Alex Rodriguez out for 162 games and probably his career

Alex Rodriguez out for 162 games probably his career


The ruling came down on Saturday afternoon from arbitrator Frederic Horowicz. Alex Rodriguez initial 211 game ban had been reduced to 162 games including the playoffs if the Yankees do make it in 2014. The Arod camp immediately responded forcefully saying they were very upset with this and would take it to the higher court. It is a hail mary legally for them to actually get this overturned and have an injunction so he can start the season with the New York Yankees. Is there a chance, of course there is but it may be a one or two percent chance.

The story of Alex Rodriguez may be one of the more sad ones there is. He had it all, good looks, amazing skill, lots of money, fame and a bright future as a hall of fame player who may have owned a lot of records. He is now just a disgraced baseball player who is the face of the steroid era and that isn’t a good thing. He will sit out all of 2014 barring a miracle and then still have three years and 61 million left on his Yankees contract, which will run through 2017. He will try to come back in 2015 after virtually missing two years and coming up on 40 years old. The stack is really stacked against him there as he has said. The Yankees of course also may just say that they can take the 61 million dollar hit and just pay him to go away. He has stated that he will come to spring training next month but I can guarantee the Yankees want nothing to do with him and may send him to the minor league side or he may just be posturing. In any case this is far from over even though it really is over for him.

His team will try and take this to court, try to get an injunction but it will all be for nothing as he spends more and more money to just have to take his suspension and move on. The problem for Arod is he probably believes his own lies by now and he does care about playing baseball and now that is being stripped away and he doesn’t know what to do. The saddest part in a way is that he could have probably taken a 100 game ban and been done with it and come back in the second half of this upcoming season. He didn’t do that and now it is costing him even more, his money, fame and his reputation, which is long gone now. It will be interesting to see how the Yankees now react and what they come up with to keep him away now and for good. Stay tuned for the never-ending drama As the Arod turns.

There was a piece on 60 minutes tonight with Anthony Bosch putting some things out there about Arod. My take on the whole thing was that everyone comes out looking dirty. Bosch of course, Arod of course and Bud Selig and Rob Manfred. I think that MLB has railroaded Arod but I am not defending him at all. I do believe he is a liar and a cheat and should of quit while he was ahead. I think MLB paid off Anthony Bosch who of course then told them whatever they wanted to hear since he would no longer be in trouble. I think Arod should have gotten up under oath if he was really innocent and I think commissioner Selig should of shown up in the arbitration hearing and faced Arod also. I don’t think any of this is going away anytime soon and I think it just looks bad for everyone involved.

MLB News and Notes

Ken Griffey retired from baseball last night. He will go down in history as one of the greatest players of all time. I am a little suprised he did it now and not at the end of the season but I guess he just realized it wasn't happening anymore. He should of been the story of the day but was overshadowed by Jim Joyce. Jim Joyce is the umpire who cost the pitcher Galaragga a perfect game. If you didn't see it or hear about and I am sure everyone has by now it was the last out of a perfect game and the hitter was clearly out by a full step or more and Joyce called him safe so the perfect game became a one hit shutout. I have to give credit for the pitcher who is handling this so well saying he will tell his kids and grandkids one day that he did pitch a perfect game but this is what happened. The comissioner and some other baseball officials are meeting about it now but I don't think you can overturn it, it would take away from the moment and also this will be remembered more because of what happened. It may also open up a pandora's box situation. This will definitely spark the debate of instant replay though, I like how they do it with the home runs but I am not a big fan of it and still like the human element. These umpires have gotten worse and worse though and something has to be done, maybe punishing them or training them better, I don't really know what the best answer is but something needs to be done. I am sure no one feels worse than Jim Joyce though.

New Baseball Committee

Comissioner Bud Selig announced this afternoon that he will have a new comittee starting this season. The committee will review on field baseball issues. There are 14 people on the committee and they are: Joe Torre-Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tony Larussa-St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Scioscia-Los Angeles Angels manger Jim Leyland- Detroit Tigers manager John Schuerholz- Atlanta Braves president Andy Mcphail-Baltimore Orioles president Terry Ryan-former Twins general manager Mark Schapiro-Cleveland Indians general manager Chuck Armstrong-Seattle Mariners COO Paul Beeston-Toronto Blue Jays CEO Bill Dewitt- St. Louis Cardinals owner Dave Montgomery- Philadelphia Phillies owner Frank Robinson-Hall Of Famer and former player George Will-Journalist Bud Selig thought that this group could have an impact rather quickly like within a year. I hope this works and it looks like a good thing but we will see what happens. The umpiring was terrible this past season and especially postseason although Bud Selig the comissioner said he has been thinking of this for some time and it isn't because of the poor postseason the umpires had. It is an interesting group consisting of many different backgrounds which is good.

Playoff schedule to change next year

Bud Selig announced today that the playoff schedule will be tightening up next season. I do think it was crazy this season how many off days there were. Bud Selig said " We are going to change it, I don't disagree with Mike Scioscia. I think he was right, so we're going to try and tighten that up." The Yankees played 15 games in 36 days from the end of the regular season to the end of the World Series. Baseball players are used to playing everyday, they play 162 games in 180 days. I understand that TV plays a factor and you have travel so it won't exactly be the same as the regular season but they should play as often as possible. If a series ends there is no reason that the team has to wait around for a week. I think when a series ends on a Saturday or Sunday they should be playing by that Wednesday. Bud Selig also said " When you plan the playoff schedule, you don't know how many games the first round will go so that is difficult. There were clubs that sat around, some were necessary, but some were not." Bud Selig also spoke about looking at instant replay and reworking the draft. His big thing is a slotting system to regulate signing bonuses but we will see what happens. I don't think they will do anything with instant replay yet but after all the missed calls in the postseason it has become a very hot topic and something has to be done. I don't see anything happening with the draft system but I am guessing he is trying to keep the teams like the Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers from overslotting and getting the best players that way but the thing is those teams always draft near the bottom so it is fair in that way.

The umpiring problem

I have thought for the last few years that the umpiring has been getting worse and worse. It has now reached a crisis this postseason, it has never been so bad. The game last night was the worst umpired game I have ever seen. I don't know how you miss the calls they did, Swisher being out at second on a pickoff, Swisher not leaving early on a tagup and Posada and Cano both being out at third. They also had a problem with the Angels catcher and the homeplate umpire where he was saying the catcher was blocking his view and you can see the catcher trying to squat lower and clearly messing up his game. I don't know what can be done about this issue but it is time for something to happen. I personally don't like replay in baseball but there has been this idea of putting some umps, maybe the line umps up in a box and they can buzz the homeplate umpire when there is a clear mistake and it can be changed. I wouldn't want challenges like their are in the NFL and of course balls and strikes and balks could not be changed as they are judgement calls. I personally think their training and the way they are graded needs to change. If you make mistakes as bad as they did last night you will not umpire any big games anymore or something like that so there is recourse for their actions. I think the biggest thing with these umps is if you aren't sure then don't call it. If they didn't call Swisher out on the tagup no one would of argued although Torii Hunter seemed to think he left early. I just think they need to pay more attention and be in the right position to make a call and not get spooked by the crowd or whatever else may influence them. I am sure Bud Selig was on the phones today trying to come up with something but hopefully something will be done after this postseason.