A-Rod suspended for rest of season & all of 2014, appeals

Re: Lifetime ban for A-Rod coming?

Can someone wake me up when they make an announcement? It's been a few weeks of this nonsense already.

 

Re: Lifetime ban for A-Rod coming?

The notion of the Yankees "getting off the hook" is kind of silly.

Sure, if the Steinbrenners can get out from under A-Fraud's contract, they'd like to do that. They don't want to pay him anymore than Arte Moreno wants to pay Pujols the $200 million he's owed for the next eight years of his fast-fading career. They'll take a mulligan if Selig offers one.

Hal and Hank are trying to institute some sort of fiscal sanity, or else they already would've paid A-Fraud to go the hell away.

But $100 million isn't going to make any difference in whether the Yankees are able to compete in the near or distant future. The franchise is still printing money and will be able to sign big-time free agents, whether they ultimately have to pay A-Fraud every dime they owe him or not.

 

Re: Lifetime ban for A-Rod coming?

T.J. Quinn cites "a source familiar with discussions" saying A-Rod is weighing an agreed-upon suspension now.

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/9526910/alex-rodriguez-representatives-negotiating-possible-settlement-lengthy-suspension-according-source

I'm sure the person Quinn talked to is indeed a source and is indeed familiar with discussions. But there is not much indication that the source is coming from A-Rod's camp. So, more BS posturing from baseball, or real? And where will Dwight Howard land next? Tune in tomorrow ...

 

Re: Lifetime ban for A-Rod coming?

By all accounts the Yankees are tremendously interested in getting under the $189 million luxury tax threshold, next year and forevermore. And losing A-Rod's $21.5 million annual average is central to making that happen. Now, do they NEED to get under the tax? No. But they really want to, and having to pay A-Rod would work against that goal. They also aren't likely to just let him walk with close to $100 million, both because they'll be taxes on it anyway and because they'll be opening the door for him to go somewhere for $1 million (Tampa, anyone?) and beat them as a DH. So he's going to be on the team. And they don't want him on the team. That should tell you how "silly" the notion of letting them off the hook is.

The Yankees are praying for this to happen.

 

Re: Lifetime ban for A-Rod coming?

Wake me up when the Arod news is concrete. All it is now is speculation .

 

Re: Lifetime ban for A-Rod coming?

LTL, my only point was that the fiscal responsibility is a self-imposed edict from the Steinbrenners, not a situation where they're cash-strapped and being forced to tighten their belts.

So while yes, obviously, the Yankees are praying their mostly unproductive, divisive and drug cheat third baseman would either go away quietly (not gonna happen) or be forced to go away by MLB (who knows?), A-Fraud's contract isn't going to make or break the franchise going forward.

 

Re: Lifetime ban for A-Rod coming?

And I don't think I said it would. However, they would very much be "off the hook" for their bad decision.

 

Re: Lifetime ban for A-Rod coming?

I wouldn't object if they do. I really don't think they have the balls to go through with it and stick to their guns once the lawyers get involved.

 

Re: Lifetime ban for A-Rod coming?

After they get below the $189 million threshold, they would be at a lower luxury tax rate for 2015-16, which would be estimated could save them up to $46 million over the three years. Not exactly chump change, although with all the TV and internet revenue, the Yankees are making money hand over fist.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/yankees-appear-to-be-scrapping-plan-of-staying-below--189m-payroll-235433974.html

And on a side note, with what's happened with A-Rod, Pujols and Hamilton, does this seem like it could be the end of those 10-year contracts? You'd think a lot of teams would just balk at it, because of the risks of having an aging player take up so much salary.

 

Re: Lifetime ban for A-Rod coming?

It's clearly saber-rattling, but Nightengale's reporting is pretty solid when it comes to the commissioner's office. I don't doubt Bud Selig would do it if he thought he could make it stick.

 

Re: Lifetime ban for A-Rod coming?

Never liked the long-term deals for veteran guys. Too much uncertainty. The player someone was at 28 is not the same player he is going to be at 38.

 

Re: Lifetime ban for A-Rod coming?

Funny how I've heard Yankee fans complain so much about smaller market teams not spending as much as they can afford.