A-Rod Drops Suit Against MLB and MLBPA

Possibly sensing the loss of dollars in the long run, Alex Rodriguez dropped his suit against Major League Baseball and the players' assocation (MLBPA) on Friday.  Rodriguez had sounded tired of fighting and resigned when he spoke with media in Mexico back on January 16.

“I think that the year 2014 could be a big favor that [Major League Baseball has] done for me because I’ve been playing for 20 years without a timeout,” he said. “I think 2014 is a good year to rest mentally and physically and prepare for the future and begin a new chapter in my life.”

In response, his lawyers were quick to say that A-Rod would still be going forward with his appeal, but this afternoon's action flies in the face of that. MLB released the following statement.

"We have been informed that Alex Rodriguez has reached the prudent decision to end all of the litigation related to the Biogenesis matter. We believe that Mr. Rodriguez's actions show his desire to return the focus to the play of our great game on the field and to all of the positive attributes and actions of his fellow Major League Players. We share that desire."

A-Rod's lawyer Joseph Tacopina confirmed the suit was dropped.

A-Rod May Be Ready To Accept His Fate

Despite the sabre rattling from his lawyers, it appears Alex Rodriguez may be ready to drop his sword and accept his 162 game suspension.

Speaking in Spanish at an event in Mexico, A-Rod told the media (courtesy of the NY Post),

“I think that the year 2014 could be a big favor that [Major League Baseball has] done for me because I’ve been playing for 20 years without a timeout,” he said. “I think 2014 is a good year to rest mentally and physically and prepare for the future and begin a new chapter in my life.”

That doesn't sound like someone who is willing to fight until his last breath, or in this case, dollar. Perhaps, A-Rod has realized just how much this back and forth with Major League Baseball is costing him. He's already going to lose out on the $25MM he was set to make in 2014 (he'll receive a little over $2.8MM), so why lose millions more in lawyers fees on a case that could have a less than 50% chance for a successful outcome.

A-Rod added that he's looking forward to a healthy 2015 return.

“I have three years left on my contract starting in 2015 and I hope to play very well and finish my career in New York,” he said.

The Boss Jr., Hal Steinbrenner, issued a  statement on Wednesday that somewhat left the door open for an A-Rod return in 2015, but nothing is guaranteed. It's also hard to imagine that A-Rod would realyl want to remain in NY and that the Yankees would want him back. (From the NY Daily News)

“When he’s on and when he’s healthy, he’s obviously an asset,” Steinbrenner told a group of reporters at the owners meetings in Paradise Valley, Ariz., in his first public comments since an arbitrator ruled A-Rod’s ban would go from 211 games to 162. “We’ll see what happens.

“He’s a great player. I have not thought about 2015 nor am I going to right now.” 

Speaking at a Turn 2 Foundation event, Yankees' captain Derek Jeter wouldn't endorse A-Rod coming to Spring Training, but did empathize with his teammate.

“As a teammate, you’re saddened by the whole thing,” Jeter said Wednesday of Rodriguez’s season-long ban for his alleged ties to Biogenesis and PEDs. “The whole thing has been kind of messy.”

“I’m sure it’s rough. He’s human. I’m sure it’s a rough situation. I’ve played with him more than I haven’t [in my career]. You grow close to guys over the years.”

Jeter also mentioned that he had been in contact with his embroiled teammate, but would not go into the details. Jorge Posada also sympathized with his former teammate's plight, but felt he shouldn't attend Spring Training.

“It would be really tough for Alex and the Yankees and the players,” the retired catcher said. “I just hope he thinks about everything and makes a decision later and not now when he’s mad.”

“It’s tough to see a friend go through that,” said Posada, who has been unable to make contact with Rodriguez. “The game of baseball is tough at times. He’s got my support… It’s tough to watch. You just hope he can move on.”

Tacopina Throwing Haymakers at the Universe While Bosch Tap Dances

"1 gameday down, 161 to go."

It wasn't the bell to signify round one of a heavyweight title fight, but as soon as the 60 Minutes stopwatch stopped ticking Sunday night, Alex Rodriguez's hired gun, Joseph Tacopina, came out swinging.

“Tonight’s further expansion of Bud Selig and Rob Manfred’s quest to destroy Alex Rodriguez goes beyond comprehension,” Tacopina said in a statement. “In a clearly pre-orchestrated display, Selig and Manfred, having known for some time what the result of the arbitration would be (in light of Manfred sitting on the arbitration panel) put forth an unparalleled display of hubris and vindictiveness – complete with Manfred appearing in tandem with the drug dealer Tony Bosch, both in full makeup, celebrating the joint victory of Bosch’s lies and Manfred’s intimidation and payments for testimony. Tonight MLB violated every underpinning of its Basic Agreement and Joint Drug Agreement with the Players Association – which, although it has spoken out in a statement against these actions, clearly does not have the fortitude to act to stop these abuses, as it has not taken advantage of any of its innumerable opportunities to do so over the past year.

“I am sure Selig and Manfred believe this traveling circus serves Manfred's hopes of being the next Commissioner; the departing Commissioner Selig’s hopes of parlaying his success thus far in persecuting Alex into a recast chapter in the history books that would show him as a crusader, rather than the owner that colluded to corrupt the game, and Commissioner that turned a blind eye to steroids for over 20 years while personally profiting from their prevalence to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars; and Tony Bosch's hopes to further capitalize upon his lies through a multi-million dollar book deal that his MLB-provided media agent is seeking to procure for him. But in fact, what they did tonight, in addition to dragging 60 Minutes' name down to the level of supermarket tabloid journalism, is provide the world with further evidence of Bud Selig and Rob Manfred's desperation to sell the fans on the lies that they have paid Tony Bosch to tell.

“Perhaps the clearest message delivered by Selig and Manfred tonight is that their quest to rehabilitate Selig’s irretrievable reputation, and to make Manfred appear tough on PEDs, surely will lead MLB to seek to abolish guaranteed contracts in the 2016 bargaining round, and institute lifetime bans for single violations of drug policy, all while further insulating its corrupt investigative program from any variety defense by accused players, or any variety of objective review. Every MLB player, and indeed every fan, should not only be disgusted by tonight’s Salem Witch Trials display, but they also should be deeply troubled by what it portends for the future trampling of players’ rights, and the distraction and damage this will cause to the game.
“Alex will continue to fight to vindicate his rights – among the fans, and in a genuine judicial forum. “

Later in the day Monday, A-Rod's legal reps sued Major League Baseball and, are you ready for this, the players' union. If A-Rod had any sympathy from his fellow players it probably disappeared when the suit was announced against the MLBPA.  According to Steve Eder of the NY Times, "In the court filing, which named Major League Baseball and the players union, his lawyers sought to vacate his ban for the 2014 season and to hold the players union responsible for its breaches of the duty of fair representation owed to Rodriguez." New union director Tony Clark quickly responded to A-Rod's accusations:

"It is unfortunate that Alex Rodriguez has chosen to sue the Players Association. His claim is completely without merit, and we will aggressively defend ourselves and our members from these baseless charges.

"The Players Association has vigorously defended Mr. Rodriguez's rights throughout the Biogenesis investigation, and indeed throughout his career. Mr. Rodriguez's allegation that the Association has failed to fairly represent him is outrageous, and his gratuitous attacks on our former executive director, Michael Weiner, are inexcusable. When all is said and done, I am confident the Players Association will prevail."

Bosch's interview on CBS proved what most everyone had probably already surmised - the owner of the Biogenesis Clinic of America was only interested in making money. He told correspondent Scott Pelley that he wanted to be sure the players used correctly - he actually stated he felt a responsibility to do so - and later added "and not get caught." You could feel the sleaze oozing off of the guy, who, in not so many words said that PED use is still prevalent game so why shouldn't A-Rod and others use it. It was a lame excuse/reason to be peddling PEDs.

I'd like to hear what a body language expert has to say about the interview, specifically concerning Bosch's grin. I don't believe he was smiling because he found things amusing. It appeared to be more of a stress/nervous reaction. It was clear well before last night that the only reason Bosch is talking is to save his own bacon. Given the choice he'd go right back to doing what he was doing. Though not asked, he certainly would do it all over again.

Pelley mentioned that Bosch went to medical school in Beliz, but held no medical licenses. (There was no mention of degrees either.) Yet none of the players involved in the scandal appeared to have any issue with Bosch's background. That his "expertise" about PEDs was all self taught. It's hard to tell who's dumber, Bosch or those who trusted and believed in him.

You can see the complete 60 Minutes interview and read the transcripts on the 60 Minutes website.

Though the 162 game ban was a major victory for Major League Baseball, the men who run the game didn't come away with their hands clean either. They used questionable means to obtain some of the information in the investigation. This was the exchange between MLB COO Rob Manfred and Pelley:

Rob Manfred: We got a call from a gentleman who identified himself only as Bobby, and said he had the Biogenesis documents and offered to make an agreement with us to get those documents. 

Scott Pelley: Make an agreement? He offered to sell them to you. 

Rob Manfred: That’s correct. That’s correct. 

Scott Pelley: And you offered to buy them? 

Rob Manfred: He offered to sell 'em, and we bought them. 

Scott Pelley: How much? 

Rob Manfred: $100,000 originally, and then there was a second purchase for $25,000. 

Scott Pelley: But when you pay $125,000 to a guy who only identifies himself as Bobby, doesn't that immediately call into question the authenticity of the documents? He's gonna do anything he has to do to collect your $125,000. 

Rob Manfred: We were eyes wide open with respect to the questions that would surround these documents in terms of authenticating them in any legal proceeding, making sure they hadn't been doctored.

MLB then needed Bosch to corroborate what was in the paperwork. The investigation was well underway at that point.  Pelley also asked Bud Selig if the league was attempting to make an example of A-Rod. Selig responded,

 "I wouldn't call an example. I think the penalty fit what I saw was the evidence. Scott, as I looked at everything on all the players and then I got to Alex Rodriguez, and you put all the drug things on one side and then all the things that he did to impede our investigation and really do things that I had never seen any other player do, I think 211 games was a very fair penalty."

This thing is far from over.

Tacopina's Magical Mystery Tour

Don't be fooled by the title; Joseph Tacopina is not the 5th, 6th, or 7th Beatle. He's more akin to P.T. Barnum with a Ph.D. in spin doctoring.

Alex Rodriguez's heavy legal hitter continued his version of a p.r. tour that began with another of A-Rod esquires, Don Cornwell, talking about appeals. There hasn't been a 1-2 punch in a lineup like this since Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.

The biggest sideshow was when Tacopina stopped by the Today Show Monday morning only to be met by some unexpected news from NBC's Matt Lauer. (You can see a copy of it here.)

Tacopina has said all along he could not discuss specifics of the case due to the Joint Drug Agreement between Major League Baseball and the players' union. But MLB Vice-President Rob Manfred sent a letter to the Today show stating MLB was willing to drop their part of the confidentiality agreement in order to allow Tacopina to discuss A-Rod's involvement with Tony Bosch, Victor Conte, and Anthony Galea.

Tacopina was not amused and characterized MLB's move as a "publicity stunt". I guess it takes a publicity stunt to know a publicity stunt. He told the following to the New York Daily News:

"I will make Manfred a deal if he, in writing, waives the confidentiality clause, and agrees that it would not be a breach of the confidentiality clause, if he allows us to discuss exactly what he wants us to discuss, including the testing result, including the specifics of the tests, the results, we would be happy to discuss it. It would be my pleasure to discuss it. I would love to discuss it. But the minute I discuss it, I'm in violation of the confidentiality clause of the JDA," Tacopina said.¹

Manfred responded to the NYDN:

"While we believe that your public comments are already in breach of the confidentiality provisions of Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program (the "Program"), we will agree to waive those provisions as they apply to both Rodriguez and the Office of Commissioner of Baseball with respect to Rodriguez's entire history under the Program, including, but not limited to, his testing history, test results, violations of the Program, and all information and evidence relating to Rodriguez's treatment by Anthony Bosch, Anthony Galea and Victor Conte. Specifically, both Rodriguez and the Office of the Commissioner will be permitted to publicly disclose information and documents relating to: 

"1. their results; 2. All drug tests that were conducted on Rodriguez under the Program and All prior violations of the Program committed by Rodriguez; 3. All documents, records, communications, text messages, and instant messages relating to Rodriguez's treatment by Anthony Bosch; 4. All documents relating to Rodriguez's treatment by Anthony Galea and Victor Conte; and 5. All documents relating to the issue of whether Rodriguez obstructed the Office of the Commissioner's investigation."

In the meantime, Tacopina continues to hammer away at the Yankees and their medical staff, claiming they let A-Rod play last post-season with a badly injured hip. It's part of Tacopina's attack against the Yankees and MLB that they are attempting to get A-Rod out of baseball and void his contract.

“This MRI was taken on Oct. 11, 2012, after Game 4 of the Baltimore series [and] before the Detroit series. What it indicated, what it showed, is that Alex Rodriguez had a hole in his left hip, a torn labrum. He went on to play in the Detroit series, obviously didn’t play well, was benched, (sic) was made a scapegoat. Nobody told Alex Rodriguez that he had a hole in his left hip -- nobody. It wasn’t until after the season was done that he went to his own doctor,” Tacopina said. 

“I don’t understand the motivation behind that,” Tacopina said. “But the New York Yankees’ doctor, Dr. [Christopher] Ahmad, did this MRI. The report is here. The visual images are in your possession. Brian Cashman can’t say it didn’t happen until the offseason. Obviously, the general manager of this team must have known when this MRI was taken.”

“If he had a hole in his hip he shouldn’t have been walking, much less playing baseball. And believe me, we know that Joe Girardi didn’t know that. But either Ahmad, Randy Levine or Brian Cashman knew about that MRI result ... and the one person it wasn’t shared with, and I don’t understand for the life of me how they didn’t share that with Alex Rodriguez.”²

Tacopina's ultimate goal is get A-Rod's suspension down to zero. In the meantime we all have to endure the headache.

1 - New York Daily News

2 - ESPNNewYork.com

Meanwell Isn't Well Meaning Towards Cashman

Whenever there are sticky situations with people involving money and/or notoriety, you can always count on some hanger-ons trying to get a piece of the action and/or their 15 minutes of fame. Like that cousin you never heard of until you won the lottery. (No, I am NOT speaking from experience.)

Kato Kaelin, Howard K. Stern, Joe the Plumber and others are just some of those people who were able to soak up the limelight for a while.

The New York Post's Rebecca Rosenberg and Jeane MacIntosh report that Brian Cashman's alleged ex-mistress Louise Meanwell can be added to that list. Meanwell...the name just makes you shake your head and laugh...obviously has an axe to grind and she's going to try to grind it into Cashman's back.

Meanwell, who also goes by the name Neathway, was charged with extortion for the $6k she collected after she threatened to divulge her relationship with the then married Cashman, and for trying to get an additional $15K. She's also been charged with harassment, stalking, theft, and perjury. Kind of like hitting for the cycle, no?

So you may be asking yourself, "Does this have anything to do with Alex Rodriguez?"

Bingo. Meanwell claims that Cashman knew about PED use on the Yankees, but he had a “win at any cost attitude” and was “ambivalent’’ to drug use “so long as nothing came back to the Yankee organization.

Cashman isn't the only one Meanwell is pissed at though. Add Joseph Tacopina to that list. Yes, one of the bevy of A-Rod’s lawyers.  Meanwell has been represented by Stephen Turano, one of Tacopina's partners and claims there is a conflict of interest in the firm. She's angry that Tacopina did not seek her permission (say what?) before taking on A-Rod as a client.

Her current lawyer (why does she have as many as A-Rod?), Peter Gleason, blasted Tacopina and his partners for how the situation was handled.

“You don’t drop a blue-collar client, who has paid a considerable amount of money, for a marquis client coming down the pipe unless you get informed consent,” Gleason said. Tacopina's response was that Meanwell hired Turano's separate New Jersey based firm not Tacopina's New York based office.¹

When does Bravo pick this up as a reality show?

1 - NYPost.com

In This Corner Wearing the 3 Piece Suit, Joseph Tacopina

The heavyweight championship of Major League Baseball is getting more contentious by the minute. Alex Rodriguez's number one defense attorney started throwing hay-makers on Saturday when he accused the Yankees of forcing his client to play last season while hurt.

Tacopina went as far as to say that Yankees team vice president Randy Levine told A-Rod's hip surgeon Bryan Kelly, “I don’t want ever want to see him on the field again." He also stated that the Yankees and Major League Baseball have conspired to rid the game of A-Rod and the $86MM that remains on his contract. ¹

Needless to say the Yankees fired back with Levine, an attorney himself, telling the Star Ledger's Andy McCullough that the charges were "completely fictitious, false, and specious" and that Tacopina's approach was "out of touch and reckless".

As for the accusation that the Yankees and MLB were in cahoots, Levine categorized it as a "completely stupid allegation".  He and the Yankees, with A-Rod's permission, are willing to show the third baseman's medical records and transcripts of phone calls with Dr. Kelly to the public to "show who is telling the truth." He also told McCullough that it was time for A-Rod to "put or shut up."

Levine also fired a shot across the bow when he said the only records the Yankees don't have are when A-Rod was treated by Toronto based physician Dr. Anthony Galea, who plead guilty two years ago to sending unapproved drugs to the US.

When queried after yesterday's game in Boston, A-Rod sidestepped the controversy and left it up to his attorneys. His manager, Joe Girardi, was clearly upset by the insinuation that he would put an unhealthy player on the field.   “I don’t ever want to ruin anyone’s career. That would break my heart.”

There will be a lot of heartache and headaches before this whole thing is over with.


1 - nj.com