No wonder A-Rod is so eager to get back to the big club. He probably thinks it helps his legal and other standing. And that is a point to note as this unfolds.
As for big impacts? Bartolo Colon and Nelson Cruz would be the two heaviest fallouts, especially assuming Colon gets a 100-game vacation as a repeat offender. The whole AL West race would get a new look. And, one has to assume the Angels would become buyers not sellers at the trade deadline.
And, speaking of, I'm sure that a lot of people in management would like for suspensions to be done before the July 31 non-waiver trading deadline.
This will all play out further.
Personally, I hope the Hammer gets a 100-game hammer. And, given that he got off on a technicality last time, I'm not sure the players' union will totally rush to support him. They'll draw the legal lines as needed, but not extend them a lot further.
Meanwhile, in addition to the two top-tier named names, who else is on the list of "oops"?
And, what, Manny Ramirez, will get a rushed call-up from AA to replace Cruz? Wouldn't that be the irony of ironies? A previously suspended user, believed to have a laundry-list length PED rap sheet, getting called up.
But, we may be getting ahead of the gun. If Fox's Ken Rosenthal is right, by the time the appeals process is done, at least for some players, we may be into 2014.
The players' union is confirming that.
Teams with potentially affected players have to love this, especially Rangers, A's and Tigers.
But, at the same time, the union has indicated that any fight over individual suspensions will not be a death match. In fact, union chief Michael Weiner says players should start making deals with MLB.
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