SoxCast in Syracuse: Episode 10

A-Rod, MLBPA, release statements

Source

Here's the full text of the statement Alex Rodriguez and his legal team has released regarding the suspension decision, via the player's Facebook page:

“The number of games sadly comes as no surprise, as the deck has been stacked against me from day one. 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.

I have been clear that I did not use performance enhancing substances as alleged in the notice of discipline, or violate the Basic Agreement or the Joint Drug Agreement in any manner, and in order to prove it I will take this fight to federal court. I am confident that when a Federal Judge reviews the entirety of the record, the hearsay testimony of a criminal whose own records demonstrate that he dealt drugs to minors, and the lack of credible evidence put forth by MLB, that the judge will find that the panel blatantly disregarded the law and facts, and will overturn the suspension. No player should have to go through what I have been dealing with, and I am exhausting all options to ensure not only that I get justice, but that players’ contracts and rights are protected through the next round of bargaining, and that the MLB investigation and arbitration process cannot be used against others in the future the way it is currently being used to unjustly punish me.

I will continue to work hard to get back on the field and help the Yankees achieve the ultimate goal of winning another championship. I want to sincerely thank my family, all of my friends, and of course the fans and many of my fellow MLB players for the incredible support I received throughout this entire ordeal."

The MLB Player's Association has also released a statement, disagreeing with the decision, but not supporting any further legal action:

"The MLBPA strongly disagrees with the award issued today in the grievance of Alex Rodriguez, even despite the arbitration panel's decision to reduce the duration of Mr. Rodriguez's unprecedented 211-game suspension. We recognize that a final and binding decision has been reached, however, and we respect the collectively bargained arbitration process which led to the decision. In accordance with the confidentiality provisions of the JDA, the Association will make no further comment regarding the decision."

Alex Rodriguez suspended for 2014 season

Source

It's official. The arbitrator has decided, and Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez will miss the entire 2014 baseball season with a suspension of 162 games, plus any playoff games the Yankees might qualify for.

Technically this is a reduction in the original punishment, as Major League Baseball had initially suspended Rodriguez for 211 games. Either way this could mean the end of his career, as he'll be forty years old before he's allowed to take the field again, and who's to say the Yankees will want their lineup anchored by a middle-aged scandal-ridden pariah.

For anyone who isn't a Yankees fan, this is a boon, as the Yankees still have to find a third baseman for the upcoming season, and the market is thin this late in the offseason.

Of course, Rodriguez and his legal team aren't ready to accept this decision - they have released a statement saying they will be taking the case to a federal court.

The Complicity of Bud Selig

Photo source

However you feel about the Alex Rodriguez debacle, you have to agree that it makes for excellent baseball television. Personally, I'm quite enjoying the circus - schadenfreude has always been one of my strong suits.

When A*Rod takes the field in Chicago, he'll doubtless face a loud chorus of boos and jeers. After talking to a few Yankees fans, I don't think his reception would be much better at home in the Bronx; Rodriguez has a seriously dwindling list of supporters.

But to focus on Alex Rodriguez at the expense of all the other storylines surrounding the suspensions would be a mistake. Sure, A*Rod's return is somehow both arrogant and brave, and certainly makes for great drama - but there's so much more to talk about.

In light of Bud Selig's singleminded prosecution of Rodriguez and his fellow PED users (which, of course, is warranted given their alleged indiscretions), we should not lose sight of the fact that it was Selig and his power structure who let the steroid era go unchecked for so long.

Selig took the reins at MLB in 1998, when the game was still trying to recover from the strike and cancelled World Series in 1994. So when the home runs started flying out of (publicly funded) stadiums and fans started flocking back in, he looked the other way.

In his defense, Selig was dealing with an at-times uncooperative Player's Union, but he didn't manage to get steroid testing into the game for six years. Selig ignored the problem for more than half a decade. Six years of rampant PED use across the game created a culture of steroids in cities everywhere - and people like Alex Rodriguez realized that the benefits outweighed the risk.

The wide use of performance enhancing drugs is a black eye to the game of baseball, but the sport will recover - just like it has recovered from scandals in gambling, amphetamines, and greed. The reputations of Alex Rodriguez and Bud Selig, however, may be beyond recovery.

Braun suspended - who's next?

Source

Ryan Braun has been suspended for the rest of the season by Major League Baseball. The former NL MVP tested positive for PEDs back in 2012, but the test results were thrown out as a result of a procedural mistake.

There's no running from this Biogenesis scandal for Braun - and there will be no denials of Anthony Bosch's credibility from other players named in Biogenesis records now that Braun has acknowledged their accuracy.

Between Braun's admission and the 2012 cases of Biogenesis clients Bartolo Colon and Melky Cabrera, there's very little wiggle room for other players linked to the "anti-aging" company.

This likely means that Alex Rodriguez and Nelson Cruz will be getting suspensions very soon - a first offense is good for fifty games without pay.

Opening Day Thoughts

If you follow me on Twitter, you already know that I missed watching today's game live, because I was stuck in Port Authority and then on a bus from 11am-7pm.  Luckily, I was able to listen to the WEEI coverage via the MLB AtBat app, and then I watched the Sox in 2 replay on NESN when I finally made it home.

I love Opening Day. It's truly a clean slate - everything about last year is wiped away, and, as they say, hope springs eternal. It especially helps when the team can start off the year with a decisive win over their storied rivals.

It was pretty strange to watch a Red Sox/Yankees Opening Day sans David Ortiz, Derek Jeter, Mark Teixeira, and Alex Rodriguez - and it just seemed plain wrong to see Kevin Youkilis, clean-shaven and pinstriped, scoring the first Yankees run of the year. But everything went according to plan for the Red Sox, who didn't trail once during the game.

On a personal note, I have Jon Lester on my fantasy team, but I never got to set my roster (I was computerless in New York and New Jersey all weekend), so I won't be getting any credit for his first win of the season. Since that was the only negative aspect of the day, I think I can get over it.

The Indefinite Steroid Era?

The Miami New Times has dropped a bomb on professional sports with an exposé by Tim Elfrink entitled, "A Miami Clinic Supplies Drugs to Sports' Biggest Names." Among many, many others, Alex Rodriguez's name appears multiple times in the article, and in the records of alleged steroid distributor Tony Bosch.

In addition to some fantastic investigative journalism, I want to give kudos to the New Times graphic design department for the hilarious cover art displayed with the online article:

I can't decide whether the syringes are meant to resemble literal missiles being dropped at the quaint community depicted, or if they're meant to look like a telltale rainbow? Either way, it's almost enough to distract from the incredible substance of the article.

Lending credence to the evidence of A*Rod's continued drug use are certain names of the Yankee superstar's MLB peers, who have been caught and punished for using a banned substance - like Melky Cabrera, who was suspended for 50 games this past season for testing positive for some illicit drug. Old friend Bartolo Colon is also among those listed in Bosch's records - and was also suspended last season when MLB drug tests revealed his use of synthetic testosterone.

A*Rod, of course, denies the allegations, and the Yankees have released a statement saying that they'll leave the investigation to the Commissioner's Office (which has obviously never bungled a steroid problem before, so THAT'S A RELIEF).  However, Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe speculates that the Yankees might sue to have A*Rod's gargantuan contract finished early if the allegations can be proven - which is a shame for me on a personal level because I was really enjoying the buckets of money that the Yankees were paying Rodriguez as we all watched his health deteriorate before out very eyes.

Sadly for Rodriguez, he's out for an extended period of time due to his perpetually bad hip (surely another coincidence, and not a side-effect of many years of steroid use), and as such won't have the chance to be tested by MLB and then get on the field in an attempt to prove he can play clean.  

But even with MLB testing for HGH fr the first time (in season) in 2013, can the results be trusted? Even players making just the major league minimum salary have the money to pay for the newest undetectable drugs, and to hire someone to monitor their regimen.  Even a clean testing record is relatively meaningless in an era where the newest designer PEDs are all but undetectable for the right price, and baseball is full of multi-millionaires.  The article fromthe New Times just reminds us that we're really nowhere different from a decade ago: anyone could be using, and there may never be a way for fans to know for sure who's clean.

But there is one thing we can all be pretty sure of: A*Rod - like Cabrera, and Colon, and Manny Ramirez before him - is not.

[I highly recommend heading over to the Miami New Times website and reading the whole article if you have ten minutes to spare - it's really a good piece of journalism.]

Injuries abound

Ryan Kalish can't catch a break. I wrote his projections post a week ago today, under the assumption that he would be healthy and ready for spring training and Opening Day - and it's become clear that's not the case.

Kalish has struggled with myriad injuries in his short career (he's just 24), and had surgery last offseason in an attempt to fix his torn labrum, and he's had other surgeries, as well. Everyone had been optimistic that the light was on at the end of the tunnel, that Kalish would finally be healthy enough to fulfill his potential. Alas, this is not the case, and he will be out "for the foreseeable future" because of impending surgery on his right shoulder.

If you should need some schadenfreude to brighten your day after hearing that, I definitely have some news for you.  The Yankees should be without Alex Rodriguez until at least after the All Star break, and quite possibly for the whole season.

Of course, A-Rod is 37, and he's been injury-prone for a number of years, so this isn't surprising. And yes, the Yankees have proven that they can win without the power-hitting Rodriguez, but I take a certain amount of satisfaction in knowing that they'll be paying him at least $28 million dollars to play a maximum of about two months.

I would never, ever wish injury on anyone - including A-Rod, who is very close to the top of my most disliked player list - but it is nice to remember that the Red Sox aren't the only team dealing with serious injuries before the season is even underway.

Fist-pump at your own risk.

FINALLY... My finals are over, grades are in (excpet for one particulaly delinquent professor), and aside from a few administrative things, I'm done with sophomore year. You guys know what that means: I'm now free to focus on the more important things in life - like baseball.

Last nights heart attack of a game was actually the first time in about a week and a half that I got to watch more than 3 innings of a Sox game, and I sure picked the right one.

As soon as I was able to tune in, my least favorite player (ever) started melting down. Yes, I'm referring to Joba Chamberlain AGAIN... the kid's a punk, and watching him blow the game for New York was absolutely delicious. The first PLAY I saw was least-favorite-players two and three botching a Scutaro grounder - an A*Rod throw that pulled Mr. Leigh Teixeira off the bag at first. So. Much. Gloating. What an expensive error, eh? Between the two of them, A*Rod and Marky-Mark are pulling down nearly $60million this year.


I'll be back later with a longer post (probably a State of the Sox update), but I had to take this opportunity when I had ten free minutes and give you patient readers something after my extended absence!

Quote of the Day

Today's quote of the day is in two parts: the first is a comment to Chad Finn in his weekly Boston.com chat (if you don't participate, or at least read the transcript, you're missing out), and the second is Chad's response.

Comment from Jay: Any chance that New York will use the now vacant old Yankee Stadium area to build a giant warehouse to store A-rod's ego and Jeter's intangibles?

Chad Finn: I like the way you think, Jay. Unfortunately, I think Leigh Teixeira is using it as a walk-in closet.

Here, A*Rod gets a fistful of Jeter's...erm... intangibles.

Two men after my own heart. I've done my share of digs at A*Rod and the Woman Who Has Mark Teixeira's Balls in a Vice Grip, but I grudgingly respect Jeter. That said, the media absolutely FAWNS over him, and it disgusts me a little (okay, a lot).

For the actual plans on the area where the Stadium stood, click here.

A*Rod v. Manny

This morning (when I started this post), I was having a bit of writers block, so I decided on a picture post. What could be better than an awkward photo contest between one player from each Championship series? That's right, folks: this is A*Rod v. Manny - the best of the worst.

Manny starts the fight by exposing his tongue (and attempting to lick his goatee)....

...but A*Rod counters by exposing his moobs (and starring in the single most vomit-inducing photo of all time).

Manny shows off an impressively terrible hairdo...

...and Alex shows off his bad sportsmanship.

Manny's grill is for sale on EBay...

...but A*Rod's dignity is for sale to his teammate ("Please love me, Derek!").

Manny digs for affection from Manager Joe Torre...

...And Alex digs for gold in front of White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen.

Manny pretends he's an airplane...

...but Alex pretends he's attractive.

Manny sniffs his bat...

...and A*Rod sniffs a mirror.

Manny enjoys a bromance...

...BUT A*Rod wins, hands down, for the extreme stalkerish quality of this terrifying picture (credit to Center Field for this pic!).

(I did not take any of the above photographs, and the rights remain with their respective owners. All pictures are available via Google images if you type in "Awkward Alex Rodriguez" and "Awkward Manny Ramirez.")

Quote of the Day (Oh, Manny)

Today's quote in not by a Red Sox player, nor is about about a Sox player... at least a current one.  Everyone knows about Manny by now, so I'll spare you all of that.  Suffice to say, this quote is by Ken Rosenthal, and is about Manny being Manny.

"As if there was any doubt, he is now the village idiot of baseball."

We all know Manny is somewhat of a savant: a genius at hitting, but somewhat clueless (I suspect intentionally) about most everything else.  I for one don't think this is good news, and I don't understand the Red Sox fans who are rejoicing.  Maybe I'm weird; I didn't exactly dance in the streets when A-Rod was outed either, even though Rodriguez was already so easy to hate.  I'm sick of hearing about how my childhood heroes are cheaters.  It's like finding out that the toothfairy doesn't floss or that Santa Claus is an anti-Semite.  No one likes hearing those things... they just hurt.  

For every new name in the headlines, the game takes a little more damage, something MLB doesn't really need in this economic climate, and, quite frankly, a phenomenon that I could do without.  Baseball has been a really good coping mechanism for me: if I'm having a bad day, I like to watch/listen to/write about/obsess over the Red Sox.  Any of my friends will tell you that I have an unhealthy obsession with this team, and with the sport in general, but in reality, baseball has helped me keep my sanity.  The last few years of my life have been filled with bad news, disappointments, and general misfortune.  Don't get me wrong, good things have happened too, and I appreciate every one of them, but the Red Sox have gotten me through a lot of bad times.  You can understand then why this blow to the game saddens me.  

I won't pretend that I never liked Manny, because he endeared himself to all of us before it turned bad.  However, he was not my favorite.  My favorite players have been those who aren't the prototypical slugger (currently Pedroia, obviously).  That's not to say I don't like the other players, because I do.  I feel reasonably secure that my current favorite won't break my heart (unless male-patterned baldness is a sign of PED use...?), but this news cuts pretty deep, for the simple reason that Manny was a stalwart in the Sox lineup all those summers.  Manny was a large part of my baseball obsession, because he was a large part of the Red Sox.  So I for one hope he's telling the truth, because I would much rather keep my current opinion of Manny being Idiotic than have to switch that to Manny being a Cheater.

Stop talking to A-Rod, it can only end badly... STOP IT!

Quote of the Day

As I'm sure everyone is aware, Selena Roberts was the reporter who first divulged that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in 2003.  Well, now the enterprising Ms. Roberts has come out with a book alleging that baseball's most highly paid player used as far back as high school, and even while with the Bronx Bombers.

In a story on boston.com's Extra Bases Blog, A*Rod, when asked about the assertions, said "I'm not going there."  Good choice, Alex... but you know what the better choice would have been? Never using in the first place.  Oh, well, that ship sailed years ago.

Asked if he was tired of hearing about steroids, A*Rod said "Ahhh, ya."  I like to imagine that his tone of voice evoked memories of Stephanie from Full House rattling off her trademark quote: "How rude!"

Five Minute Musings

Five quick notes, while I figure out another way to procrastinate.

1.) It's nice to win a game that way, isn't it?  Jonathan Van Every had the game of his life, with not one, but two spectacular catches in the field, and there was that little home run in the top of the ninth that provided the Sox with their margin of victory.  Van Every, interestingly enough, was initially drafted by Cleveland, but never made it further than their Triple-A affiliate, making his major league debut with the Sox last season after he was signed as a minor-league free agent.  Last night's blast was Van Every's first career home run.

2.)  There's a column on weei.com called "Five Things We Learned..." and it recaps the previous night's game (I never miss it, and highly recommend it).  However, in today's column, Rob Bradford seems to be implying that Ellsbury is a good leadoff man because his OBP is seventeenth in the majors... Is it just me, or does "good" seem to mean he's be better than most regular leadoff hitters, not somewhere in the lower-middle?  The other part of the Ellsbury piece talks about how he's becoming affective with two strikes... at least that's something that bodes well for a leadoff hitter.  Seventeenth out of thirty? Seriously?

3.) The sun [won't] come out, tomorrow (or today, or all weekend).  That's right, the Red Sox are headed to Tampa for a four-game series with the floundering Rays in that godawful dome.  The Rays are back to their once-familiar place a the bottom of the American League East with an 8-14 record, having just lost a series to the Minnesota Twins.  Thus far, the Rays have lost to the Sox (1), Baltimore (2), New York (2), Chicago (3), Seattle (2), Oakland (2), and Minnesota (2).  Only five of these losses have come at home however, where the Rays enjoyed a .704 winning percentage last year... it should be a good series.

4.) Who would have thought that, 20+ games into the season, the AL East would look like it does.  Boston on top? Check.  New York in third? Understandable.  Baltimore in fourth? Yep.  But... the Rays last? Toronto in second? Huh?  Toronto, we all decided during the offseason, couldn't compete; the only good piece they had was Roy Halladay, and he can only take the ball every fifth day.  The Rays hadn't lost anyone terribly important, and had even added a true cleanup man in Pat Burrell... Well, that's the beauty of baseball: the games aren't played on paper, becasue if they were, everyone would concede to the Yankees, every year.

5.) This: 

Allegedly, A*Roid did take steroids while in the Bronx, and even as early as high school... Tsk, Tsk, Alex, can't you ever stay out of the papers??

[Almost] Spring Training and the "Steroid Era"

Kevin Youkilis and Jon Lester have already reported to Fort Meyers for Red Sox Spring Training.  Did I mention I love these guys?  In other spring-related news, it was warm enough in Connecticut this morning to wear shorts to the gym.  There's the proof: the snow will melt, the grass will grow, and there will be baseball again.

Thursday can't come soon enough; I'm really tired of this whole "off-season" thing.  I mean, does any really care where Manny ends up anymore?  I mean, as long as he's far, far away from Fenway Park, it's alright with me, and all signs point to the Dodgers, or possibly the Giants [although I have learned never to count the Yankees out].

In other news, no one is surprised that Alex Rodriguez allegedly failed a steroids test in 2003.  Mazz has a good piece about it in the Globe today: at this point, we can only guess who else is on that list.  Would anyone be blindsided if it came out Nomar was using while in Boston?  We already know about Mo Vaughn and Eric Gagne.  Who else could be on the list?  Jason Varitek is looking smaller these days, though the official explanation is that he never regained his weight after an illness early last season.  

The point is, the time to point fingers and gloat has passed [OK, maybe we can gloat a little].  Until the other 103 names on that list with A-rod are released, I for one will be operating under the assumption that at least one of my childhood heroes was a juicer.  The sad truth of it is that more players than we would like to believe were artificially enhanced, and that the most famous among them never needed to use.  Roger Clemens would have been a shoe-in for the hall before he ever met Brian McNamee.  Barry Bonds was one hell of a player, and would have been remembered fondly if he had never heard of BALCO.  And A-rod is a natural.  As much as it pains me to say it, Alex Rodriguez might be one of the most athletically gifted ballplayers of his generation.  However, once you get linked with steroids, your legacy is forever tainted [just ask Mark McGwire's brother].

Hopefully baseball can recover from this [although, if more people boycott, I might actually be able to get tickets].  But the "Steroid Era" is not over.  It won't be over until every last player who used has retired.  And A-rod still has nine years with New York.

A-roid

SI.com is reporting that Alex Rodriguez tested positive for two different types of steroids in 2003.  I am SO glad he didn't come to Boston.

"A-fraud..."

According to ESPN.com, Dodgers Manager Joe Torre's new book The Yankee Years [written with SI's Tom Verducci] bashes several members of the New York Yankees organization, up to and including Owner George Steinbrenner and GM Brian Cashman.

Allegedly, the book details clubhouse tensions, most specifically Alex Rodriguez's "obsession" with shortstop and captain Derek Jeter.  Now, I think that the "A-rod is gay," talk is overdone, so I'm just going to clarify by telling you that the Yankees third baseman sees Jeter as a rival, not a lover... I think [sorry, couldn't resist].  This actually makes quite a bit of sense, when you think about it.  When A-rod came to the Yankees, he had been a shortstop for the Rangers for his whole career.  Since the Yankees had their home-grown golden-boy occupying that position, A-rod made the shift to the right.  However, the rivalry is long gone, for Jeter at least.  And if A-rod thinks he's competing with the beloved captain for fan affection, he's sorely mistaken, as there is NO contest.

Fans resent A-rod for being somewhat of a choker in important situations.  He puts up stellar numbers all season, but, come October, he's Julio Lugo batting left-handed.  Hence the nickname A-fraud, which I assumed was a fan invention.  Not according to Torre, who allegedly claims that it was common for Rodriguez's teammates to call him by that taunting name.

I'm actually looking forward to reading this book: I have a great deal of respect for Joe Torre, and I think that the Yankees gave him a raw deal after he guided them to twelve straight playoff appearances.  Plus, any reputable book that validates Rodriguez's "A-fraud" name is definitely worth the read.

Around the Horn: Mike Lowell

"I'm kind of pumped." - Mike Lowell

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Me too. I have to admit that I was one of those people clamoring for Theo to sign Teixeira, at the expense of Lowell if necessary. I won't pretend that I was happy that Teixeira's coming would mean the departure of Lowell, but it seemed like a sacrifice that, if made, I could accept. However, knowing what we do now [that Teixeira is only in it for the money - and what his wife tells him], Lowell's own loyal sacrifice is that much more admirable.

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Mike Lowell gave up years and money by returning to Boston last off season after being named the 2007 World Series MVP. Most players go to the highest bidder, regardless of so-called "intangibles" like positive environment, dedicated fans, or good team chemistry. However, it's good news for the Red Sox that they can retain someone like Lowell: they must be doing something right. Just this off season, Dustin Pedroia admitted that he didn't mind leaving money on the table in exchange for reasonable job security. If I had my choice, I would take a team of Mike Lowells and Dustin Pedroias over Alex Rodriguezs and Mark Teixeiras any day.

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Lowell has never been that flashy player who talks a big game and only sometimes delivers. Mike Lowell is the man who never stops trying to get better. He quietly goes about his business, putting together strong season after strong season, and rarely getting the recognition he deserves. Though Lowell was drafted by the New York Yankees in 1995, Lowell made a name for himself with the Florida Marlins, winning a Silver Slugger in 2003 and a Gold Glove in 2005, before being traded to Boston before the 2006 season. At the time, Lowell was viewed as a salary dump, a player that we needed to take if we wanted Josh Beckett [and we really, really did], but he turned out to be an integral part of the 2007 World Championship Red Sox. Without #25, Boston probably doesn't make it that far.

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Add all of these things to the fact that Mike Lowell and his wife are both cancer survivors, and you have an inspirational story that can only be trumped by Jon Lester's. I highly recommend Lowell's book, Deep Drive, to anyone who has a cancer survivor [or patient] in their family, or anyone who likes the Red Sox, baseball, or entertaining literature.