Suspension quirks and questions

Yeah, I know. Enough with ranting about Major League Baseball's suspensions for alleged PED users. Move on already. I get that but, A-Rod's appeal notwithstanding, now that the dust is beginning to clear, a few questions remain.

One of those slapped with a 50 game suspension as a first time drug policy offender was Jordan Norberto, formerly a pitcher for the Oakland A's. By formerly I mean he was released by the A's on May 8th of this year. No other club has picked him up in the meanwhile, so Norberto hasn't played a Major League game in 3 months. That's about as free as a free agent gets.

Question: Even though he isn't on a Major League roster, is Norberto's 50 game suspension currently ticking down as the games go by? Or if another club signs him some time in the future, will the suspension begin then? Beats me.

Same thing with Alex Rodriguez. He was given a 211 game suspension, obviously designed to keep him off the field until the 2015 season. But A-Rod is allowed to keep playing pending the outcome of his appeal. Knowledgable baseball sources say arbitrator Fredric Horowitz likely won't issue his final ruling until November or December. In other words, A-Rod will be able to finish this season with the NY Yankees.

Question: If Rodriguez's suspension is ultimately upheld by Horowitz, which is the equivalent of a Supreme Court ruling -- no more appeals allowed by either side -- then how does the original 211 game suspension play out? Would it start on opening day next year and last a couple months into the 2015 season? Or would A-Rod get credit for "time served" this year, even though he never served it while continuing to draw his ridiculous salary, to boot? Beats me.

Looking at the bigger picture, yours truly is still at a loss trying to understand why MLB imposed a suspension over 4 times longer on A-Rod than they did the others.

Question: Do you think if MLB had given Rodriguez the same 50 game suspension as all the others, he might have accepted it, and all the bound to get messy appeal stuff could have been avoided? Beats me.

Moral of the story. Methinks MLB went overboard in their vendetta against Rodriguez. Now they've opened up a Pandora's box. What will come out of it remains to be seen. Had they exercised a bit of restraint and common sense, what will likely happen in the future regarding A-Rod and possibly a precedent setting case could very well have been avoided.

If Bud Selig and Co. prevail, that's one thing. If they lose -- God help them. The inmates might very well wind up running the asylum again, like they did a generation ago.

And I suspect that would not be a good thing for baseball.