MLB Bullets Is Ready To Hand Down Suspensions

I got a chance to meet up with a lot of other SB Nation bloggers yesterday and talk with bloggers/fans who represent lots of different teams and sports. It was a lot of fun to compare and contrast the issues with writing about MLB to the issues of NBA, NCAA and MLS writers. Also with the writers from the other baseball teams in SB Nation.

• Cripes, now I've got to talk about ARod again. This may be old news by the time you read it, but Alex Rodriguez is expected to be suspended today for the rest of the 2013 and all of the 2014 seasons. Rodriguez will be suspended under the Joint Drug Agreement rather than the commissioner's powers in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which means he will be able to continue playing while his case is under appeal.
• Jay Jaffe summarizes the developments over the weekend, including Rodriguez's comments that reportedly enraged MLB and caused them to break off any negotiated settlement.
• Jeff Passan, admittedly no ARod fan, says that Rodriguez only cares about money and this is all an attempt to get as much money out of his Yankees contract as possible.
• Ken Rosenthal thinks that MLB and Rodriguez must come to a negotiated settlement for the good of the game. Having both sides air the dirty laundry in an arbitration hearing hurts both sides.
• Another player expected to be suspended, Nelson Cruz, hasn't decided whether he will appeal any possible suspension.
• If Sunday was Cruz's last game of the season, he went out in style with a home run against the Athletics. I was sitting with A's blogger Alex Hall when it happened; he shouted "Why aren't you suspended yet?" as Cruz circled the bases.
• Most players who will be suspended, and the rumored number is 12, are not expected to appeal their sentences. When asked about it by reporters, the Padres Everth Cabrera said "I can't say anything about that situation right now."
• Former relief pitcher Matt Herges was suspended for PED use in 2007. His advice to the current players is to come clean and admit their wrongdoing, as he did. As a minor league pitching coach, he tells his current players to don't be stupid like he was.
• Nike has severed their sponsorship deal with Ryan Braun. In Braun's defense, Nike's slogan of "Just Do It" is ambiguous.
• People around baseball have divided opinions whether or not these suspensions will change anything in the game.
• In a scandal of a different sort, former Cubs pitcher Matt Garza went on an angry, sexist twitter rant agianst Eric Sogard and his wife after the Athletics decided to bunt on him several times in Saturday's game. My comment to Hall? "He's not our problem anymore." Neither is his complete inability to field his position, which I'm surprised more teams haven't exploited.
• While Garza's initial apology was pretty much a non-apology, on Sunday he issued a full apology, no doubt after Rangers team officials had a talk with him.
• Matt Snyder says the incident illustrates why professional athletes shouldn't be on Twitter.
• Mark Purdy thinks that Twitter and other social media sites has changed the game for the worse.
• On the other hand, I think that Athletics pitcher (and former teammate of Matt Garza's) Pat Neshek had the perfect photo to respond to Garza's sexist rant. And he posted it on Twitter.
• I hate to even bring this up, but two minor league pitchers in the Rockies organization demonstrated that steroids aren't even close to being the worst thing a ballplayer can do, as they've both been arrested for first degree rape.
• Am I cheery today or what? Well, here's a story that might pick you up. The Mariners Kyle Seager received a letter from a young Astros fan who was hit by one of Seager's bats that flew into the stands. The boy just wanted to tell Seager he was OK and to wish him luck with the bat.
• Derek Jeter has a calf strain and could be headed back to the disabled list. In his own words, "The whole season has been a nightmare."
• It looks like Carlos Gonzalez will be joining Jeter on the DL.
• Cody Ross wanted to remain a Red Sox, but he feels the organization lied to him during contract negotiations. He seems happy in Arizona, so I guess it all worked out for the best.
• There's a theory out there that CC Sabathia's poor season is the result of losing weight.
• Dear Torii Hunter: TMI! TMI! (Video here)
• Acting Mariners manager Robby Thompson doesn't know his left arm from his right, and it cost the team in a game last Thursday as he was forced to bring the wrong pitcher into the game.
• The Braves won their tenth straight game as they open up a 12½ game lead in the NL East. I picked the Nats to win this division like everyone else, but at least I said the Braves were my sleeper team.
• Dave O'Brien thinks the Braves need to remember the collapse of 2011 and not get complacent with their lead. That year, the Braves had a 9½ game lead in the Wild Card standings on August 25 before blowing the lead and missing the playoffs. Yeah, but the Cardinals were chasing the Braves back then, not the Nats like this season.
• Indians manager Terry Francona doesn't want to know about any magic numbers, saying "If you start doing math too early, you might flunk."
• The Royals are proving the critics who said they should have sold at the trade deadline wrong by winning nine straight, writes David Schoenfield. Yeah, but they're still 4½ games out of the wild card spot, needing to pass three teams to make it to a one-game Wild Card game. Everything is up to date in Kansas City. This is about as far as they can go.
• Angels outfielder J.B. Shuck made what might be the catch of the year Friday night, going into the stands in Anaheim to rob Jose Bautista
• The Angels are desperate for pitching, so they've signed Dontrelle Willis to a minor league deal.
• A minor league hitter for the A's struck out on one pitch. I knew a girl like that once. . .
• Michael Young gave permission in the final hours for a trade to the Yankees, but Phillies GM Ruben Amaro told the Yankees he didn't want to deal him.
• The Mariners didn't trade Kendrys Morales because they want to work out a long-term extension with the first baseman.
• Can you bat leadoff for a major league team? Please call Giants GM Brian Sabean. Experience preferred, but will accept a young trainee.
• Todd Helton has taken Nolan Arenado under his wing. When asked if he was like a big brother to him, he said "More like a dad would be closer, given our age difference." Helton is 18 years older than Arenado.
• Finally, it is time to return to an era when baseball scandals were simpler. It was 30 years ago on Sunday that Dave Winfield killed a seagull. Unlike ARod, Winfield was actually charged with a crime.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Certainly for all those players whose suspensions were announced today.