Biogenesis supensions: Putting the Alex Rodriguez situation into perspective

So... have you guys heard of something called "Biogenesis"?

I wish I hadn't, but unfortunately, thanks to Bud Selig, the amount of times we've heard "Biogenesis scandal" in some way or another has far exceeded the amount we've seen a Yankee hit the ball over the fence in 2013. Of course, even if there was no investigation whatsoever that still might be true, but that isn't the point here.

Yesterday, per Jon Heyman, we learned that Alex Rodriguez is almost certainly going to receive a 50-game suspension from Major League Baseball for his involvement in Anthony Bosch's Miami clinic. There is a possibility that the suspension could exceed 50 games if baseball believes they can count it as multiple offenses. The Players Union will likely have something to say about that, so the length of the suspension is certainly up for debate.

The purpose of this is to try and put into perspective all of the stories that have come out about A-Rod since the Yankees were eliminated from the 2012 postseason last October, because we've heard quite a lot of them, some of them legitimate, some of them made up, some of them contradictory, and some of them borderline comical. The problem is there are some people that actually believe every little thing written about him, and it's gotten to the point where it's hard to figure out which conspiracy theories are more unlikely.

Starting right when this all began in the playoffs last October, A-Rod was one of many Yankees struggling to hit any kind of pitching, but naturally being the highest paid player he's the one who took the brunt of it all from the media, and that's fine. That's unimportant. He was pinch hit for, he was sat down, and there were more stories. Here's the first one that makes me laugh- Alex was apparently on the trading block, during the postseason, and was likely to go to the Marlins in the offseason. Never mind that he has an unmovable contract, that he has a full no-trade clause, that he would probably rather stay in the AL because of the DH, and that the Marlins are an awful organization. Nope, still going to the Marlins. As ridiculous and impossible as that situation was, people believed it. This turned out to be 100% false, by the way.

Then it came out that he needed surgery on his left hip and that he would be sidelined to start the 2013 season. This one was actually true, and this was probably the calmest the storm has been for A-Rod in the past 10 months. Surgery hurt his play during the postseason, he'd get it fixed and come back. Then, a week after he got surgery, we heard of someone named "Anthony Bosch". A few days later, a list of players, including the Yankees third baseman, were named in reports involving PEDs.

That's basically been it. The investigation has been "ongoing" for half a year now. Before the rehab assignment we'd actually heard very little from A-Rod or his PR department himself on anything other than an interview on Opening Day. We've heard an awful lot from the Daily News and ESPN on numerous conspiracy theories about both the team and their injured third baseman. The Yankees will try to void his contract. A-Rod will "declare himself unable to play" so he can take his money. Remember when that little tweet led to the breaking news that he wanted to speed up his rehab just so he can retire? Something about how the quad is just the beginning of a bigger grand conspiracy as well? Then there's my personal favorite: Guarantees that no matter what, A-Rod will never play for the Yankees again (those are two different articles).

Whew. I think thats it, right? Which brings us to the present. Alex Rodriguez was supposed to be activated yesterday and was supposed to play third base for the Yankees last night, presumably in his customary cleanup spot behind Robinson Cano. That will not happen for at least another week, as he injured his quad during rehab. It is the exact same quad injury as Derek Jeter had (possibly not even as serious). What it should mean is just waiting a week longer to get our third baseman back the same way we've waited all year for the rest of the injured stars on this team, but it's not because it's just going to mean at least another week of conspiracy theories and rumors.

Because the Daily News seems to be allergic to them, I'm going to stick to the facts here, and what we know for sure.

• Alex Rodriguez is currently injured, the same way that Mark Teixeira, Curtis Granderson and Derek Jeter are. He's going to rest for a week and see where it's at after that. The Yankees basically ruled him out for the Tampa series, so the earliest you'd see him is out west in LA on the 31st.
• A-Rod is, just like Ryan Braun, Nelson Cruz, Jhonny Peralta, and a bunch of others, involved in the Biogenesis investigation. Ryan Braun just got suspended for the rest of the season, so that could be a good guess on how long suspensions will be. There's a good chance they're all going to be handed suspensions within the next couple of weeks. Appeals are possible.
• The Yankees cannot void Alex Rodriguez's contract by any means, whether he is suspended by Bud Selig or not.
• Speaking of that contract, there are four years and approximately $100 million left on the deal and it is not going to go away.
• And then from A-Rod itself, it doesn't sound like he has any plans to call it quits any time soon.