A-Rod verdict likely next Friday at the earliest

It's been a few months since Alex Rodriguez began his appeal of the 211-game suspension handed down by Major League Baseball, and much of the Yankees' offseason plans have direct ties to the decision that independent arbitrator Frederick Horowitz is expected to hand out very soon.

According to multiple reports, a verdict isn't expected to come down until next Friday, at the earliest. The case for that being that it won't come down until a couple days after the Hall of Fame announcement next week.

No one wants the Hall of Fame announcement to be overshadowed by such a dark cloud of news.

Of course, Horowitz doesn't have to play by MLB's rules when making his decision, and could announced his decision on the day of the HOF announcement if he really wanted to.

Originally, there were some thoughts that Horowitz could make his decision as early as today or even this weekend, by Mike Puma of the NY Post says it probably won't be coming until late next week.

The reason for that: "Rodriguez’s camp had not been notified as of Thursday that a decision was forthcoming," writes Puma. "and did not expect anything to "come from out of the blue" before the end of the week."

The Yankees have been secretly rooting for at least a season-long suspension of A-Rod because it would save them nearly $27.5 million this upcoming season, plus a $6 million bonus if he passes Willie Mays on the all-time homeruns list. A-Rod is also dues a $3 million signing bonus on January 15th, but there is no word as to how the arbitrator's decision will affect that.

At this point, it would be almost impossible for them to get under the self-imposed $189 million luxury-tax threshold, even if A-Rod's suspension is upheld for all of 2014. Anything less than a full season would ensure they don't get under the tax mark.

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