Orioles Manger Buck Showalter explains why the Yankees would actually benefit from a lifetime ban on Alex Rodriguez.
By Dave Holcomb
The Cleveland Indians have won seven, going on eight straight, Pittsburgh is on the verge of sweeping St. Louis in a five-game set, and Boston and Tampa Bay alternate days in first place, but it’s once again Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez on the front page of sports news.
Most of the stories are the same regurgitated stories told over and over… and over, but the latest opinion from Orioles manager Buck Showalter is worth discussing. In fact, it needs to be discussed.
Showalter argues it is unfair the Yankees get out of paying Rodriguez’s contract if he gets suspended, and in the case of a lifetime ban, get out of paying the remaining $86 million on his deal. This would also remove Rodriguez from the team’s salary cap, and allow the team more space to sign another one or two All-Stars.
“If Bud lets them get away with that, they’re under the luxury tax,” the Orioles manager told USA Today. “If they can reset, they can spend again, and I guarantee you in two years Matt Wieters is in New York.”
The 27-year-old Wieters is the starting catcher for the Orioles and is batting .241 with 14 homers and 49 RBI. He will be a free agent after the 2015 season.
If the Yankees do not sign Wieters, it will certainly be another top player from another team that cannot afford their big star.
Just like in most cases, Showalter is right on the money. Sure, the Yankees did not know A-Rod was involved in with Biogenesis, an argument the NewJersy.com uses, but teams cannot predict injuries or a player’s production either.
It was the Yankees choice to sign him to a ridiculous 10-year, $275 million contract when he was 32. The Yankees would not get out of paying A-Rod if he was injured or his production fell off the table, both have occurred recently. Why is a drug suspension an exception to baseball’s guaranteed contracts?
It does, however, say in the Collective Bargaining Agreement exactly that: The portion of a player’s salary that he does not collect while suspended also does not count toward his team’s payroll and the luxury tax threshold according to the CBA.
I am an advocate in changing this rule. Not to punish the Yankees, but it is not fair to other teams that signed players who haven’t cheated the game. In Dave’s CBA, players’ contracts would be voided while suspended, in other words, players would receive no money while suspended, but the money would still count toward the team’s salary cap.
I’m not naïve enough to believe Bud Selig would have the gull or the power, to pass such a proposal with the players union. But in a perfect world, that’s how these drug suspensions would work not just with A-Rod and the Yankees, but with the rest of the culprits and teams as well.
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