{"id":7341,"date":"2013-08-07T06:50:59","date_gmt":"2013-08-07T10:50:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com.\/?p=7341"},"modified":"2013-08-07T14:22:28","modified_gmt":"2013-08-07T18:22:28","slug":"do-i-have-to-write-an-alex-rodriguez-opinion-piece","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=7341","title":{"rendered":"Do I have to write an Alex Rodriguez opinion piece?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"All<\/a>

All A-Rod, all the time. Photo John Munson\/The Star-Ledger via nj.com<\/p><\/div>\n

I’ve got\u00a0Alex Rodriguez<\/strong> over-load.<\/p>\n

Here’s links that summarize the past week’s rumors and activities in the A-Rod case: first he was going to get banned for life<\/a>, then we were down to MLB “seeking” to ban him for life<\/a>, then MLB and A-Rod were negotiating a suspension<\/a>, then he faced a minimum 214-game suspension<\/a>, then officially it was a 211-game ban<\/a>, which of course he immediately appealed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So, what do I think of all of this?<\/p>\n

Honestly,\u00a0I’m happy A-rod is fighting this. \u00a0 You know why? \u00a0 Because I want to see exactly what evidence MLB has here.\u00a0 MLB basically went out and BOUGHT this evidence, they went out of their way to pursue via a sketchy legal strategy<\/a> the Biogenesis guys in order to get evidence with which to pursue these players.\u00a0 Something about that just doesn’t sound kosher to me.\u00a0 Clearly the evidence is compelling (why else would have Ryan Braun<\/strong> and the 12 other players just rolled over and accepted their suspensions?)\u00a0.. but its all secret right now. \u00a0I hope A-Rod forces discovery and forces this evidence and all the mechanisms that went into procuring it to the light.<\/p>\n

If he (or any of these other 12 players who just accepted suspensions) used the substances, where’s the proof?\u00a0 Are there positive tests? \u00a0 Why is it “bad” for A-Rod to attempt to cover things up but its “ok” for MLB to pay to “uncover” the evidence?<\/p>\n

I mean, don’t get me wrong, \u00a0I’m certainly not excusing A-rod here, nor do I think he’s clean.\u00a0 But something is just not right about the lengths to which MLB is going after the guy.\u00a0 There’s a CBA in place with pre-agreed upon punishment for PED violations; 50 games for one positive test, 100 games for two. \u00a0 How does MLB arrive at exactly “211” games? \u00a0Where is that number in the CBA? \u00a0Plus there’s this: so far we have ZERO positive tests for any of these guys, and they all seem to be just taking well timed suspensions so as to either a) be able to get back for the playoffs or b) not extend into 2014 if possible so their free agency market isn’t impacted.<\/p>\n

Initially he was to be “banned for life.” \u00a0For what?? \u00a0Pete Rose<\/strong> gambled on the outcome of games in which he was a participant. \u00a0Members of the 1919 Chicago White Sox fixed and threw games to for profit. \u00a0Those are “ban for life” types of offenses. \u00a0Steve Howe<\/b>‘s “lifetime ban” only followed SEVEN different suspensions, all for known test failures, and even that “lifetime ban” was rescinded. \u00a0How is whatever A-Rod could have possibly done here on the same level as these situations? \u00a0Doesn’t this seem like MLB and\u00a0Bud Selig<\/strong> in particular are specifically going after Alex Rodriguez?<\/p>\n

I dunno.\u00a0 Maybe its because I detest Selig and everything he and his cronies do to the sport I love. \u00a0Maybe its because I detest how Baseball operates with its little backroom deals and constant deceptions about finances and player movement. \u00a0Maybe its this ridiculous anti-trust exemption that has outlived its legal usefulness for about 50 years yet continues to protect the interests of multi-millionare team owners.<\/p>\n

I’m entirely convinced Selig is colluding as we speak with the Yankees owners to ban A-Rod.\u00a0 I’m entirely convinced Selig coordinated league wide collusion to get Barry Bonds<\/strong> out of the game (Bonds had a 169 OPS+<\/a> in his final season; you mean to tell me there was NO team that could have used his bat, even on a free agency flier? \u00a0B.S.) \u00a0Selig enabled a huckster in Frank McCourt<\/strong>\u00a0to run the Dodgers into the ground and still profit by hundreds of millions of dollars.\u00a0 Selig enabled Jeffrey Loria<\/strong> to destroy a baseball market inside of 2 years, and this after Selig gifted the Florida franchise to Loria and allowed him to pillage the Montreal franchise on the way out. \u00a0 Selig continues to inexplicably force the Oakland A’s to play in an awful stadium in order to protect San Jose “territory rights” that Oakland themselves GAVE to San Francisco years ago. \u00a0And it was Selig who gave this sweetheart\/ridiculously short sighted MASN TV deal to placate Peter Angelos<\/strong> which is now, in a completely predictable turn of events, locked in a stalemate with the two sides $100M off. \u00a0Baseball teams cry about poverty but privately make tens of millions of dollars on the backs of tax payers in publicly funded stadiums.\u00a0 It is entirely slimy and reprehensible.<\/p>\n

Slimy and reprehensible. \u00a0Just like A-Rod, in all likelihood.<\/p>\n

Maybe I shouldn’t care at all; two sides, each slimier than the next, duking it out to preserve, what exactly? \u00a0A-Rod’s incredibly over-paid salary? \u00a0A-rod’s “place” in the history of the sport, long since destroyed along with every other hall-of-fame calibre player form the last 30 years? \u00a0The sanctity of the game, long since lost at the altar of home runs in the late 90s and early 2000s? \u00a0Or is it the zealotry of a manipulative commissioner who works at the behest of and makes decisions driven by cheapskate-but-millionare owners trying to save a buck or two while trying to save themselves from themselves?<\/p>\n

A bit cynical, I am about this.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve got\u00a0Alex Rodriguez over-load. Here’s links that summarize the past week’s rumors and activities in the A-Rod case: first he was going to get banned for life, then we were down to MLB “seeking” to ban him for life, then MLB and A-Rod were negotiating a suspension, then he faced a minimum 214-game suspension, then […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[357,596,365,367,971,747,379,388,1918],"class_list":["post-7341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nonnatsbaseball","tag-alex-rodriguez","tag-barry-bonds","tag-bud-selig","tag-frank-mccourt","tag-jeffrey-loria","tag-pete-rose","tag-peter-angelos","tag-ryan-braun","tag-steve-howe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7341"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7398,"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7341\/revisions\/7398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationalsarmrace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}