Alex Rodriguez Suspension Now 162 Games
http://tinyurl.com/ldvt7js
By Charlie Wilmoth [January 11, 2014 at 10:45am CST]
The result of Alex Rodriguez's appeal is in, and he will be suspended for 162
games, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. Rodriguez plans to appeal the
suspension in federal court. The suspension will cover the full 2014 season,
and also the postseason, Yahoo! Sports' Tim Brown tweets. The suspension
previously was 211 games.
A-Rod's suspension for the entire season means the Yankees will save about
$24.3MM against the 2014 luxury tax threshold. Rodriguez's luxury-tax figure
is $27.5MM, but Joel Sherman of the New York Post notes (via Twitter) that
the Yankees will be assessed about $3.16MM of that, since 183 days, and not
162, counts as a year. In any case, the suspension could help the Yankees get
below the $189MM threshold, if they choose. The Yankees will also save $25MM
in salary.
That savings could give the Yankees more flexibility to pursue Masahiro
Tanaka or other free agents. Also, the Yankees may now look for another
option at third base, even though they have Kelly Johnson