A-Rod did not get a raw deal

Today's big player move in baseball was that the Orioles signed OF Delmon Young to a minor league contract.
Beyond that, there were reports that OF Jack Cust and RHP Bobby Jenks are interested in making comebacks after being out of baseball. Really? I guess the money if whatever field they're working in isn't as good as a major league salary.
You might also have heard some things about sometime Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez.
The latest is that he wants to sue Major League Baseball and the MLBPA in federal court over his suspension.
I expect that will go essentially nowhere. An arbitrator ruled that Rodriguez broke baseball's PED rules, based largely on Anthony Bosch's testimony and text messages between them. The arbitrator said there was sufficient evidence indicating that A-Rod used banned substances on at least three occasions and that he tried to block MLB's investigation (think obstruction of justice) at least twice.
So where's the smoking gun? Or maybe the dripping syringe?
There doesn't have to be one. How often is there a smoking gun even in a murder case.
Baseball doesn't necessarily have to follow all of the rules that would apply in a court of law. The idea is that people have rights, but there is no "right to play major league baseball." There has been a long history of instances where players have been suspended or banned with less evidence than would convict them in court. Baseball banned eight Chicago White Sox for at least knowing but not reporting attempts to fix the 1919 World Series. More recently, Pete Rose received a lifetime ban for betting on baseball, possibly including his own team, when he managed the Reds.
In my mind, baseball has allowed the dispute over Rodriguez's suspension to last far too long. I'm not sure how the figure of 211 games was decided for his original suspension. Perhaps the idea was to keep him from playing in 2013 or '14. For some reason, he was allowed to postpone his hearing until the off-season. Those hearings usually are held and adjudicated within a matter of days or weeks.
He was allowed to play while the other players brought down in the scandal involving Bosch's PED lab sat out suspensions. And his suspension was reduced to 162 games.
There probably wasn't enough hard evidence to give A-Rod a three-strikes-and-you're-out lifetime ban. Still, he seems to be getting off easy. However, he seems to have the sense of entitlement that says the rules aren't meant to include him.
It seems likely that fans will not be very forgiving. They/we don't like the idea that star players can get off on a technicality, as Ryan Braun did the first time, or that they should be allowed to buy their way out of suspensions.
A side note, or perhaps a historical note: It seems clear that Rodriguez lied through his teeth (as so many other accused players have done) a few years back when he said that he had used PEDs only while he played for the Rangers and only before baseball banned such substances. His most recent run-in lends credence to Selena Roberts' reporting in Sports Illustrated and a note of embarrassment for Peter Gammons' softball interview with A-Rod that let him slide for a while.
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Basketball. My 7-1 win for last week moved me into third place, just two games behind the league leader. My signing of Marco Belinelli to give me an extra guard Sunday didn't hurt my team, but it wasn't enough to complete a sweep by also winning in 3-pointers.
My original intention was that Belinelli would be a short-term acquisition, and that I would bring Taj Gibson back on to my roster. Then I did some homework.
The question was whether I should bring Gibson back for help up front and waive Belinelli, or possibly another newly acquired guard, Mo Williams.
First I compared their raw numbers to see which two of them had the best overall statistics. Gibson led, as we'd expect, in rebounds and blocks, and also in scoring. Williams had the highest free throw percentage and led, not unexpectedly, in assists and steals. Belinelli was best in just two categories, field goal percentage and 3-pointers.
However, when I assigned 3, 2 and 1 points in each category, with 3 being the highest, the totals were Gibson 15, Williams 16 and Belinelli 17.
The second step was determining in which categories my team needed the most help. Through Sunday, I was below average in four categories -- sixth in assists, seventh in points, tied for seventh in 3-pointers and ninth in field goal percentage. Look above and you'll see that Belinelli has had the best season in the team's worst categories, FG% and 3s. Williams leads the three-man group in assists.
Third, because it's my first year in a fantasy basketball league, I tried to determine how successful teams are set up. Are they oriented toward big men, or more toward speed and other small-man skills. My short, small-sample-sized, research showed that the team currently in first place had a 13-man roster including seven players each who qualify as guards or forwards, and three qualifying at center. My current roster, without power forward Gibson, has six guards, six forwards and a center.
The first-place team outnumbers mine at shooting guard and small forward. My roster has more power forwards than his does.
By any measure, it seems, my best move would be to keep Belinelli and Williams on the roster and leave Gibson in the free-agent pool.
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Football. At last night's Islanders-Stars game, I tried to keep up with the playoff scoring through ESPN.com. I'd check the box score on occasion, and write down updated point totals for each player. I left the hockey game thinking I'd won 29-26 to reach the AMFL Super Bowl. I noted that Colin Kaepernick had thrown a touchdown pass and put down 3 points next to his name. pass. I wasn't looking at the touchdown runs because neither of us had Frank Gore. I was surprised when the commissioner wrote today that I'd lost 32-29. Then I saw Kaepernick's TD run. Oh, well.
Things are going better in the bet-a-thousand pool. I had three wins and a push -- at least the Saints didn't score again to beat the spread -- so my bankroll is up to $1,600. That might not help much. The current leader is at $3,700. I pretty much have to win the final three games, and make big bets on the right teams. Off the top of my head, I'll probably bet $1,000 on one team and $500 on the other. Maybe 8 on one and 7 on the other if I don't have a real favorite, so a split wouldn't kill me. Another possibility is going $1,400 and $100 if there's a team I reeeaallly like. I noticed that almost all of the teams currently leading had the 49ers, and they all put significantly more than my piddly $100 on San Francisco.
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Hockey. Last night I got to see the Islanders' Thomas Vanek in person, probably for the first time since 2005 but probably not going back as far as when he played for the University of Minnesota in the Frozen Four. He had two assists, and even better was plus-3. My team's plus/minus has been taking off lately. I'm up to plus-40 and just four behind the next team ahead of me. The leader is at 100 and something, so that's probably out of reach. I entered Monday still third with 66, and eight points out of second place. Again, first place seems ridiculously out of reach.
BTW, Vanek leads the Islanders in plus/minus (+8, I think), and he was well below zero when he arrived on the island after the Sabres traded him.

Balfour still in demand

Now that the Shin-soo Choo thoughts are off my chest, I'll catch up some on other baseball Hot Stove activity and update my running-in-place, if not futile, efforts in other fantasy sports.
RHP Grant Balfour's deal with the Orioles fell through because of something Baltimore didn't like about his physical exam, but other teams looking for a closer supposedly still are interested in him.
OF Carlos Beltran and the Yankees made his 3-year, $45-million contract official. No problems with his physical, but he did fade at the end of last season.That's not a good sign for a 36-year-old.
My recent posts have had a number of references to age. It's a huge factor in assessing player performance. I hope to write more about the topic, and hope to resurrect something I've done in the past, an age chart that will help you tell at a glance which players should be in optimum stages of their career, and which could be in danger zones.
RHP Brad Ziegler re-signed with the Diamondbacks with a contract that guarantees 2 years and $10.5 million.
The Twins signed C Kurt Suzuki for a year at $2.75 million. That makes it easier for them to use C Joe Mauer at first base and DH.
The Athletics avoided arbitration with 1B Daric Barton by signing him to a 1-year contract.
LHP Mark Mulder, whom you've probably seen wearing a business suit on ESPN, is attempting a comeback. He hasn't pitched in the majors since 2008. Comebacks after such a long absence rarely, if ever, work out.
Aside from Balfour, the most significant current story is Japanese RHP Masahiro Tanaka. According to Baseball America, his team, the Rakuten Golden Eagles, is expected to decide by Christmas Day whether to post him and enable him to sign with a North American team. Tanaka was 24-0 (not a typo) with a 1.37 ERA in 27 starts this year. If he is posted, that will mean a lot of baseball writers sitting by the tree tweeting from their cell phones.
The Golden Eagles, by the way, also signed 1B/3B Kevin Youkilis to a 1-year contract.
Former Giants OF/1B Brett Pill has signed a 1-year contract to play in Korea next season.
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Football.
In case you haven't been keeping up with your playoff scenarios ... An NFC team with at least 10 wins will not make the playoffs. It's possible that an 11-win team won't get in. At least every division winner will have a winning record. Every AFC division champ will have at least 10 wins, but it's conceivable that an 8-8 team would get the second wild card.
Important key: These are the teams with something to play for, either a playoff berth or better postseason seeding: Eagles, Cowboys, Bears, Packers, Panthers, Saints, Seahawks, 49ers, Cardinals, Dolphins, Ravens, Chargers and I think Jets. This information is important to know for your fantasy lineup so that you can be aware of which players might be in action and not resting for the playoffs. The biggest problem is that you might not know for late games which teams have been eliminated or assured of playoff position.
Speaking of playoffs, it's official now that I'll be in the top division of the postseason playoffs for the AMFL, my scoring-only fantasy league. I'm still in third place, and possibly could move up to second by winning this week. A loss also could put me in fourth, but I have a two-game lead over the teams tied for fifth.
I'm ahead in the first week of my two-week consolation consolation playoff for seventh place in my scoring-plus-yardage ESPN league. I have a 65-47 lead with Frank Gore and the Niners' defense playing tonight. My opponent has K Phil Dawson going. In addition to being for seventh place in a 10-team league, this playoff is unsatisfying because my opponent's lineup includes two players who aren't even playing.
Another Important key: You can improve your position just by staying active longer than others who give up on your team. You also owe it to the other team owners to continue making an effort.
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Hockey.Third place with 63 points, 8 1/2 out of second, 12 ahead of the fourth-place team. I have a full lineup going tonight. Even my bench players' teams are playing tonight. It appears that the NHL is taking Christmas Eve off. Henrik Zetterberg and Alexander Steen are injured. Dustin Penner, Brenden Dillon and Jean-Sebastien Giguere are my healthy scratches. The skaters are sitting primarily to keep my ATOI up. It's a very close competition for points in that category. My only defenseman with a negative plus/minus is Keith Yandle, but he also is averaging more than 23 minutes a game and had 13 power play points. Thomas Vanek is minus-2 but he's moving up. Somehow, I can't get my team plus/minus out of its rut. My goalies' season averages all are better than average, but they have been sliding lately. I'm hoping I can figure out an answer to this problem. Trade a defenseman for a goalie?
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Basketball. Wrapped up a 5-3 victory last night. I was hoping for a good shooting night that could pick me up another win in field goal percentage, but that wasn't happening. I'm starting the new week with seven of my 10 lineup spots filled. I'm not going with Joe Johnson, who missed Friday's game because of a personal issue. If I have time -- there is Christmas shopping to do, you know -- I'll check before the Nets' game to see whether he's playing and if the personal matter has been resolved.
The good news is that I'm over .500 (32-31-1) after coming out of the draft, three weeks into the season, already 13 games under .500. I even moved up out of last place to fourth in the my division, but remained seventh overall in the 10-team league because a team from the other division passed me.
This week's opponent is the team directly ahead of me in my division. By winning 6-2, I could move into third place.