Thank you for coming out and saying what's been on my mind — and probably a lot of others — for the past week or so. If commissioner Bud Selig ends up using his "best interests of baseball" privilege and bans Alex Rodriguez for the rest of his life, many of us are going to see it as little more than a poorly disguised "get out of jail free card" for the New York Yankees.

As you point out to Paul White of USA Today Sports, any lengthy suspension of A-Rod gives the league's crown jewel franchise the salary relief they've been desperately seeking. A season-long ban in 2014 erases his $25 million salary from the Yankees' ledger (thanks, CBA!) and likely allows them to get under the $189 million luxury tax threshold they wouldn't be able to limbo under otherwise. A lifetime ban frees them from the heavy yoke of the $86 million they owe him until his 10-year extension runs out after the 2017 season....

I see what some of you might be saying. Take away A-Rod and you still have the bloated contracts of Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia and whatever it is they'll have to pay to keep Derek Jeter from wearing another team's jersey. But it still won't be the same. The subtraction of A-Rod's contract gives the Yankees a better shot at retaining Robinson Cano's services. It allows them to draw a wider circle when devising a plan to lower the team's median age below its current crusty demographic. It grants them a way to escape the noose of a contract that won't be afforded to other teams that have made the same mistakes.

(Think the Los Angeles Angels would like to find an escape hatch on the Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton deals yet? The Washington Nationals and Jayson Werth? The Detroit Tigers and Justin Verlander in a few years?)