Does anyone really doubt that the Yankees were cheering on the investigation and whispering "lifetime ban" in the ears of anyone in Selig's office that would listen? If they could get A-Rod's final years off the books then they'd only be stuck with the increasingly "albatross-like" contracts of Sabathia and Texeira in their declining years. As it is, they may get out of A-Rod's contract for next year (although it wouldn't surprise me if he ultimately gets 75-100 games and they have to pay some of it), but will still have an AAV of about $74M on the books in 2015 and 2016 for those three guys. They will probably have reset the luxury tax clock in 2014 because of the suspension, but will still be heavily weighted down in their efforts to rebuild.