The nail in Alex Rodriguez's coffin is already in place and if the New York Post's report is correct, Bud Selig and Major League Baseball may be ready to drop the hammer on the names linked to Biogenesis scandal this week. A-Rod may want to move his thumb.
He won't be alone in ignomony though. Apparently, MLB has always intended to announce its Biogenesis suspensions all at once, but Ryan Braun got ahead of the field by taking what amounted to a plea bargain.
Via New York Post:
It is believed MLB wants to make the suspensions formal this week before teams reach the point at which they have fewer than 50 games to play. The penalty for first-time offenders who fail a PED test is 50 games.
MLB apparently is willing to give the same sanction to first-time offenders in this case, in which the evidence does not come from a failed urine or blood exam, but rather from an investigation. The thinking is MLB wants to provide the first-time offenders this carrot: Don’t appeal and you can serve the entire suspension this year and start with a clean slate for next season.
The judgement levied against A-Rod will be much more severe and keep him out of baseball until 2015 when he may awkwardly return to an unfamilar clubhouse and a franchise that has abandoned him for the final two years of his career. Rodriguez could retire rather than return as a Yankee pariah, but it doesn't make any financial sense. Over the final two years of his current contract, Rodriguez is due to make $61 million dollars.
