Was Nelson Cruz's decision to not appeal his suspension the right thing to do or selfish?

First off I want to apologize for not writing a blog in the last few days. We have launched our afternoon show, The Sports Sandbox, on Sports Talk 1460 ESPN and I'm the producer as well as the station's production manager. So as you can imagine, I stay very busy (which I love by the way. I wouldn't trade this job for anything else...other than a shot to play professional baseball. But that's a whole different issue.). Hope y'all will tune into The Sports Sandbox with Ron Moore, Mike Ogulnick, and Chad Dixon every weekday afternoon 3p-6p. I'll definitely put my two cents in on occasion.

Now for today's topic...Nelson Cruz has officially  been suspended for 50 games for his connection to the Biogenesis case. We all knew it was coming. We just didn't exactly know when. He has chosen not to appeal and began serving his suspension last night as we watched the Cruz-less Rangers defeat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 5-2 behind awesome pitching by Martin Perez and the bat of the AL Player Of The Month for July 2013...Adrian Beltre. At first, I thought it was good that Cruz had decided to not appeal. My thought process was "he is owning up to his mistakes, going to serve his time, then move on with his career and life." But the more I thought about the entire situation, the more I kept wondering...is Cruz being selfish by sitting out the rest of the season instead of appealing the decision?

Here is why I've struggled with this thought. If Nelson Cruz appeals his suspension, he will be able to play the rest of the season and, potentially, the playoffs because his case won't be over until after the season has ended (due to the extremely slow judicial system we have in this country. Ok...that's my political rant for the day). He is leading the team with 27 home runs and 76 RBI and that's a bat we no longer have in the line up. But

instead, Cruz decided to not appeal and began serving his 50-game suspension last night...with exactly 50 games left. Now if the Rangers make the playoffs, he will allowed to play. But the Rangers have to get to the playoffs first in order for Cruz  to suit up in a Texas uniform again this season. Nelson Cruz is a free agent at the end of this season. I understand that appealing his case and serving his suspension at the beginning of next season would hurt him personally in free agency. But I can't help but think that some team, maybe even the Rangers, would sign Cruz despite having to serve the suspension next year because they see him as a team player. I'm beginning to think that him serving his suspension now...at a time when the Rangers need him the most...will ultimately hurt him more in free agency because he won't be viewed by other teams as a team player and the Rangers won't be able to trust him enough to want to re-sign him. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me that while Cruz definately deserves to be suspended he should have appealed in order to prove to the Rangers he is a team player and to prove to other clubs he can be a team player. The more I think about this situation, the more I believe that Nelson Cruz made a selfish decision instead of making a decision as to what was best for his team. With that being said...as a fan I would welcome him back for the playoffs should the Rangers make it that far.