John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
Going into this week, New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez was hoping, as a best-case scenario, for his suspension to get overturned, allowing him back on the field to play for the Yankees during the 2014 season. A-Rod knew this was unlikely, and finally grasping reality, was willing to accept a suspension that was 100 games or less according to media reports.
However, Rodriguez received bad news on Saturday when he found out his suspension was getting reduced by Frederic Horowitz, but that it was only getting reduced to 162 games, a full season of baseball. Even though A-Rod’s suspension won’t be for the full 211 games that was initially given to him by Bud Selig, 162 games is still a big victory for Major League Baseball, as they finally took down their most wanted man.
With this ruling, which will almost certainly be upheld even if A-Rod decides to bring the ruling to Federal Court, it is time for Rodriguez to waive the white flag, retire and disappear from the public eye for at least the next couple of years.
It has been a long fall from grace for A-Rod, and this is the final nail in the coffin of his baseball career. At this stage, his career is over. A-Rod trying to fight to get back on the field to play or clear his name is pathetic at this point. He just needs to retire.
Rodriguez has gone through two hip surgeries, told Katie Couric on national television that he never used steroids, then admitted to Peter Gammons that he took PEDs for three years, and now is the owner of longest suspension related to PEDs in the history of baseball. A-Rod went from being considered one of the all-time great players in the history of baseball to a total disgrace.
Now, there is one big reason why A-Rod might decide to keep fighting for his baseball life, and that reason is money. It would be tough for A-Rod to retire considering the money he has on the table, as Rodriguez is losing approximately $25 million by being suspended for all of 2014 and would still be owed $61 million between 2015 and 2017.
If the suspension gets upheld, which it will, A-Rod can still make over $61 million to stay on the Yankees, grind through the daily criticism and negative attention, and walk off into the tainted sunset afterwards. However, with Rodriguez being worth an estimated $300 million according to www.celebritynetworth.com, it makes sense for him to finally end his legal struggle against baseball and walk away from the game, because let’s face it, there isn’t much of anything to fight for anymore.
