There’s very little doubt that Major League Baseball will be suspending Alex Rodriguez very soon. MLB commissioner Bud Selig decreased that doubt even more last night, when he appeared on “Late Night with David Letterman.”
In town for tonight’s All-Star Game at Citi Field, Selig worked to dodge A-Rod questions by Letterman but didn’t do a very good job of it. Hat tip to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for the transcription:
Letterman: “Alex Rodriguez, is he ever going to play for the Yankees again?”
Selig: “Only time will tell. We’re in the midst of a very thorough and tough investigation on all of this, because I really believe that it’s not only the right thing to do, but we’re going to do it. That’s all I can tell you.”
Letterman: “Let me ask you this. On his side of things, isn’t there a sum of money that’s at stake here if he doesn’t play again this season?”
Selig: “That’s going to be between him and the New York Yankees. Yes, there is.”
Letterman: “And that sum of money is incalculable?”
Selig: “No, it’s not incalculable.”
Letterman: “It’s over $100 million?”
Selig: “It’s over $100 million. It’s been calculated by everybody, yes.”
Letterman: “I don’t know how this works. The Yankees will figure out something? Is he one that might be suspended?”
Selig: “I’d rather not say.”
Letterman: “Because you know, don’t you?”
Selig: “I do, I do. The answer is I do.”
Letterman: “How many players will be affected by the suspensions? We believe after the All-Star Game there will be a reckoning. Am I right about that?”
Selig: “At some point in the future.”
Letterman: “And how many are we talking about?”
Selig: “We don’t know yet. We don’t know yet. We don’t know.”
Two points of clarification:
1.A-Rod and his fellow suspended players are expected to appeal.
2.The entirety of A-Rod’s remaining contract — a little less than $100 million at this juncture — would be at stake only if baseball tried to issue A-Rod a lifetime suspension or if the Yankees tried to void A-Rod’s contract. Both exit strategies are long shots to succeed.