The Dolphins Make Me Cry.com - Forums

Crazy. He is appealing, which will mean he will play out the season. 

11 players, including Cruz from Texas got nailed with 50.

The hammer comes down.

200 games?!?!  WOW!

I wonder how they determined that he deserves quadruple the punishment that everyone else got.

Here's the list, besides A-Roid (12 others):

• Nelson Cruz
• Evereth Cabrera
• Jhonny Peralta
• Antonio Bastardo, Phillies reliever
• Francisco Cervelli, Yankees catcher (on DL)
• Jordany Valdespin, Mets outfielder (minors)
• Jesus Montero, Mariners catcher (minors)
• Cesar Puello, Mets outfielder (minors)
• Sergio Escalona, Astros pitcher (minors)
• Fernando Martinez, Yankees outfielder (minors)
• Fautino De Los Santos, free-agent pitcher
• Jordan Norberto, free-agent pitcher

Also noted: Gio Gonzalez and Danny Valencia were on the reports but cleared of wrongdoing.  Ryan Braun, Bartolo Colon, Melky Cabrera and Yasmani Grandal have already served 50-game suspensions.

^^^^^

Because he tried to use his money and influence to intimidate people and destroy documents to hamper this investigation

I don't understand why A-Rod's suspension was over 3x longer than Braun's.

Not enough hate for Braun. Its still funny how A-Rod's 1st day back, is the 1st day of his "suspension".

Unfortunately, I would be surprised if the 211 games stand. He did a lot wrong, but I think it gets reduced to 75-100 due to some legal loophole, kind of like the Braun situation.

If he is done for 2014, it very likely gets the Yankees under $189 Million and resets the luxury tax. Basically, this schmuck gave the Yankees back about $80 Million in lower taxes and his salary being forfeited. Thanks for 2009 where you gave one of the best postseason performances of all-time, now go away forever.

I don't see it getting reduced much, if at all. If it were solely for drug use, then yes...but he actively tried to stop an active investigation, and this gives more leverage to the league that the CBA cannot help with.

Considering his actions after being caught, I think 211 games is pretty lenient. He's lucky they're not pushing harder for a lifetime ban.

We need a 3 strike rule for PEDs in baseball:

1st offense 50 games
2nd offense whole season
3rd offense life long ban

And once you have a 1st offense you have to have regular tests to make sure your clean. (Ideally, everyone should have this)

Keep in mind that A-Rod has never actually failed any drug test that counted.

^^^ I hate when people say this. This was the same BS people were saying about Lance Armstrong. Any player with half a brain and monetary resources is going to use substances that are ahead of the testing procedure.

I understand that, and I understand the Sword of Damocles that fell on Armstrong when he ran out of appeals and was finally punished.

I'm not saying A-Rod should get off scot free.  But he's getting 200+ games and he hasn't failed any tests, while other people have failed multiple tests and only gotten 100.

Like Goodell with Bountygate, Selig is overreaching... but Selig doesn't have half the power of Goodell (relatively speaking) and will be forcefully slapped down by the union.

I would think obstruction of justice would carry a much higher penalty than the infraction itself. Isn't that why he is being punished so heavily?


As well ... didn't baseball say they would officially go for a lifetime ban if he fought it?

From my understanding, the obstruction is the issue. Plus, he may not have failed a test but he came up in previous investigations and admitted to using PEDs previously. Admission to previous offenses + obstruction gets you what he got.

This is basically what it is now.

1st:  50
2nd: 100.  After extended spring training, rehab, etc - you've basically eliminated the meat of the season.
3rd:  You're gone.

The union doesn't have nearly the ground to stand on here you might think, thanks to the new collective bargaining put into place and the testing agreed to by both sides, and what goes into getting caught with drugs (whether you test positive or not). 

If I had to guess, what Selig wants is for Alex to be gone for the better part of next year.  This would bring him close to his 39th / 40th birthday.  By slapping him with 211 games (this season and next), it's clearly an over reach.  This won't be decided by baseball, it will be decided by independent counsel.  I'm willing to bet MLB is shooting for / counting on 100-150 of it to stick, which is what they really want all along.  But if you start with 150, you'll end up down close to 100 after appeals.

This will drag into the winter before it's decided.  I don't think Alex will be suiting up for much of next season.  He will have about 15-25 games of eligibility, if that.  MLB is trying to levy it's own death sentence on him.

A-Roid's 2009 performance can be looked at as the same situation for Mark McGwire's in 1998.  Notice how quickly both of these guys saw their bodies break down after those tremendous seasons as a result of their PED use. 

This is getting intense.  My B/R is reporting that A-Roid's camp leaked information implicating the other players who were suspended

It's to the point where if A-Rod is found grinding up babies to stay youthful, I wouldn't even click on the link. I believe it.

I'm glad Dempster threw at him last night.  I would have done the same thing.

I don't care that Dempster threw at A-Rod last night, everyone wants to.  But I also think Girardi had every right to be pissed and Dempster should have been tossed. 

I don't think you can toss a guy for thumping a batter.  Mistakes happen, even if it was on purpose, give him the benefit of the doubt.  But I think when it becomes so obvious that he was deliberately trying to hit him (1st pitch behind him, 2 pitches inside, then one in the ribs), Dempster should have been the one ejected.  Even Schilling said, you don't throw behind a guy unless you're trying to hit him.

That said, how long do the Yankees intent to let A-Rod be a distraction?  What if every pitcher in the league threw at his head every time A-Rod stepped in?  How long does that go on before the Yankees just tell him to get lost?

I may have been the biggest A-Rod fan here on these boards... I saw him play in the minors up in Bellingham, and I was 4 rows off the field when he made his big league debut for the Mariners. I bought an A-Rod t-shirt (not a real jersey) that same night, and have supported the guy without question throughout his career.

I can only take so much though, and A-Rod has finally pushed me off my fan perch. I believe he has lied and cheated his way through the latter stages of his career, and I am convinced that he tried desperately to sabotage MLB's investigation to keep his ass out of the fire...a fire he built himself. The player that I see in his uniform now bears little resemblance to the talent-rich and innocent kid I saw when he was 19 years old, and I'll never be able to look at the guy again without feeling like a sucker for supporting him as long as I did.

What do they care? If it creates a base runner then it's good for them. In fact, if people come just to boo him that works too.

Dempster is an asshole. If you must throw at the guy, don't take 4 pitches to do so, risk getting yourself tossed(like he should've been) and also risk one of your teammates getting hurt through retaliation.

I wonder if he throws at Dustin Pedroia every time he brings up his child screwing brother? It takes a special kind of schmuck to have people feeling sympathetic towards A-Rod and even cheer when Alex gets retaliation. Good job, Ryan. Enjoy being left off of the postseason roster.

Maybe someone should throw at David Ortiz because he was caught cheating.  I mean, since that's the way we handle things now.

Throwing at people has always been a way to handle things. It's only been the modern era that we throw people out because we "assume" they did it on purpose.

David Ortiz isn't making a mockery of the game.

I don't condone what happened.  I actually think it was quite stupid.  Comparing A Rod to Ortiz is equally numb.  Ortiz may have (probably did) cheat.  He didn't get caught (1) and isn't dragging on this dog and pony show after getting caught (2).  A Rod is making a mockery of the whole thing, it's ridiculous.  He is putting other players in a position to defend his sorry ass through association of being members of the union.  Don't think for a second other players weren't applauding internally.

I still think it's a total joke that the players of the Noble Sports of baseball and hockey are allowed, nay, required, to self-police by throwing baseballs at each other and frequently brawling, yet football players are suspended for fighting and if a basketball player even so much as leaves the bench area, he faces a mandatory suspension.

In point of fact, Ortiz did get caught on the same 2003 test (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/07/30/ortiz.steroids/) that A-Rod failed.

Unless I am mistaken, A-Rod has exactly as many positive tests on record as Ortiz and one less than Manny Ramirez.

In case you forgot, David Roidtiz was nabbed failing that survey test back in 2003.  The same test A-Roid took and failed.  He was also named in the Mitchell Report.  That, combined with his size and power, tells me he's just as dirty as A-Roid.  The only difference is he's stayed out of the headlines.

Update.  Dempster just got smacked with a five game suspension.