[PUGACHEV]

"I'm wondering if the Yankees won't take the position of "Look we hired you for X number of years, not X-1. If you can't play X number of years because of you own misconduct, you've breached the contact. Hit the pike; we don't owe you anything." That's a reasonable approach to take, but I imagine his defense would be, "If I were suspended for 10 games you would keep me. If I were suspended for 50 games you would keep me. This is only a matter of degree, so you should keep me if it's just a bit longer than that." The team would have to have a stronger argument, such as "you brought dishonor upon the organization."

The question then is whether a year's suspension is a material breach of the contract. That's a question of fact for a jury. Do you think A-Rod is likely to get a sympathetic jury in NYC?

[Cyber Liberty]

The question then is whether a year's suspension is a material breach of the contract.

Correct. The team could make a case for that if they have a poor '14 season. He could counter that claim by saying it was MLB that suspended him for the season. Would A-hole get a sympathetic jury in NYC? I dunno. He could. They just elected a self-admitted commie as Mayor, and the jury would be from that pool of nitwits.

[Alberta's Child]

If it was that easy to void a contract, teams might be doing it all the time.

I'm sure Major League Baseball contracts have standard provisions that specify exactly what actions constitute a breach of contract, and a suspension for performance-enhancing drugs is not one of them. Usually a player can only breach the contract if he puts himself in a position where he cannot fulfill the terms of the contract -- by getting imprisoned (like Plaxico Burress of the NY Giants a few years ago), or by injuring/killing himself in the process of doing something risky outside of baseball. Baseball fans may remember that the Yankees only went out and got Rodriguez after they voided the contract of their previous third baseman -- Aaron Boone -- who had suffered an off-season injury playing basketball.

Ironically, Rodriguez's PED use might even be seen as point in his favor if the Yankees try to void the contract. He can surely make the case that he has gone to great lengths to make sure he was able to perform at an extraordinary level of excellence for his employer!

[Billthedrill]

Do you think A-Rod is likely to get a sympathetic jury in NYC?

Not likely. He'd be wise to get a change of venue to a more sympathetic city. Seattle, for example.