Cervelli “leaning strongly” towards plea deal following Biogenesis saga

July 31, 2013 by Mike Axisa 37 Comments

Via Joel Sherman & Ken Davidoff: Frankie Cervelli is among the nine players who are “leaning strongly” towards taking a plea deal from MLB following the Biogenesis investigation. MLB has told the union which players will be suspended, and Ronald Blum says the announcements could be pushed back to Friday as the various parties work out the deals. That would allow first time offenders like Cervelli to serve their 50-game suspensions this year before starting 2014 with a proverbial clean slate.

MLB is still trying to get Alex Rodriguez to accept a similar plea agreement, though his suspension is expected to be much longer than 50 games because the league claims he tried to impede the investigation. The two sides have been playing what amounts to a game of chicken in recent days — ~~MLB officials have leaked~~ reports indicate MLB will seek a lifetime ban for A-Rod if he doesn’t settle, and supposedly Bud Selig is prepared to bypass the Joint Drug Agreement and use the power of the commissioner’s office to ban him from baseball citing the integrity of the game. Alex’s camp has remained defiant and insists no settlement will be made. This will all end at some point, right?

Josh

Kelly Shoppach, come on down.
- Joe
  
  Why?
  - Josh
    
    Apologies that was in sarcasm font.
Hassey

two consecutive lost seasons for Frankie
- The Other Sam
  
  Shame. I guess his initial denial was expected, but it doesn’t make me think too highly of him.
- Wolfgang’s Fault
  
  He played at Scranton all 2012, so it wasn’t exactly lost as much as it was playing the out of state minor league circuit. You can’t do the time, etc. I think he should try to restart his career elsewhere in 2014 as I think it would be best for all concerned. Feel bad for him, though.
  
  Regardless, Stewart & Murphy should start 2014 as the Yankee catchers and pretty much split the games/innings played ’til the A/S break. Romine should start the year at Scranton to get much needed a/b’s. If Romine lights it up or even does ok, bring him back up by the A/S break, & deal or release Stewart. From that point on, Murphy & Romine can be dual starting catchers ’til one or the other establishes himself as the guy. Club should look to reinforce AA & AAA levels with additional quality backstops in case of injuries to any one or all of these three and that’s separate & in addition to whatever their plans for Sanchez.
trr

might as well serve it now, while he’s hurt
- Mister D
  
  And he’s pre-arb right, so he’s only making $3.98 per game?
Carlos Danger

I thought I read somewhere that the commish promised he wouldn’t use his banning power, if it meant a player wasn’t given a proper appeals forum it could set off a fire storm from the MLBPA. I believe it was on ESPN, not sure I’m gonna look for the article.

First it Monday, then Tuesday, then Wednesday, the. Thursday, now it’s Friday when MLB levies out the suspensions, c’mon already! If they’re afraid a player will file an appeal or are giving stricter punishment to players not willing to agree to a suspension because they wish to utilize the appeals process seems like a total iron fist move. Or is the commish afraid since there are no failed tests, players will walk making him look like a joke. As the world turns…
Harvey

Shoppach is not worth acquiring. 2 MLB teams have released him this season. That is a clear sign he’s not good enough for the Yankees
in 2013
- trr
  
  Harvey, have u seen our catchers? Shoppach is no great shakes, but man, we need something
The Other Sam

I figured this was coming for Frankie. And with the appeal Alex will likely play the rest of this season. So I’m thinking the need for a catcher might be greater than the need for a third baseman.
http://www.twitter.com/_swarlesbarkley Mark Teixiera – Ghostbuster (formerly Drew)

OH MORE STEROIDS STUFF! SO EXCITED!
pat

If Montero gets suspended does that mean ~~Seattle~~ Cashman knew?
http://www.penuel-law.com/ Cuso

“MLB claims he tried to impeach the investigation”

“— MLB officials have leaked reports”

I guess it’s all a conspiracy. None of it really happened.
- http://www.penuel-law.com/ Cuso
  
  impeach? fail.
- sangreal
  
  I don’t know why you have a problem with those sentences. The first is pretty straightforward — MLB claims A-Rod tried to impede the investigation. The sentence doesn’t suggest in any way whether or not the claims are true. Who knows if he did or not, none of us outsiders have seen the evidence. We do know that the MLB thinks it is true though, because of the second claim you take issue with — the MLB has been leaking all this to the press. Do you think A-Rod is leaking damaging stories about himself?
  
  It’s possible for both of those sentences to be true (they are) and yet A-Rod is still guilty and there is no conspiracy.
RetroRob

There goes Cervelli’s chance at the HOF.
- Carlos Danger
  
  and Montero too. It’s a sad, sad day.
dkidd

this will end at no point
at no point will this end
end at no point this will
this will end at no point…
Rebecca

Can Cervelli serve the suspension if he’s on the DL?
- Gonzo
  
  I believe so. Someone did recently, no? My memory is foggy today.
  - Winter
    
    Manny Ramirez
    - Gonzo
      
      Thank you.
- TCMiller30
  
  Better yet, can he serve his suspension retroactive to when he last played in the majors? His suspension would already be served.
  - Winter
    
    I don’t think you can serve a suspension retroactively…
    - sangreal
      
      Manny did (technically). He retired when he failed the test, but he was never actually suspended until he came back. When he came back, Selig agreed to only suspend him for 50 games since he hadn’t played recently anyway
- RetroRob
  
  Sure. And if he couldn’t, the Yankees should immediately activate him.
monkeypants

This will all end at some point, right?

Only in the fullness of time…
Former ACE MannyGeee

God, if this is how good Frankie can be on PEDs…. yikes!
- Ghost of Joe Dugan
  
  3 HR’s in 61 AB’s and a .877 OPS this year. I’d sign up for that production for the rest of the year.
  - WhittakerWalt
    
    Literally the perfect example of SSS.
Jim James

Could only laugh watching a reporter on MLB Network in Texas say the attitude towards Nelson Cruz was that if he doesn’t appeal the suspension he’ll be a “quitter & a bad teammate” and if he has any pride or sense of dedication to his team he MUST appeal. I guarantee the second A-Rod officially appeals the media will have a completely different reaction to it.
Kiko Jones

It is written in the book of Baseball, that the midst of the decade of Nineteen Hundred Ninety and beyond shall be forever known as “The Steroid Era”, a time following the hangover provoked by the annulment of a portion of a season, which led to the painful disillusion of the faithful. This in turn brought about the disappearance of vast spoils previously enjoyed by all involved in these games.

But as “The Steroid Era” gained steam it overflowed coffers once again, with athletes both feeble and formidable further exploiting their God-given talents with the aid of forbidden substances; the more gifted delighting the faithful with extraordinary feats of prowess. The powers that be, as well as the scribes and, of course, the athletes, all enjoyed the rewards of these illicit acts and substances. But the tide would soon turn and only the athletes would be deemed tainted by these insalubrious deeds and potions.

In time, hordes of self-righteous hypocrites and philistines, led by the now-pious St. Bud of Selig, self-canonized savior of Baseball, would clamor for the cleansing of the sport. An enterprise upon which they could have embarked during the infamous “Steroid Era”, yet chose to willfully renounce as they feigned ignorance despite overwhelming evidence,including the appearance of demon seeds in plain sight, within the womb of the athletes’ inner sanctum no less—O, Andro, Where Art Thou?—yet now inexplicably putting aside their own culpability and shame in order to don the cloak of pulchritude which so ill fits them.

In his capacity as High Priest of Baseball, St. Bud has decided Alexander of Rod must atone for his sins as well as those committed by the guilty who will never face reprisal. To refuse would entail eternal banishment. Alexander has remained defiant and there are those who believe that as he finds himself cornered and without recourse, Alexander will not only unleash a fearsome challenge to St. Bud’s Army, but drag them along into the fiery depths of Hell, as an inquisition into St. Bud’s conscious knowledge during “The Steroid Era” may come to light, as well as possibly taking aim at the dismantling of exemptions based on faith and trust given to baseball by the governors of this great land many,many years ago.

Fanning the flames from a distance, in order to also diffuse the scent of sulfur, the Lords of Steinbrenner patiently await the outcome of this contest to the death. For if there is to be a victor in this most wretched conflict, it would surely be they.

God save us all.
Mr Pappageorgio

The steroids don’t bother me as much as the lying. Remember when this first came out, Cervelli basically said he was loosely connected to the clinic, but did not receive any PEDs and did nothing wrong.

Braun lied and lied and lied about lies. Who do these people think they are? In what other profession could people get away with this and still have a job (besides government, but that’s not really a profession)?

A-rod said his reason for taking steroids in 2001-2003 was because he was young and stupid. He swore he was clean since then. Lies all lies.

I say ban these fuckers. Any one of us who pulled this shit in the real world would be fired.
- Josh
  
  Pretty sure lots of people lie about using “performance enhancing” drugs in the workplace and maintain their employment. If it doesn’t pop on a simple urine test, you’d have to go around the system (like MLB has done with lawsuits) to get any real information on employees usage.
  
  Doesn’t make it right, but if I used too much coffee (yes my job technically has limits on the amount of caffeine), I could face reprimands. I wouldn’t lose my job over it.
  - Mr. Pappageorgio
    
    Coffee is a bit different than an illegal controlled substance.
    
    Apples and oranges man…apples and oranges