB isn't a law enforcement entity, they are only interested in their little corner of the world and all this, remember, came not out of a criminal investigation but rather a small local newspaper so I'm not really sure what law enforcement's attitude has been toward all this.

[nymr83]

Frayed Knot wrote: Nymr83 wrote: Bosch deserves a long jail sentence, the real crime here is that the feds are giving him any kind of pass for cooperating with MLB. If he wants to talk to MLB or even sell them information thats fine, but it shouldnt lessen or delay his criminal punishment. That's what disturbed me in the BALCO case too, that the prosecutors seemed more interested in finding the end users than they were in Victor Conte. One generally sees law enforcement trying to use the addicts in order to flip the dealer, not the other way around the way they did with the BALCO case. But of course MLB isn't a law enforcement entity, they are only interested in their little corner of the world and all this, remember, came not out of a criminal investigation but rather a small local newspaper so I'm not really sure what law enforcement's attitude has been toward all this.

Given the things that Bosch has admitted to their attitude should be "lets see how long can we put him away for"

[Edgy MD]

Nobody gets immunity unless/until they give up Jeter.

[metirish]

Can't root for anyone here, it's so fucking sordid, full of low life types....and that's just A-Rods legal team.....seriously, his lawyer?

[Edgy MD]

The Yankees should be fine. Isn't this just the sort of situation they signed Drew Henson for?

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

The $22,131,148 the Yankees saved on A-Rod is will be diverted to the $22,142,857 being spent on Tanaka's AAV. We need an independent investigation into the shennigans between MLB and the Yankees.

[smg58]

Mets � Willets Point wrote: The $22,131,148 the Yankees saved on A-Rod is will be diverted to the $22,142,857 being spent on Tanaka's AAV.

The Yankees are giving Tanaka an anti-aircraft vehicle? The North Koreans must be a bigger threat than we thought.

[MFS62]

smg58 wrote: Mets � Willets Point wrote: The $22,131,148 the Yankees saved on A-Rod is will be diverted to the $22,142,857 being spent on Tanaka's AAV. The Yankees are giving Tanaka an anti-aircraft vehicle? The North Koreans must be a bigger threat than we thought.

I believe that in A-Rod's case , it stood for "antisocial asshole value".

Later