MLB officials have reportedly told Rodriguez's attorneys and the MLBPA of the decision to suspend Rodriguez and as many as 10 other players, saying that Rodriguez is no longer able to discuss a settlement. The third baseman will likely receive a suspension for at least 214 games, through the end of the 2014 season, but is not expected to receive a lifetime ban.
The third baseman will reportedly miss the rest of the 2013 season and all of 2014
Earlier reports stated that Rodriguez would not be allowed to play while he filed his appeal. Yankees manager Joe Girardi, however, expects Rodriguez to play on Monday. Girardi told Nightengale that he has tentatively placed Rodriguez in the lineup at third base for Monday's game.
Rodriguez played in two rehab games for Double-A Trenton on Friday and Saturday, recovering from a Grade 1 quad strain. He is scheduled to fly out to Chicago to rejoin the team Sunday.
In addition to being hit with a 65-game suspension and missing the remainder of the 2013 MLB season, Milwaukee Brewers superstar Ryan Braun lost a major sponsor in Nike on Friday.
ESPN.com's Darren Rovell broke the news of Braun's contract being terminated in the wake of his involvement in the Biogenesis performance-enhancing drugs scandal. KeJuan Wilkins, a Nike spokesman, confirmed that Braun and Nike no longer have a relationship.
The 29-year-old left fielder has been wearing Nike baseball cleats and batting gloves for all seven years of his major league career, according to Rovell. Also noted in the report is that Nike recently began rolling out Braun T-shirts in its stores, with sayings like "Big Bat Like Braun" and "Braun Owns Milwaukee."
It is the latest in a long line of endorsement deals that Braun has lost, including associations with Muscle Milk and Wisconsin-based Kwik Trip. Nike is undoubtedly the most notable sponsor to sever its ties with the 2011 National League MVP, though.
Braun's brand had already been damaged significantly by his decision to take performance-enhancing drugs, and this move from Nike is just another serious knock on his image. To get back into good graces with sponsors and baseball fans alike, Braun clearly has a lot of work to do.
In 61 games this season for the Brewers, the five-time All-Star batted .298 with nine home runs and 38 RBI.
The Braun saga makes what has already been a tough season in Milwaukee even more trying. The Brewers sit last in the NL Central division with a 46-62 record entering Friday's home game against the Washington Nationals.
Commissioner Bud Selig is prepared to levy a lifetime suspension on New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, while suspending about eight others before the weekend, two people with knowledge of the negotiations told USA TODAY Sports.
The people were unauthorized to speak publicly because no announcement is expected until Thursday or Friday.
"I hope he does it,'' former Commissioner Fay Vincent told USA TODAY Sports. "It's right for baseball. The harder he comes down, the better it is for baseball.''
Rodriguez, according to his attorney, David Cornwell, will appeal any suspension, regardless of the severity. The other players are expected to receive 50-game bans, and most are considering accepting the discipline without appealing, according to one of the people.
As many as 20 players were originally linked to Biogenesis, a Miami clinic that allegedly provided performance-enhancing drugs, but some players could not be disciplined for lack of evidence.
Besides Rodriguez, All-Stars Nelson Cruz of the Texas Rangers and Jhonny Peralta of the Detroit Tigers are facing possible suspensions, along with shortstop Everth Cabrera of the San Diego Padres.
Rob Manfred, MLB executive vice president of labor relations, informed the Major League Players Association officials on Tuesday of their findings and suspensions. The players and their representatives will decide whether they will file an appeal or accept the penalties, which would all but end their regular season with barely 50 games remaining.
Rodriguez, who used performance-enhancing drugs from 2010-2012, according to Biogenesis documents originally released by the Miami New Times, has never been punished for doping. Players who violate the drug policy are subject to a 50-game suspension.
Milwaukee Brewers outfield Ryan Braun was suspended last week for 65 games for what MLB called violations of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and Joint Drug Agreement.
It appears that Brian Cashman's opinion only means so much when it comes to how the New York Yankees handle their roster.
According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Yankees general manager was against the club trading for Alfonso Soriano, but ownership overruled him to send prospect Corey Black to the Chicago Cubs for the 37-year-old outfielder.
As Sherman points out, this isn't the first time the Yankees have done something that goes against Cashman's personal ideas.
The general manager was against the club re-signing Alex Rodriguez when the star third baseman opted out of his contract in 2007, attempted to convince ownership to re-sign catcher Russell Martin last season and was against re-signing Ichiro Suzuki.
Rodriguez will make $29 million this season and at least $20 million for every season until 2017, according to Spotrac. Martin has gone on to play an integral role for the Pittsburgh Pirates and their successful season to this point, while Ichiro is hitting .270 with six home runs and 26 RBI to this point of the season.
The Yankees will owe Soriano $7 million over the next two seasons, as the Chicago Cubs agreed to pay much of the $24 million left on his contract, per Buster Olney of ESPN.
Soriano is 0-for-8 at the plate in his two games since returning to the Yankees and is hitting .249 with 17 home runs and 52 RBI on the season.
The hits just keep on coming for Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun in the wake of his 65-game suspension for involvement with a Miami Biogenesis clinic. Many of Braun's current teammates have been questioned by the media, but it is a former teammate in Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Zack Greinke who is now making headlines.
According to Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times, Greinke is extremely disappointed by the entire situation. Greinke was Braun's teammate in 2011 and part of 2012, and he was one of many who believed him when he said he was innocent of performance-enhancing drug allegations.
The main thing is, yeah, he lied to us, Greinke said. He forced us to lie for him, threw people under the bus in order to help himself out and didn't care, blamed others for his mistakes and it’s just a lot of things you don’t expect from people.
Greinke could have been referencing Dino Laurenzi Jr., who took a drug-testing sample from Braun back in late 2011. The result of that test set the wheels in motion for Braun's current suspension, as he was originally suspended for 50 games.
Braun got the suspension overturned due to a protocol breach in the handling of his sample, but he took the opportunity to bash Laurenzi publicly even though he had gotten away with something very serious.
According to Hernandez, Greinke said that Braun put up a very convincing front:
Oh, yeah, 100% believed him. Everything was so convincing. He had people to blame. He seemed like a really good guy. He was a good teammate at the time. You don’t know the guys that he was pinning it on. I'm not positive, but I think everyone 100% believed him at the time. Especially the next year, he looked just as good as the year before. His numbers his whole career, Hall of Fame numbers. How could you not believe him? He was so convincing.
While Braun's history with performance-enhancing drugs calls into question the elite numbers he has put up over the course of his career, Greinke believes that the perception of Braun as a person is even more important.
Not even talking about the player. It’s just the person. Just the fact that he was willing to use anyone that got in his path. The closer you were to him, the more he would use you. It's just disappointing that a human being could be like that.
Greinke believes Braun owes a lot of people an apology, saying, "The fact that even to this day he hasn't had a real apology is really upsetting to me. I thought about it a bunch. He still hasn't really apologized."
Greinke's sentiments are likely shared by many of the players and fans who believed Braun over the past year.
The Philadelphia Phillies have reportedly added some depth to their pitching staff, agreeing to a six-year deal with Cuban right-hander Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez worth more than $50 million, according to Yahoo! Sports MLB columnist Jeff Passan via Twitter:
Passan adds that, according to a source, the deal could pay Gonzalez as much as $60 million when bonuses are factored in. That figure would be a record for an international player:
On Saturday, CBS Sports' Jon Heyman reported that the contract figures were a little different than those reported by Passan.
A talented starting flamethrower from Cuba, Gonzalez has a lot to offer Philadelphia as it gets set to make a final push for the postseason this summer.
According to ESPNDallas.com's Richard Durrett, the 26-year-old "has a nice assortment of pitches," and can reach 96 mph on his fastball. Durrett also hears that Gonzalez possesses an impressive splitter, slider and changeup.
Gonzalez was "granted free agency" back in June, according to MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez. Around the same time, he received an unblocking license from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control that made him eligible to sign with a major-league team earlier this week.
The Phillies, who are five games below .500 and nine games back of the Atlanta Braves in the NL East following Friday's road loss to the Detroit Tigers, currently rank 22nd in the majors in team ERA, sporting a 4.16 earned run average.
Only San Francisco and San Diego rank worse among National League teams in that category. Therefore, this move makes plenty of sense for Philly, even if the cost is alarming.
Adding Gonzalez right before the trade deadline allows the Phillies to add a top-flight starter to their rotation without having to sacrifice any prospects in exchange. Financially, only time will tell how wise of a move this one is for Philadelphia.
NEW YORK -- Up by nine runs in the late innings, the Tampa Bay Rays wound up needing their closer to finish off this latest victory.
"It's not always an oil painting," manager Joe Maddon observed.
Masterpiece or not, here's a portrait of a winning team: From last place a month ago to now leading the tough AL East.
Jeremy Hellickson retired Yankees newcomerAlfonso Soriano with the bases loaded to preserve an early lead and the streaking Rays tagged CC Sabathia once again, beating New York 10-6 Friday night.
The Rays have won 20 of 23 and took sole possession of the division lead for the first time since June 10, 2012. Recently seven games behind, Tampa Bay moved a half-game ahead of Boston.
"Of course there's gratification in it, but there's no complacency," Maddon said. "It's always good to validate what you're doing."
Ben Zobrist, Yunel Escobar and Evan Longoria doubled during a six-run burst in the second inning, and James Loney later homered and drove in four runs as the Rays got way ahead in the seventh.
"We were playing such a great game tonight. Not a good game, a great game," Maddon said. "Unfortunately, we let them up a little."
"You don't want an under-duress moment after you're up 10-1 and have to sweat one out," he said. "That's not cool."
Well supported all season, Hellickson (10-3) won his sixth straight decision. Fernando Rodney, the Rays' fourth pitcher in a three-run ninth, got the last out for his 25th save.
"It's not hard to win games when I'm getting eight, nine, 10 runs a game," Hellickson said.
Trying to add power, the Yankees acquired Soriano from the Chicago Cubs before the game, trading a minor league pitcher to get the seven-time All-Star and lots of cash to cover much of his contract.
Soriano got his chance to make a sudden impact, batting with the bases loaded, two outs in the third and the Yankees trailing 6-1. With Tampa Bay's infield overshifted to the left side, he ran the count full before lofting a routine fly to right that ended the inning.
The 37-year-old Soriano, who began his career with the Yankees in 1999 and drew a big ovation in his return, went 0 for 5, scored once and drove in a run. He got an RBI with a bases-loaded forceout in the ninth.
"It's a good day for me today to have a chance to put on the uniform again," he said.
"I hope we have a better chance tomorrow," he said. "It's a tough day tonight."
Soriano did more on defense, catching a fly to start the game, making a throw that helped nail a runner and running down a foul ball.
Hellickson gave up one run and four hits in six innings, retiring his last nine batters and sending the Yankees to their seventh loss in 10 games. He also flashed a fast glove, snaring Ichiro Suzuki's liner right in front of his face.
Sabathia (9-9) was booed early and was hit hard for the third straight start, allowing 22 runs over 14 innings in that span. He got a true Bronx cheer when he struck out Loney while escaping a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the third.
Sabathia joined Chien-Ming Wang as the only Yankees pitchers since 1935 to allow at least seven runs in three straight starts.
"I feel like throughout my career I've been able to kind of avoid and pitch out of the big innings. Here lately I haven't been able to make a pitch," he said.
"We're right in the middle of this thing and if I can help us out, I feel like we would be doing a lot better. But getting no help from me is making it tough," he said.
The Rays have been particularly prickly for Sabathia. He is just 4-11 in 23 starts against them, including four this season, since joining the Yankees.
A two-out walk to eighth-place hitter Jose Lobaton set up Sam Fuld's RBI single in the second and Desmond Jennings followed with a bunt single that catcher Austin Rominethrew away for another run. Longoria delivered a two-run double and scored on Wil Myers' single.
Loney had an RBI single in the fifth and hit a three-run homer in the seventh off Adam Warren.
This is to be no ordinary weekend in Cooperstown, New York. Hall of Fame weekend has arrived.
Huzzah...?
Not this year, no.
Ordinarily, Hall of Fame weekend is a big deal. But in 2013? Shoot, there's no shame in anyone admitting that they had no idea it was coming up. Thanks to what happened in January, it's not like it matters this year.
The Cooperstown gatekeepers pitched a shutout in this year's voting, their strongest statement yet against the dirty, no-good juicers from the Steroid Era who have found their way onto the ballot. Judging from the voting totals—37.6 percent for Roger Clemens, 36.2 percent for Barry Bonds, a mere 16.9 percent for Mark McGwire and so on—and the voting habits of from recent years, the line in the sand is as clear as day.
That line should be erased, and the sooner the better.
No, there shouldn't be an open invitation for Steroid Era stars to come waltzing in. I'm of the mind that their cases should be handled on an individual basis, with consideration given to the evidence against them and how much the naughty stuff conceivably helped them.
That's simple scrutiny, not a line in the sand that requires lumping all Steroid Era stars under one umbrella and keeping them out based on principle. Which is bogus, especially if the rationalization is that the sanctimony of the Hall of Fame must be upheld.
Psh. What sanctimony?
We can start with what Frank Thomas said last month. The former Chicago White Sox great isn't in the Hall of Fame yet, but he told ESPN's Jerry Crasnick that he had spoken with a few Hall of Famers and found that they were in agreement on how welcoming they are of juicers in Cooperstown: not at all.
Said Thomas:
They say, 'Hell, no.' They don't want any of these guys in. These are super-superstars in my eyes, and they're serious about it. I would suggest you get around the Johnny Benches, the Ozzie Smiths, the Dave Winfields and Mike Schmidts. Hold court with them and see how they feel. I've talked to them and it was eye-opening.
I want the game to be where it's supposed to be. Guys have climbed that mountain for a reason, and that's important to me. To hear the Hall of Famers talk, their legacy is important to them. I respect that. That's why I had such feelings for Hank Aaron and those guys coming up, and I wanted to get to the level of the Hall of Fame. When guys take drugs like that, they're not deserving of being on that level.
I've already used the Big Hurt's remarks as a jumping-off point for another article on PEDs and the Hall of Fame, and I'll repeat a sentiment from that one here.
Current Hall of Famers don't want to be rubbing shoulders with juicers, eh? Well, too bad. They already are.
Tom Pennington/Getty Images
He didn't give a name, but Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post said (viaWezen-Ball.com) in Ken Burns' documentary The Tenth Inning that he had one player tell him back in 1988 that he was drinking a "Jose Canseco milkshake." That player set a new career high for home runs that year and is now in the Hall of Fame.
So there's at least one juicer in Cooperstown. And it doesn't stop there.
We know from page 28 of the Mitchell Report that the use of anabolic steroids in baseball was "alarming" as far back as 1973. Seeing as how a problem doesn't become "alarming" overnight, it's perfectly fair to conclude that steroids were invading baseball well before 1973.
In turn, it's fair to conclude that players were juicing decades before the arrival of the Steroid Era. That span of time produced Hall of Famers. Some of those Hall of Famers are bound to have juiced during their playing days. Logic!
But wait, it doesn't stop there either.
We know that Pud Galvin, a 365-game winner, was granted posthumous entry into the Hall of Fame in 1965, and we know that he was juicing as far back as the late 1880s. We also know that he was celebrated for it.
As Galvin's career was coming to a close in 1889, he turned to testosterone treatment developed using an extract from the testicles of a guinea pig and a dog. The treatment was touted in the press as a substance that would 'rejuvenate the old and make strong the feeble.'
So if you're looking at performance-enhancing drugs in baseball as a phenomenon limited to the 1990s and early 2000s, don't. The use of PEDs in baseball stretches all the way back to the sepia-toned early days. It's not a stretch to think that the league's cleanest days are happening right now.
And this is to say nothing of amphetamines, or "greenies" in baseball parlance. They were finally banned in 2006, and that was the end of a way of life. Greenieshad been a popular performance-enhancer for ballplayers dating back to the 1950s, and they were taken by scrubs and greats alike even after amphetamines were deemed a controlled substance by the federal government in 1970.
Elect Steroid Era stars to the Hall of Fame, specifically the ones known to be dirty, and yeah, they'll be accepted begrudgingly. Or shunned entirely.
But they wouldn't be a foul new breed of Hall of Famer, bringing with them corruption unlike any Cooperstown has ever known. We have every reason to believe that the Hall already plays host to those who played chemically-enhanced and has been doing so for many years.
As for the notion that steroid users should be kept out on the basis that they're bad guys, we don't even have to get into that discussion about whether the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs is something that only bad guys are capable of.
That discussion is irrelevant in the case of the Hall of Fame. As much as it wants to be a home for the virtuous, in reality, it's not.
Ty Cobb was a generally rotten SOB who likedto get into fights (subscription required) with fans. Rube Waddell was a living, breathing id who also wasn't morally opposed to beating up fans. Mickey Mantle was a drunk and a womanizer who once gave a child an autograph complimenting his mother on her, ahem, cup size. Even the ever-lovable Kirby Puckett, one of my favorite players as a kid, had a (very) dark side.
These guys almost look like saints compared to some of the bigwigs who have found their way into the Hall of Fame over the years. Had Charles Comiskey not been such a cheap tyrant, the infamous Black Sox scandal would not have happened. Had Kenesaw Mountain Landis been a man of action rather than ofseemingly on-purpose inaction, baseball's color line would have been abolished well before 1947.
It should be remembered that folks like these are in the Hall of Fame whenever a voter dares to invoke the character clause of the Hall of Fame voting guidelines. That clause was well-intentioned, but the years that have passed and the characters who have been put in the Hall of Fame despite it have made it moot. It would be best if it was done away with, as Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sportsargued back in January.
Eliminate the hilariously farcical notions that the Hall of Fame is no place for juicers and/or morally reprehensible people, and you're left with the one purpose the Hall of Fame is legitimately good for: to honor the history of baseball.
Heck, that's basically the Hall of Fame's motto: “Preserving History. Honoring Excellence. Connecting Generations.”
The voters are causing the Hall of Fame to fail at the first two parts. As long as some of the greatest players ever are being denied entry, the Hall of Fame will not be preserving history or honoring excellence to the degree that it should be.
Again, I'm not arguing that zero consideration should be given to which players juiced and how much they benefited from them. If it can be proved that a player juiced and it can be reasonably concluded that he only enjoyed a great career because he juiced, then by all means, leave that player out. Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa come immediately to mind.
But Roger Clemens? It can't be proved and indeed hasn't been proved that he juiced, so, really, he shouldn't even be up for discussion in this article or any other about the Steroid Era. Strip away the suspicions, and Clemens is a no-brainer for the Hall of Fame.
And Barry Bonds? He won't say he did so knowingly, but he has admitted to juicing during his career. Supposedly, his juicing started as far back as the 1999 season.
But by then, Bonds was already the first player in baseball history with 400 homers and 400 stolen bases, and his 164 OPS+ through his first 13 seasons was historically good. Per Baseball-Reference.com, only 10 current Hall of Famers had an OPS+ at least that high through their first 13 seasons.
If you want to believe that steroids invalidated the latter stage of Bonds' career, fine. I'm right there with you. But they didn't make him a Hall of Fame-caliber player. He could have retired after 1998 and still would have been a first-ballot member.
So let's say these guys and, eventually, other guys with PED links like Andy Pettitte and David Ortiz are put in the Hall of Fame. Ask yourself this:
What harm could possibly come of it?
The sanctity of the Hall of Fame wouldn't be sullied, as the sanctity of Cooperstown is already a farce to begin with. And if anyone's worried about whether glorifying PED users would give contemporary players something to strive for, well, that's really nothing to worry about.
The league is different these days. Testing and public outrage have made it undeniably cleaner than it was in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and the union's approach to Biogenesis shows just how much the times have changed. It no longer protects the juicers. It protects the innocent, who far outnumber the juicers.
Then there's the fact that the primary incentive for players to use PEDs is not to one day get into the Hall of Fame anyway. The much more relevant potential reward is that of a big-time payday. Go ask Melky Cabrera. Or Ryan Braun. Or any one of the minor leaguers who get busted every year.
It doesn't matter if the penalty for a first-time offense stays at 50 games or goes up to 100 games or life. The potential reward is still going to exist and is still going to be tempting. Some players will go for it. Absolutely nothing that happens with the Hall of Fame is going to change that.
So let's stop pretending like the earth is going to split open and fire and brimstone are going to rain from the sky if a few PED users find their way to Cooperstown. They should certainly be chosen carefully, and I'd be fine with their plaques being littered with asterisks and a few flashing red lights on the side just to be absolutely sure everyone knows what they did.
But putting their plaques in place would not be punching a hole in baseball's moral fiber, nor would doing so heighten the level of cheating in baseball beyond where it already is.
Here's the only thing that would happen: The history of baseball will be appropriately honored.
And that's all anybody can and should ask of the Hall of Fame.
Although his right-handed power bat should provide much-needed protection for superstar Robinson Cano, it's arriving too late to salvage the season.
Here are Soriano's offensive stats dating back to 2010:
Year
BA/OBP/SLG
HR
K%
2010
.258/.322/.496
24
22.4%
2011
.244/.289/.469
26
22.2%
2012
.262/.322/.499
32
24.9%
2013
.254/.287/.467
17
23.2%
2010-2013 averages
.255/.307/.485
25
23.3%
Hannah Foslien/Getty Images
Hafner has only three extra-base hits in the entire month of July.
Across the board, the 37-year-old appears to be a significant upgrade over New York's other potential No. 4 hitters. An anemic combination of Travis Hafner, Lyle Overbay and Vernon Wells have collectively slashed .218/.293/.337 with 11 home runs and a 27.2 strikeout percentage when occupying the cleanup spot.
On the other hand, Soriano comes with plenty of undesirable attributes.
Contrary to recent prolific Yankees' offenses, the 2013 edition is reluctant to take pitches and tire out opposing starters. Soriano will only aggravate that problem.So far this season, he's seeing only 3.65 pitches per plate appearance and swinging at the first offering 35 percent of the time compared to the league averages of 3.77 and 28 percent, respectively.
The former All-Star's defensive limitations also make this a strange fit. The Yankees are most desperate for offense at third base and behind the plate, but Soriano hasn't played anywhere except left field over the past six seasons. With outfielder Curtis Granderson progressing toward a return to the Bronx, according to the New York Daily News, it's going to be difficult for manager JoeGirardi to play all his best bats at the same time.
Above all, this team faces an imposing uphill battle to qualify for the postseason.
Entering Friday, the Boston Red Sox lead New York by six-and-a-half games atop the AL East, and MLB Network's Peter Gammons reports that the Red Sox havescouts "everywhere" as they prepare to bid on available starting pitchers.
The Tampa Bay Rays have a six-game cushion over the Yankees and no apparent weaknesses. Sure, the Baltimore Orioles are within reach for the second AL Wild Card, but their surplus of remaining home games and relatively young roster provide obvious advantages down the stretch.
Jason Szenes/Getty Images
Good move, Cashman, but you needed to make a bigger splash.
General manager Brian Cashmandid well to grab Soriano, a reputable power source and clubhouse presence who's under contract through 2014.
This move, on its own, doesn't quite have the potential to save the Yankees from a frustrating fate this summer. We'll soon find out whether or not Cashman has more surprises in store as the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline approaches.
The third baseman will reportedly miss the rest of the 2013 season and all of 2014
