When the Whip Comes Down

            Cheers poured out of the Yankee front office when it was announced that the third-party arbitrator in the A-Rod biogenesis saga ruled in favor of MLB and decided upon a 162-regular season ban as well as a ban for any postseason play for the 2014 season. It's more than certain Rodriguez will appeal the decision in Federal Court, but as it stands the Yankee Organization will save themselves the $25 million salary A-Rod had coming to him this season due to the suspension.



           The penalty came as a surprise since 162 games is three times more than the usual 50-game suspension a player receives for failing a drug test, yet technically Rodriguez didn't fail any tests at all. Commissioner Bud Selig was pushing for a 211-game penalty, but word from the MLB office was that they're more than satisfied with the decision. The MLB Players Union did protest the length of the suspension, but within their statement they too left Rodriguez hanging out to dry.



            Without a failed drug test, the evidence that sealed Rodriguez's fate turned out to be the testimony and saved Blackberry messages from Anthony Bosch, the person who ran the biogenesis clinic that supplied A-Rod with the "anti-aging" products. Rodriguez was foolish enough to send Bosch suspicious cryptic messages concerning "stuff" and sneaking around hotel entrances by use of service elevators. Bosch turned on A-Rod after A-Rod refused to pay him hush money to keep the whole affair a secret. If Rodriguez failed anything, it was reading his sleezeball detection radar.



            Rodriguez refuses to admit any guilt and still holds onto some belief that the decision will be overturned and he'll be in the starting day lineup when the season starts.



            While the Yankees look to be free of the dark cloud of A-Rod hanging over the club, at least for one season, there leaves the room to wonder if the Cano contract negotiations could've gone differently had the Yankees front office known they would be liberated of the $25 million they were obligated to pay A-Rod in 2014. Or does this mean that the Yankees can make a stronger push for Tanaka if they happen to get into a bidding war with the Mariners or the Dodgers? Either way, its clear the Yankees were pulling for A-Rod to get hammered and issued a statement afterwards which basically high-fived the arbitrator and MLB process without mentioning any support for Rodriguez.



            In less dramatic fashion - they'll also be no Vernon Wells for the Yankees in 2014 (and beyond) as he was formally cut by the team. The move is no surprise with the abundance of outfielders on the roster now (Ellsbury, Beltran, Gardner, Soriano, Ichiro) and the fact Wells forgot how to hit baseball after April of last season. Without A-Rod clogging up the majority of the DH at-bats, his absence serves to benefit the likes of Jeter, Beltran, and Teixeira, who need the breaks from field duty. It also helps Girardi put Soriano's bat in the lineup more often without worrying about his defense in left. For the time being, Eduardo Nunez and recently-signed Kelly Johnson will probably compete in Spring Training for the 3B job, plus GM Brian Cashman can wait till the trading deadline if any bigger names become available at the position. With A-Rod pretty much gone for 2014, the lineup will mostly appear as follows:

1. Ellsbury - CF
2. Jeter - SS
3. Beltran - RF
4. Teixeira - IB
5. Soriano - DH
6. McCann - C
7. Nunez - 3B
8. Roberts - 2B
9. Gardner - LF

           The Yankees also made the Matt Thornton signing official (Wells was cut to make room for him on the roster) for the tune of $7 million for 2 years. They also continue to pursue Tanaka, but no formal offer has been leaked yet, so the numbers involved remain unknown. Most experts predict Tanaka can fetch up towards $20 million per season; this isn't the Yankees of ten years ago and through the revenue sharing model, several teams now are in position to make Tanaka a big offer.



            Rodriguez will have to spend the 2014 season kissing his reflection in the mirror....

The Ying Yang Returns

             Ask any Yankee fan when the season started and all the key players went down in Spring Training - what would they settle for: The answer would be stay around .500 and wait for the reinforcements to get back. More or less the team has done that, but the only tease was they were a whole thirteen games over .500 at one point, and with no bonefide powerhouse in the AL East, greed took over and Yankee fans expected more!

            At the All-Star break they find themselves seven games over at 51-44, but it was a crummy end to the first half due to their latest homestand. They went 2-1 against the Orioles (good), 2-2 against the Royals (poor) and 1-2 against the Twins who they always beat up (disgraceful). Worse yet, the team received an unexpected shot in the arm when Derek Jeter returned one day sooner than expected, but then in that game he pulled his quad muscle was shut down till this coming Friday against Boston. He probably could've played during the weekend against the Twins, but Cashman and Girardi used caution with their elder shortstop.

            One interesting revelation Jeter gave was that during that time he broke his ankle in last season's playoffs against Detroit, he shouldn't have been playing on that leg to begin with. It must have been cracked for a while before it finally gave out. That's why he's the Captain!

            And the snag with the "reinforcements" part is that Teixeira, and for the most part, Kevin Youkilis are out of the equation for 2013, but miraculously Lyle Overbay has soften a majority of that blow. 

            There's still no clear schedule for Curtis Granderson, although he can't be too far away, but one certainly is Alex Rodriguez has been announced to be coming back Monday against Texas. His name is still being flung around with the Florida Biogenesis scandal and supposedly A-Rod gave his statement to MLB investigators last Friday. Leaks from MLB is that they're looking to suspend him, but their star witness from the Biogenesis lab has a sterling reputation from trying to blackmail these alleged players before going public with his information, and overall, anything dealing with Florida and legality has been bumpy lately. 

             A-Rod continues to prepare for his return because he knows MLB can't lay a finger on him, and its hypercritical for Commissioner Bud Selig to say anything about it because he was enjoying the steroid cash McGwire, Sosa, Bonds and friends were generating for baseball after the 94' strike without asking how they were breaking Roger Maris' record over and over. 

             The never-ending doping scandals and injuries aside, there was a great moment for baseball at the 2013 All-Star game when Mariano Rivera was given a warm sendoff in his final appearance at the Mid-Summer Classic. With a 3-0 lead, Manager Jim Leyland decided to let Rivera work the 8th inning to guarantee him time on the field to get his dues. It would have been nice if Rivera came into the 9th to get a save, but Leyland was worried if another reliever blew the 3-0 lead and the NL went ahead in the score, then there would be 9th inning and Rivera couldn't come out. Other than that it was a perfect night for Rivera as he worked a 1-2-3 inning and took home the Game MVP honors. 

Position:

51-44 (4th Place AL East - 6 games behind 1st Place Boston Red Sox)

Homeruns: 

- Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez are both about back in action, completely by Monday. Nix, Nunez, and newcomer Ivan Cruz have been good fill-in's, but it makes a world of difference to see those two penciled in. 

- Ivan Nova finally found his command and has turned in two consecutive dominant starts!! This is key with Sabathia and Pettitte being less than their usual selves lately. 

- Ichiro has life in his bat compared to when he started this season, and even Vernon Wells has been getting some hits again. 

Foul Tips:

- Robinson Cano (about the only Yankee who hasn't suffered an injury this season) took a nasty Matt Harvey fastball off his knee in the All-Star game. X-rays were negative and he's expected to re-start the season on Friday, but he's really someone the Yankees can't afford to go down. 

- Sabathia had a horrible start to end the first half and his 9-7 record looks very mediocre to what has been a mediocre season for him. Will he ever get on a hot streak in 2013? 

- David Phelps experienced some back issues and was skipped for his last start, hopefully the break gave him time to rest and get back on the good track he was on. 

Strikeouts:

- Travis Hafner has become too much of an automatic out and now he's making Cashman look bad with Raul Ibanez tearing the cover off the ball in Seattle, although it was later revealed Ibanez wanted to be closer to home in the Emerald City (of course a few extra million could've changed that). 

             The Yankees are always in the ying-yang situation of having someone like Jeter or Rivera, who are viewed as baseball royalty and do everything the right way, and then further down the bench there's Alex Rodriguez and his latest PED or celebrity girlfriend news floating about. The good-tidings from Rivera's All-Star finale, and the returns of Jeter and A-Rod will be needed to speak the club as the Yanks start a tough stretch of games against Boston, Texas, and the hot Tampa Bay Rays. A-Rod can do himself a big favor and get off to a good start. He doesn't need to mash homers every at bat, but if he's helping the team win then the fans and the front office will look the other way, as they usually do.

             Everybody just wants the victories........