Commissioner Bud Selig, speaking at Target Field on Wednesday, mentioned the positive feedback he had received since announcing the suspensions of 13 players stemming from the Biogenesis scandal two days earlier.
"The only thing you want fans to know is that that you are serious about it, you're doing something about it and you did something about it," said Selig, who was in town to speak at the RBI World Series luncheon.
While Major League Baseball has sent a message that it will use any means necessary to bust offenders, the one piece of unfinished business from this project — Alex Rodriguez — threatens to damper the remainder of what should be a fabulous finish to the regular season.
The league hit the New York Yankees third baseman with a 211-game suspension — the rest of this season and all of the 2014 season — for infractions apparently so serious that MLB leaked hints it could push for a lifetime ban. This comes after Rodriguez admitted in 2009 that he was a used performance-enhancing drugs while playing for the Texas Rangers.
A-Fraud should not be on an MLB field, but he has appealed the decision and will be allowed to play during the process. When will we learn of the ruling? November or December. That's great. Rodriguez gets to play the rest of the season, and he could help the Yankees enter the postseason race.
The Yankees are in a tough spot. Rodriguez has irked them by seeking a second opinion on his sore quadriceps without telling the team, and later accusing them of wanting to get out of the remainder of his massive 10-year, $275 million contract (who could blame them?). But the third basemen who have filled in for him have been brutal this season, and the team needs him back.
Opponents, apparently, don't want to see Lightning Rod on a field either. "I hope our [union] dues don't really go to his lawyer fees by any means," Red Sox outfielder Jonny Gomes told Boston reporters.
Selig wouldn't reveal his thoughts on Rodriguez playing, only stating, "He has a right to do what he's doing." But the league can't be happy with him in uniform. Great story lines are developing around the league. Miguel Cabrera is on track for an even better season than last year. The Dodgers are back from the dead. The NL Central race is shaping up to be terrific. The Pirates are actually winning. Even in Yankeeland, Ichiro Suzuki is approaching 4,000 hits in his career — including his years in Japan.
