Is It A-Rod Christmas Yet?

Today's the day! (Maybe not. Probably not. [...But maybe?])

I've spent all week looking forward to the announcement of punishment for Alex Rodriguez—and, I suppose, all the other Biogenesis clients too—and the possibility that A-Rod will not accept a deal, instead fighting MLB tooth and nail and dragging out this horror show of a scandal to its ugliest and most litigious conclusion. First reports said it would be "Monday or Tuesday." Then Friday. Well, it's Friday. Let's get to the shitstorm already.

Sadly, multiple reports have backed off the hard Friday deadline, making it seem more and more unlikely that we'll all get to lose our minds on the internet today. ESPN says "within the next few days." USA Today: "In the next 72 hours." The Daily News says the various plea deals "might not be completed until Sunday." The Associated Press? "Monday appears to be the deadline."

The weekend deadline makes sense for all the non-Rodriguez schmoes to accept or decline a deal, because if players like Jhonny Peralta and Nelson Cruz take what's reported to be 50-game suspensions, they'll become eligible to play again just in time for the postseason.

Rodriguez? Latest reports have MLB's offer to A-Rod as a suspension for the rest of the year and all of 2014. Take it, or go away for a long, long time.

Over the past few days, whispers have emerged that Rodriguez is at least considering making a deal with MLB. But ESPN says the sides are very far apart, and the Post claims Rodriguez, who recently bulked up his legal team, still intends to fight.

I want Rodriguez to fight this. I want him to sue everyone. I say this not as a baseball fan or as a writer, but as an unabashed fan of drama. I want to see baseball's greatest villain take on the secretive, autocratic machine, and see everyone forced to pick sides. I want columnists to rave. I want comment sections to explode. I want to see MLB's evidence, and see if will hold up in arbitration or a court of law. I want to see just what lengths Rodriguez will go to to salvage his millions. I want blood.

And I really, really don't want to wait until Monday.