Saturday afternoon Alex Rodriguez's suspension was handed down by arbitrator Fredric Horowitz. 162 games. A full season suspension. Well, almost. ARod is allowed to attend Spring Training. There is a loophole. The suspension only includes regular season, and post season. According to ESPN, the Yankees could relegate him to their minor league facility.
"Since Rodriguez is not on the Yankees' 40-man roster because of the suspension, one official said that would give the Yankees the right to send him to work outs with minor leaguers instead of Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira and the rest of his big-league contemporaries."
ARod and his legal team have prepared to file for an injunction. Joseph Tacopina will file the suit Monday morning. If the federal courts decide to take on the case, ARod will be able to play during the season while the case is heard in court.
The Yankees do have a few options. They could cut him, but would still owe him the $61 million. That option seems unlikely though. If he is relegated to the minor league facility, they could ask the coaching staff to ignore him. Not very mature, but certainly an option, although also highly unlikely.
It was also reported by the Long Island Newsday that ARod was given an invitation to play for the Long Island Ducks. While other professional leagues, including Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan all honor MLB's drug agreement, the Ducks are an independent league. The Newsday writes "But the Atlantic League, to which the Ducks belong, is not affiliated with major leagues and can offer employment to whomever it chooses." Although sources have said that playing for these independent leagues would jeopardize the remaining $61 million that is owed to him. Knowing that, it seems unlikely that he will go ahead and play with any independent league, including the Ducks.
Casey wrote all about the PLAYERS ASSOCIATION coming down on the MLB. Basically, when Bud Selig was asked what evidence he had on ARod, he was unable to give an answer. Read it! It was great! There will be more on this story. Not sure if I should say "stay tuned," or make some sort of apology. This thing is far from over.
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