Arod suspended 162 games

[DuckDuckGose]

It's all rumours though. We shouldn't really speculate too much. I;d love for ARod top bring this to federal court. I'm pretty sure he'd implicate himself in many federal crimes and end up in jail.

[Abomination]

The legal guys were saying that if federal court agrees to hear the case, A-rod could get the suspension to be wiped out while the case is being heard, allowing him to okay. The real question is whether or not federal court agrees to hear the case

 

With the length legal trials can go, that would probably allow A-Rod to finish out his contract, then retire.

[DuckDuckGose]

that's the word out there (although obstruct not obscure), technically so did Melky though. So did Braun and he still only got 65 games. MLB wants those that get implicated to say "I did it and won't ever do it again"

 

How did Braun try to obscure justice? In hindsight the blatant lies and public apology were disgusting but I thought he ended up working with MLB in order to get a lighter suspension...

[John_Havok]

With the length legal trials can go, that would probably allow A-Rod to finish out his contract, then retire.

 

From all the opinions from the legal beagle's the mlb network on Sirius has run through today, they think A-Rod doesn;t have a snowball's chance in hell of getting his case heard in federal court. One lawyer described it as "I, a 55 year old fat, out of shape lawyer who's never played baseball has a better chance of getting a hit of Clayton Kershaw."

 

They say that federal court rarely gets involved with this kind of collectively bargained arbitration decisions, unless the person can prove their due process was violated , or there is massive evidence of bias or corruption in the decision.

[John_Havok]

Oh and A-Rod can still go to spring training since he's still under contract. Imagine the circus that's going to be.

[saskjayfan]

How did Braun try to obscure justice? In hindsight the blatant lies and public apology were disgusting but I thought he ended up working with MLB in order to get a lighter suspension...

 

given what Braun did and said and he got 70 games...he actually got caught. Arod didn't fail a drug test.....there's no way he deserves more than double the amount of games that Braun got....but whatever....let's rid the yanks of arod's salary so they can sign tanaka.

[Abomination]

Can you provide a link to this information (which is quite interesting) or otherwise source it?

 

[TwistedLogic]

This is a ******** f***ing favor for the Yanks.

 

Apparently, the players association can fire the arbitrator. This might actually be in the best interest of the players.

 

Why would they? The players association benefits greatly from this. A-Rod is an outlier case, there are very slim chances that there will ever be another case similar to this again (player with an alleged PED past that gets involved in a massive PED scandal, and is being paid near $30M by the richest team in baseball, that is also desperate to re-allocate that salary amount on other players). Since they will likely never have to defend a similar case in the future, it only makes sense to me that they wouldn't mind throwing A-Rod under the bus, while getting big contracts for several other players because of it (Beltran, McCann, Ellsbury, Tanaka).

[DuckDuckGose]

given what Braun did and said and he got 70 games...he actually got caught. Arod didn't fail a drug test.....there's no way he deserves more than double the amount of games that Braun got....but whatever....let's rid the yanks of arod's salary so they can sign tanaka.

 

ARod says he didn't get caught, the MLB says he did. You can choose one side or the other but the arbitrator clearly felt it was enough to suspend ARod. If there was literally no evidence against ARod or proof that he didn't take PEDs the suspension wouldn't have stuck. The fact of the matter is ARod cheated, got caught and now has to deal with the consequences.

 

It is ridiculous that a suspended player's salary doesn't count towards the luxury tax though. If teams were punished for steroid use instead of the players we would see PED use plummet but, that is never going to happen.

[Abomination]

It is ridiculous that a suspended player's salary doesn't count towards the luxury tax though. If teams were punished for steroid use instead of the players we would see PED use plummet but, that is never going to happen.

 

There's really no way to do that, at least not for all cases. For example, let's say evidence came out about a player cheating 2 years ago, and the player has since switched teams. Why should the new team, who likely knew nothing about it at all, be punished for it (beyond the player suspension which is unavoidable)?

 

What they DO need to do is differentiate between classes of PED, and circumstances behind taking them. If it's obvious the player couldn't have taken it accidentally (via a supplement for example) and it's a heavyweight PED, throw the book at them (at least a year). If it's something like a recreational drug, even 50 games seems a little harsh. Etc. Right now the suspension isn't high enough to make the penalty worse than the potential reward in some cases.

[connorp]

Also people should remember Braun took a plea deal and publicly shamed himself.

 

I think he was said to be looking at 100+ games.. A-Rod was also reported to be offered a plea deal but refused.

 

So one thing you can do is judge A-Rods length vs brauns length

[G-Snarls]

Oh and A-Rod can still go to spring training since he's still under contract. Imagine the circus that's going to be.

 

In fact, he PLANS to

[JaysAllMighty]

LOL at all the A-Rod supporters.

 

All the facts are not known yet his punishment is too harsh ????

 

Give me a break. A-Rod is a cheat and a liar and deserves everything he gets.

[Abomination]

You're telling me they're doctors can't detect raised levels of testosterone and hormones.

 

Why should the team doctors be expected to detect something if the league can't half the time?

[DuckDuckGose]

There's really no way to do that, at least not for all cases. For example, let's say evidence came out about a player cheating 2 years ago, and the player has since switched teams. Why should the new team, who likely knew nothing about it at all, be punished for it (beyond the player suspension which is unavoidable)?

 

What they DO need to do is differentiate between classes of PED, and circumstances behind taking them. If it's obvious the player couldn't have taken it accidentally (via a supplement for example) and it's a heavyweight PED, throw the book at them (at least a year). If it's something like a recreational drug, even 50 games seems a little harsh. Etc. Right now the suspension isn't high enough to make the penalty worse than the potential reward in some cases.

 

I think the point would be to have a drug testing program that catches offences as they happen. The other thing they could do is shift the impetus of catching PED users from the league to teams. The league doesn't have the resources to actually catch all the cheaters and some will inevitably fall through the cracks. If teams were required to catch users and punished if they didn't the system would be much more effective. This would also allow the league to punish teams retroactively as they had the burden of catching the cheater and failed.

[The_DH]

Leadership is not right. ARod gets suspended, Yankees don't get charged a thing, while they benefitted from his play. All that and Pete Rose is banned for life. Not right.

[KingKat]

LOL at all the A-Rod supporters.

 

All the facts are not known yet his punishment is too harsh ????

 

Give me a break. A-Rod is a cheat and a liar and deserves everything he gets.

 

This isn't so much about supporting A-Rod but rather pointing out the mixed motives at work. This does as much to reward the Yankees as it does to punish ARod. It also may tip the balance in the power share between players and owners. It's ARod's very unpopularity that facilitates these things.

[Abomination]

I think the point would be to have a drug testing program that catches offences as they happen. The other thing they could do is shift the impetus of catching PED users from the league to teams. The league doesn't have the resources to actually catch all the cheaters and some will inevitably fall through the cracks. If teams were required to catch users and punished if they didn't the system would be much more effective. This would also allow the league to punish teams retroactively as they had the burden of catching the cheater and failed.

 

Then should the teams be allowed to test a player every day, or twice a day? Every week? Every month? Do players need to agree to have cameras in every room of their homes, cars, etc and be monitored 24/7? At what point does it violate the rights of the player? Do teams get penalized retroactively because a newer test that wasn't available at the time was applied to old samples? Do they get penalized retroactively when NO test exists to allow them to detect the drug but the player gets caught as part of the paper trail from a DEA investigation?

 

You just can't do that. The only way the team should be punished is if there's evidence that they helped persuade the player to take them or worse (in which case they should get hit extremely hard, like loss of all draft picks for 3 years or something).

[DuckDuckGose]

Then should the teams be allowed to test a player every day, or twice a day? Every week? Every month? Do players need to agree to have cameras in every room of their homes, cars, etc and be monitored 24/7? At what point does it violate the rights of the player? Do teams get penalized retroactively because a newer test that wasn't available at the time was applied to old samples? Do they get penalized retroactively when NO test exists to allow them to detect the drug but the player gets caught as part of the paper trail from a DEA investigation?

 

You just can't do that. The only way the team should be punished is if there's evidence that they helped persuade the player to take them or worse (in which case they should get hit extremely hard, like loss of all draft picks for 3 years or something).

 

That would be collectively bargained. And most that would be unnecessary to catch cheaters anyways.

[John_Havok]

So one thing you can do is judge A-Rods length vs brauns length

 

and today's winner for the "Best Dirty Quote Taken Completely Out of Context" goes to connorp!

[Angrioter]

and today's winner for the "Best Dirty Quote Taken Completely Out of Context" goes to connorp!

 

Intelligence fun...Love it!

[LunchBox]

It's surprising that people have such strong opinions on this issue. Yes there was no precedent for a suspension of this length, yes it was about solidifying Bud's image, yes improving NYY's financial situation was a factor but does any of that really matter?

 

ARod is obviously mentally ill and raising these points only feeds his attention-seeking behaviour. His suspension is obviously unjust but ultimately it's good for the game.

 

Baseball needs to collectively agree to stop enabling this maniac and more generally stop making PEDs a hot-topic. Let ARod fade into obscurity.

[Candy Maldonado]

Bosch on 60 minutes tomorrow

[TheHurl]

Can you provide a link to this information (which is quite interesting) or otherwise source it?

 

I don't provide sources.

[The Cats Ass]

The Witchhunt wins, brutal?! Can Selig f*** off now please.

 

I guess, I'll be dropping A-Rod from my team.

 

Wanna trade for him in the ddl so you can drop him in that too?

[The Cats Ass]

But wouldn't it be worth it just to have the satisfaction of dropping him?

[Chappy]

But its okay for the same fans to illegal drugs them at some point in their life.

 

Unless those fans have a workplace drug test policy, it's not the same thing.

[Chappy]

LOL at all the A-Rod supporters.

 

All the facts are not known yet his punishment is too harsh ????

 

Give me a break. A-Rod is a cheat and a liar and deserves everything he gets.

 

Not really. Either they set some standard rules or they stop pulling BS out of their asses.

[Chappy]

Good for A-Rod, I hope he mops the floor with these asshats!

 

Agreed. This is complete BS.

[BlueJayWay]

given what Braun did and said and he got 70 games...he actually got caught. Arod didn't fail a drug test.....there's no way he deserves more than double the amount of games that Braun got....but whatever....let's rid the yanks of arod's salary so they can sign tanaka.

We don't know what Arod did though.

 

Anyway, the people complaining that it helps the Yankees and whatever, two things: First, Arod is still by far the best option at 3B for them. Now they have to play the whole season with someone worse. And two, it's not like the rules have just been made up now. This is the way it's always been: a player is suspended for PEDs, they don't get paid, and the team doesn't have to pay.

 

This is MLB going after Arod, not trying to help New York.