Report: Selig Prepared To Ban A-Rod For Life Today or Tomorrow

From Bob Nightengale:

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.

...

In banning Rodriguez for life Selig could invoke Article XII (B) of the CBA, which states:

"Players may be disciplined for just cause for conduct that is materially detrimental or materially prejudicial to the best interests of baseball, including, but not limited to, engaging in conduct in violation of federal, state or local law.''

MLB will contend that, in addition to lying about performance-enhancing drug use, Rodriguez lied to MLB officials while attempting to sabotage their investigation, according to one of the people.

When asked if MLB is planning to impose a lifetime ban on Rodriguez, union executive director Michael Weiner said in an email: "I can neither confirm nor deny.''

This could all go down as soon as today so stay tuned.

What are you hoping happens? Do you want to see A-Rod in pinstripes ever again?

Major League Baseball Expected To Suspend A-Rod, Many Others

From Jon Heyman:

Alex Rodriguez, who once appeared on his way to breaking baseball's all-time home run record, is all but assured of a Biogenesis-related MLB ban being levied against him -- quite possibly more than the usual 50 games for first-time offenders -- people familiar with the case say.

Rodriguez is expected to be one of up to 15 or so players to receive suspensions by MLB when they are announced, possibly within a couple weeks. All the suspensions could be announced simultaneously.

Rodriguez declined to answer the questions of MLB investigators when they interviewed him, sources told CBSSports.com, as did perhaps most of the other players linked to the PED case. The players union believes baseball's Jenkins Rule allows players not to answer MLB investigators' questions, and players are being advised that their answers could be used against them in a possible appeals process or additional legal matter.

A-Rod, Brewers star Ryan Braun -- the other high-profile player linked to the case -- and most other players involved publicly denied they received performance-enhancing drugs from now-defunct Biogenesis or its proprietor, Tony Bosch, who became a witness for MLB in the case.

Any Biogenesis-related suspension based on so-called "non-analytic positives" (not triggered by a positive test) is subject to appeal -- though the likelihood now is that suspension announcements would be made before any appeals. Players union chief Michael Weiner told the New York Daily News, speaking generally and not necessarily about A-Rod, that appeals aren't necessarily automatic, explaining that in cases where the evidence is overwhelming the player might simply accept a suspension.

...

'I don't think he's going to beat the suspension back to the field,' one person connected to Rodriguez said...

...Sources who have spoken to Rodriguez say the Yankees third baseman is expecting a suspension, though he hasn't said that publicly.

MLB people declined to comment, except to say its investigators are going where the evidence takes them.

MLB appears to be readying bans which likely will be based on the drug-test failure standard:

•First offense: 50 games
•Second offense: 100 games
•Third offense: Lifetime ban

...

"MLB has receipts, checks, the whole nine yards," a person with ties to an investigated player said.

"He's looking at a lengthy suspension," another player-connected source said about A-Rod.

I know people have been saying this was going to happen for months, and then nothing would happen, but this time I think the shit is finally about to hit the fan for A-Rod and the rest of his merry band of cheaters. And I can honestly say I don't care. If this idiot cheated again, he deserves whatever he gets, and probably should just retire and save us all the future head aches.

UPDATE: Bruan has been suspended for the remainder of the 2013 season.

Cashman: A-Rod should just shut the f*** up

From Andrew Marchand:

Livid over Alex Rodriguez's decision to tweet an update on his rehab process, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman had a message for the third baseman.

“You know what, when the Yankees want to announce something, [we will]. Alex should just shut the f--- up. That's it. I'm going to call Alex now.”

Rodriguez tweeted Tuesday that he has been cleared to play in rehab games. Rodriguez's comments seemed to contradict what Cashman told ESPN New York's Wallace Matthews on Monday.

"Visit from Dr. [Bryan] Kelly over the weekend, who gave me the best news - the green light to play games again!" Rodriguez tweeted.

Rodriguez, in a statement released Wednesday morning though a spokesman, said "the tweet was pure excitement" over the doctor's prognosis.

"I will continue to work hard until my efforts get me back in pinstripes and help my team win," Rodriguez said.

Cashman had on Monday shot down a report that Rodriguez had been given the go-ahead to play in games.

"He has not been cleared by our doctors to play in rehab games yet," he said. "He's getting closer. There's no doubt about it. But we don't have a date for him to start playing games yet. It could be July 1. It could also be July 5 or maybe June 25."

Here is the tweet in question:

Looks like Cash wishes that A-Rod and all the nonsense he brings would just go away. I'm sure many of you feel the same way.

MLB Preparing to Suspend Players Linked To Biogenesis, Including A-Rod

Here's the story via ESPN:

In case you were wondering about Cano, John Harper reports that he isn't part of this upcoming wave of suspensions because "according to a Yankee source, there has been no indication from MLB that Robinson Cano is in danger of being suspended." Hopefully, that is true.

By now I'm sure we're all pretty sick of A-Rod and everything that has come along with him. I know I am, and I don't care if he's suspended. The Yankees probably don't care either.

Rumor: A-Rod, Cano, Granderson To Be Suspended For PEDs

Ummmmm, what????

Now, before you start with the whole "Who the hell is this guy and why would he know?" stuff, he happened to report the Melky Cabrera suspension a month before it happened, so there is a slight chance that this is legit. It's probably not true, but honestly, I don't know what to think.

Here's some backstory from Joe.

A-Rod Won't Be Rehabbing In Tampa

From Andy McCullough:

The specter of Alex Rodriguez may loom over the Yankees as they begin spring training. But Rodriguez himself will not be in the presence of his teammates any time in the near future.

Rodriguez will continue his recovery from offseason hip surgery in New York, manager Joe Girardi explained as part of his address to reporters after pitchers and catchers reported to camp Tuesday. This decision stems from the uniqueness of Rodriguez’s procedure, which repaired a torn labrum and a bone impingement, an operation Girardi indicated is "not something that we’ve done a lot of."

He downplayed the conclusion from this unusual situation: That Rodriguez’s absence would reduce the amount of outside agitation surrounding the club. Even if Rodriguez wasn’t involved in the Biogenesis scandal involving performance-enhancing drugs, Girardi said, he would remain back home to finish his rehabilitation.

"To me, him being in New York has nothing to do with trying to get rid of the distraction," Girardi said. "It’s the best place for him to be." He added, "He’s not ready really to do anything with us yet, from a baseball standpoint."

I don't believe Girardi for a second. Of course the Yankees don't want A-Rod around. Why on earth would they? This team is under enough media scrutiny just because they're the Yankees, there's no need to throw the A-Rod circus into the mix.

Schilling: Members of Red Sox organization encouraged me to use PEDs

From WEEI:

Curt Schilling, in a Wednesday interview on ESPN Radio, said toward the end of his tenure with the Red Sox he was encouraged to use performance-enhancing drugs by “members of the organization.”

“At the end of my career, in 2008 when I had gotten hurt, there was a conversation that I was involved in in which it was brought to my attention that this is a potential path I might want to pursue,” Schilling told Colin Cowherd.

Asked for more details, Schilling said the conversation occurred in the clubhouse and involved “former members of the organization — they’re no longer there. It was an incredibly uncomfortable conversation. Because it came up in the midst of a group of people. The other people weren’t in the conversation but they could clearly hear the conversation. And it was suggested to me that at my age and in my situation, why not? What did I have to lose? Because if I wasn’t going to get healthy, it didn’t matter. And if I did get healthy, great.

“It caught me off guard, to say the least. That was an awkward situation.”

Schilling also was asked about A-Rod and said he believes his career is over:

“I don’t think he’s going to be able to play physically this year anyway [after offseason hip surgery]. I really don’t,” Schilling said. “But I would be shocked if he [ever played again] — not shocked, I’d be surprised. I think he’s done. I think he’s done because I think everybody that has a say in him coming back wants him to be done.”

Schilling said there were always questions about Rodriguez shortly after he broke into the big leagues as a teenager.

“Given where he came from, from a college perspective, and given all the stuff that’s coming out, and it seems that Florida is a hotbed for a lot of this stuff — I know there were always questions,” Schilling said. “There were a couple of guys that were in the conversation well before this became a topic of conversation. There were a couple of guys that guys wondered early in their careers, that were in the conversation.”

Well, we know this report is going to piss off Red Sox fans, and if you check the comments section over on WEEI you'd see it already has. However, it wouldn't surprise me if this occurred in many clubhouses over the last 20+ years, even the Yankees'.

A-Rod: Everyone is just out to get me

From the NY Daily News:

Alex Rodriguez is taking his wildest swing yet in his fight against steroid allegations: The Yankees and MLB are conspiring to push him out of the game.

Sources say the embattled Yankee star is “scared” that bigger forces are at work to try to discredit him and sink his career. Holed up in Miami, Rodriguez has been huddling with an army of lawyers and PR people as the performance-enhancing drug scandal enveloping him intensifies.

“He’s scared, because he thinks this is so unbelievably false, and he’s wondering who could be behind this,” said a source, referring to last week’s Miami New Times report linking A-Rod to an alleged Miami-area performance-enhancing drug scandal. “He thinks something could be going on larger than anyone might think.”

The source added that Rodriguez is wondering if the Yankees or even Major League Baseball are behind the latest controversy.

A-Rod’s concerns intensified as agents from MLB’s Department of Investigations met in Miami Monday with editors of Miami New Times, a weekly newspaper that posted hand-written records and files last Tuesday linking Rodriguez and several other players to Anthony Bosch, a self-described “biochemist” who is being investigated by baseball and federal authorities for possibly providing performance-enhancing drugs to the players.

To be quite honest, I don't really buy this story. One reason, the NY Post of all papers, had a much different take on the situation including quotes from named sources, mainly Brian Cashman:

The Yankees have been cagey about Alex Rodriguez’s spring-training schedule, and they intend to stay that way.

Mindful of the heat generated by the recent Miami New Times story alleging massive illegal performance-enhancing drug usage by Rodriguez, the Yankees will give the public no advance warning of their rehabilitating third baseman’s whereabouts.

“I’m not going to say to try and keep away the extra, whatever you want to call it, paparazzi, whatever it is, the stakeout, wherever he is working out,” general manager Brian Cashman said last night at the Hard Rock Café in Manhattan, where the Yankees held a fundraiser for WCBS-AM radio producer-engineer Carlos Silva, who is battling cancer. “That’s the only reason I’m not going to say where he is going to be on a given day.”

So if the Yankees are trying to protect him, how would they be trying to derail his career at the same time? Either way, this story is a complete clusterf*ck that nobody needed this close to spring training. Also, if you haven't heard, Ryan Braun, Francisco Cervelli and Jesus Montero were also linked to this PED clinic.

In other, completely unrelated news, did you know you can buy Yankees tickets from Sliding Into Home? Well you can. Check out the banner on the right for the best deals on tickets to all spring training and regular season games.

ESPN: Bosch Injected A-Rod With HGH

From T.J. Quinn:

The texts, the source said, usually came late at night, telling Anthony Bosch to come to the house. Bosch would then head to the waterfront mansion on Biscayne Bay, through the gate on North Bay Road, to inject performance-enhancing drugs into Alex Rodriguez.

Procedures were different, though, sources told "Outside the Lines," for the other athletes who were customers of Bosch's Biogenesis of America clinic in Coral Gables, which Major League Baseball considers the center of a widespread doping operation in South Florida. Those athletes, sources said, relied on intermediaries to transport the performance-enhancing drug regimens Bosch provided.

But for A-Rod, the service was always personal: "Only Tony handled A-Rod," one source told "Outside the Lines."

The visits took place every few weeks. One night last spring, a source said, Bosch told associates he had been kicked out of Rodriguez's home after he had trouble locating a vein, infuriating the player. The sources did not say why Bosch would have been tapping a vein, as HGH and testosterone do not require intravenous injections. But whatever he was doing, "Tony said A-Rod was pissed at him," a source said. "He said he was bleeding everywhere."

Several sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Bosch spoke openly about his relationship with the Yankees All-Star, and two sources said that documents they reviewed detailed the drug regimens and schedules Rodriguez received.

A spokesperson for Rodriguez on Friday said "the allegations are not true."

...

Bosch termed the allegations against him "bull----" and "all wrong" when reached by "Outside the Lines." His attorney, Susy Ribero-Ayala, also put out a statement denying the allegations and told "Outside the Lines'' that Bosch wouldn't be talking "any time very soon."

This story keeps getting worse for A-Rod.

Report: A-Rod May Be Done

From the NY Daily News:

Alex Rodriguez is unlikely to ever wear the pinstripes again, sources familiar with the Yankees’ situation with their troubled third baseman told the Daily News, no matter what happens regarding new allegations that he is again involved with performance-enhancing drugs.

According to numerous baseball sources, the hip surgery Rodriguez is now recovering from will likely derail his playing career, leaving him in such a diminished role that he may consider a settlement or an outright retirement. He still has five years and $114 million left on his contract.

“I don’t know why he would want to go through the pain of rehabbing and trying to play up to the caliber of player he was, and come back to a game where nobody wants him,” said a baseball official.
“If he did that, he’d be a part-time player and presumably unable to achieve any of the incentive clauses in the contract or even the milestones.”

Even before the latest steroid allegations surfaced, Yankee officials had already privately begun preparing for the likelihood that Rodriguez would never finish out the mega-deal he signed in 2007. He underwent his second hip surgery earlier in the month and had begun rehabbing in Miami when the Daily News reported over the weekend that he had been involved with self-described Miami “biochemist” Anthony Bosch, who is the subject of federal, state and Major League Baseball drug investigations.

...

The Yankees will likely wait until more information is gleaned from law enforcement and MLB about the veracity of the New Times allegations before deciding on exactly how to proceed.

In other A-Rod related news, Dan Martin of the NY Post is reporting that Doctors have said that A-Rod's most recent hip injury was most likely not caused by PED use.

“I still don’t think any PED would have had an effect on the injury or the surgery,” said Dr. David Geier, Director of Sports Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina. “They can impact tendons and muscles, but not what he had. They might impact recovery, but I don’t see the argument where the surgery itself would have been any different.”

“Even if this turns out to be true, it wouldn’t impact the hip joint. His problem was one of anatomy. I can’t imagine any effect.”

A-Rod Linked To Recent PED Use, Denies Everything

From Andrew Marchand:

The Miami New Times, in a long investigative piece, has details that suggest Rodriguez had close ties with Anthony Bosch, a South Florida nutritionist. The story says Rodriguez has made PED transactions as recently as during the 2012 season.

...

Bosch has been under suspicion for a long time. Bosch allegedly gave Manny Ramirez the women's fertility drug that ultimately led to his first suspension in 2009. MLB is investigating Bosch's practices.

The New Times writes about specific times when Rodriguez allegedly made transactions with Bosch for performance-enhancing drugs. In Bosch's files, Rodriguez was listed as "Alex Rodriguez," "Alex Rod" or a nickname, "Cacique," a pre-Columbian Caribbean chief. Rodriguez's name appears 16 times in the records the New Times obtained:

Take, for instance, one patient list from Bosch's 2009 personal notebook. It charts more than 50 clients and notes whether they received their drugs by delivery or in the office, how much they paid, and what they were taking.

There, at number seven on the list, is Alex Rodriguez. He paid $3,500, Bosch notes. Below that, he writes, "1.5/1.5 HGH (sports perf.) creams test., glut., MIC, supplement, sports perf. Diet." HGH, of course, is banned in baseball, as are testosterone creams.

That's not the only damning evidence against A-Rod, though. Another document from the files, a loose sheet with a header from the 19th Annual World Congress on Anti-Aging and Aesthetic Medicine, lays out a full regimen under the name Cacique: "Test. cream ... troches prior to workout ... and GHRP ... IGF-1 ... pink cream."

IGF-1 is a banned substance in baseball that stimulates insulin production and muscle growth. Elsewhere in his notebook, Bosch spells out that his "troches," a type of drug lozenge, include 15 percent testosterone; pink cream, he writes, is a complex formula that also includes testosterone. GHRP is a substance that releases growth hormones.

There's more evidence. On a 2009 client list, near A-Rod's name, is that of Yuri Sucart, who paid Bosch $500 for a weeklong supply of HGH. Sucart is famous to anyone who has followed baseball's steroid scandal. Soon after A-Rod's admission, the slugger admitted that Sucart -- his cousin and close friend -- was the mule who provided the superstar his drugs. In 2009, the same year this notebook was written, Sucart (who lives in South Miami and didn't respond to a message left at his home) was banned from all Yankees facilities.

The mentions of Rodriguez begin in 2009 and continue all the way through last season.

Melky Cabrera, Yasmani Grandal, Barolo Colon, Nelson Cruz, and Gio Gonzalez were also linked to PED use in the report.

As you might expect, A-Rod is saying the report isn't true and his spokesman has issued this statement:

"The news report about a purported relationship between Alex Rodriguez and Anthony Bosch are not true. Alex Rodriguez was not Mr. Bosch’s patient, he was never treated by him and he was never advised by him. The purported documents referenced in the story -- at least as they relate to Alex Rodriguez -- are not legitimate."

It's hard for me to believe that he would be THAT stupid, but then again, people do stupid things. If it is true, I'd hope the Yankees could do something to void his contract because I know that we've all had enough of A-Rod's crap already. Speaking of which, an article in Forbes today get into the specifics of how something like that could be done:

The question now becomes whether the Yankee’s may have cause to void Rodriguez’s contract? Article 7 of the Major League Uniform Player’s Contract specifically states that:

7.(b) The Club may terminate [a] contract upon written notice to the Player (but only after requesting and obtaining waivers of this contract from all other Major League Clubs) if the Player shall at any time: (1) fail, refuse or neglect to conform his personal conduct to the standards of good citizenship and good sportsmanship or to keep himself in first-class physical condition or to obey the Club’s training rules.

Article 3 of the contract also specifically states that:

3.(a) The Player agrees to perform his services hereunder diligently and faithfully, to keep himself in first-class physical condition and to obey the Club’s training rules, and pledges himself to the American public and to the Club to conform to high standards of personal conduct, fair play and good sportsmanship.

It can easily be argued that the illegal usage of performance enhancing drugs may be construed as a failure to “keep himself in first-class physical condition” as well as a blatant violation to “conform to high standards of personal conduct”. Presuming that the Yankees can prove that Rodriguez misrepresented himself for not only failing to admit his usage of PEDs with the Rangers, but than subsequently lying that he never used them again with their organization, they may be able to at the very least shift the remainder of Rodriguez’s salary to a non-guaranteed deal.

Of course, from a legal prospective, unless the MLB and Yankees can come up with hard evidence of his usage of the drugs, the MLBPA will offer significant protection to Rodriguez.

Hard evidence will be hard to obtain, but if true let's just hope the Miami New Times did their due diligence and published a story that is based on something tangible.

Cashman Says There's A Chance A-Rod Could Miss The Entire Season

From WCBS:

there’s a chance that you might not see the 14-time All-Star wearing pinstripes at all in 2013, general manager Brian Cashman told WFAN co-hosts Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts on Friday.

“Yeah,” Cashman replied when asked if there was a chance that A-Rod could miss the entire season. “I think because (of) the serious nature of the surgery and the condition that he’s trying to recover from, you know, there is that chance.”

The Yankees said in a statement after A-Rod’s surgery that recovery was anticipated to take six months, but Cashman warned that “there’s no guarantees in this stuff.”

I assume Cashman is just covering all his bases, but you never know. At this point, let's just hope he comes back and that Youkilis can hold down the fort in A-Rod's absence.

Damage To A-Rod's Hip Less Than Expected

From Anothony McCarron:

Alex Rodriguez’s surgeon, Dr. Bryan Kelly, told the Yankees that he discovered less cartilage damage in A-Rod’s hip than expected, a good sign that the third baseman will have fewer complications as he tries to come back, a source said.

“It was minimal,” the source said. “Now it’s up to his rehab.”

Minimal cartilage damage means “they wouldn’t have to do a microfracture (procedure) or anything where they are trying to regenerate areas where the cartilage has worn away,” said Dr. Derek Ochiai, an orthopedic surgeon and hip arthroscopy specialist in Arlington, Va.

“That will mean his rehab has the highest chance of successfully getting back to the level with his hip that he was before his hip started hurting.”

The recovery time is still six months, but this is clearly good news.

A-Rod: "Surgery Went Well"

Here's a photo Rodriguez posted on his facebook account along with this note:

"Surgery went well! The road to recovery officially begins ... looking forward to the challenges ahead."

The recovery time should be about six months.

Replacing A-Rod Update: Youkilis, Keppinger, Scutaro

Also, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi, the Yankees and Cadinals have both shown interesting is Marco Scutaro.

Kepner: Ian Stewart Makes Sense For Yanks

Stewart has been struggling with injuries over the past two seasons, but if he could regain his 2010 form of .256/.338/.443 with 18 HR and 61 RBI he would be a decent and cheap fill-in while A-Rod recovers.

Now most of this is just pure speculation, but other possible replacements I've seen mentioned are Kevin Youkilis, Asdrubal Cabrera, Stephen Drew, Eric Chavez, Hiroyuki Nakajima, Jeff Keppinger, Chase Headley, Mark Reynolds, Scott Rolen, Jerry Hairston Jr. and Marco Scutaro. For more on these possible 3rd base replacements, check out this article by Joel Sherman.

A-Rod To Have Hip Surgery (Updated)

From Joel Sherman:

Alex Rodriguez was playing late in the regular season and playoffs with a re-tear in his surgically repaired right hip, The Post has learned.

Rodriguez is expected to need a second surgery in the coming days and will miss, at minimum, a piece of the 2013 season. Still, the hope is that the procedure will allow A-Rod to return as a full, successful player as early as the ’13 season and for the rest of a contract that takes him through the 2017 campaign.

The expectation is that Rodriguez wants to play on, not retire. The surgery is expected to be performed in Colorado by Dr. Marc Philippon, who performed the initial surgery in 2009. Rodriguez came back from that operation to play well, driving in 100 runs in just 124 games and starring in a postseason that culminated with the Yankees’ only title during his tenure.

...

The recurrence of the hip tear potentially helps explain why Rodriguez suffered through such a miserable postseason, which ultimately led to his benching. He was 3-for-25 with no extra-base hits and 12 strikeouts during the playoffs. However, Rodriguez also is 37 and so age could be a factor in the decline and also his ability to recuperate well from another surgery.

Just when you thought that contract couldn't look worse, it does. By the way, in case you were wondering, he's still owed $113 million over the next five seasons.

A-Rod: I'll Be Back in 2013

From Peter Botte:

One day after GM Brian Cashman denied reports about trade talks regarding Rodriguez, the benched former All-Star said he has no plans to waive his no-trade rights during what figures to be an eventful winter in the Bronx.

“That’s correct. I will be back. I have a lot to prove and I will be back, on a mission,” Rodriguez said after going hitless in two at-bats off the bench in the Yanks’ 8-1 Game 4 loss. “I love New York City, and I love everything about being a Yankee. The highs are very high, and the lows are extremely low.

“But I’ve never thought about going to another team. My focus is on staying here. Let’s make that very, very clear. No. 2, I don’t expect to be mediocre. I expect to do what I’ve done for a long time.”

...

“Look, I know it was difficult for Joe. I know Joe didn’t want to sit me,” Rodriguez said. “If I do what I do, Joe doesn’t have a choice, neither does (GM Brain) Cashman, neither does anybody.

“I have to look in the mirror. I sat in this room in 2006, some of you guys were here, there were a lot of doubters. I said I was going to get back to the drawing board and I did. And I came back with a vengeance in ’07. I’m looking forward to hopefully doing the same.”

Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi also commented on A-Rod's future with the team:

“I expect Alex to be here. I expect Alex to come back and be our third baseman,” Cashman said. “Obviously what just happened here, I just don’t think it’s reflective of Alex’s abilities — and I think that’s true of a lot of the guys, not just Alex.”

Girardi doesn’t believe his relationship with Rodriguez needs mending.

“As far as I know, we’re OK,” Girardi said. “I don’t have any signals that he’s mad at me. I know he wanted to be in there. … But if there are things I have to do, I’m going to do them.”

At this point, getting rid of that contract would do a lot for the team's future financial flexibility. That said, nobody is going to take him unless the Yankees eat most of the contract--I've heard reports of something in the ballpark of $90 million--so in that case it probably makes more sense to keep him.

What do you think, should the Yankees do everything to trade A-Rod or keep him around?

Alex Rodriguez Might Accept A Trade

(UPDATE) Alex Rodriguez is once again not in the lineup for today's rescheduled game 4.

I was busy at work all day yesterday so I was unable to post, but if you missed it, there was a ton of talk about Miami being a possible destination for Alex Rodriguez if the Yankees do try an unload his contract this offseason. Well, today we have this report from Bob Nightengale that says if the situation was right, Alex, who has a full no-trade clause, may accept the deal:

Take a good, long hard look at him.

This will be the last time you'll ever see Alex Rodriguez in a New York Yankees uniform.

We might have already seen him play his last game for the Bronx Bombers.

The Yankees, desperate for offense, and set to play in an elimination game Wednesday night, benched their greatest and most expensive star for the second consecutive game.

Though Game 4 of the American League Championship Series against the Detroit Tigers was postponed by rain, the Yankees already tipped their hand and had him on the bench, leaving A-Rod humiliated.

The Yankees are making it loud and clear they want Rodriguez out as quickly as possible.

Rodriguez, his pride and ego damaged beyond repair, is now telling close friends that he won't stand in the way.

Rodriguez, who has a full no-trade clause, won't ask to be traded, a person familiar with Rodriguez's thinking told USA TODAY Sports. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the situation.

...

He will welcome a trade, the person says, but it must to be to another big-market club. Hint: He won't be going to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The most likely choices would be the Miami Marlins, Los Angeles Angels, Chicago White Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

First, let me say that A-Rod has been awful this October. However, so has 90% of the starting lineup so really, why are we still blaming everyone's favorite scapegoat?

To me, this whole situation was made much worse by Joe Girardi, and his benching of A-Rod for the last two games -- though he can still make up for the game 4 benching today if he has any clue. There are reports of a fractured clubhouse, and that he's completely lost the team, which only makes this 0-3 feel that much more insurmountable.

The decision to bench A-Rod is only made worse by his replacement, Eric Chavez. Chavez has been virtually invisible in his plate appearances this postseason and also made that costly error in game 3 that might have cost the Yankees the game and a chance to get back in this series.

Does this mean I think A-Rod would have gone 4-for-4 with a homer off Verlander? No, but I do think A-Rod could get his swing going if given the chance, especially away from all the boos in the Bronx. There's no reason to further embarrass the guy and disrupt the clubhouse for a replacement that has also done nothing this series.

No matter what the outcome, the thing that sticks out to me the most is how poorly the Yankees and Girardi have handled this mess. If you think about how good we all felt about this team after that four run 9th on Saturday it's amazing how quickly things have changed.

Sure, there is still more baseball to be played and mistakes could be corrected. Maybe A-Rod is in the lineup today, gets a couple hits, and the Yankees actually win a game in this series. Or maybe, and much more likely if you ask me, things just get worse, the Yankees get swept, and this really is the end of A-Rod in New York.

A-Rod Could Make His Return In Tampa

From George King:

If Alex Rodriguez makes it through today’s game for the Single-A Tampa Yankees without a setback, look for the third baseman to come off the disabled list tomorrow and play against the Rays.

“It’s definitely a possibility he could join us in St. Petersburg,’’ Joe Girardi said after the Yankees’ 4-3 victory over the Orioles yesterday at the Stadium.

Rodriguez, who played third base last night, went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. He is 0-for-7 with four strikeouts in his two games with Tampa. He handled his only chance at third when he fielded a soft grounder.

Rodriguez played in the field for the first time last night since July 24.