A-Rod to Sue Drake?

Will Alex Rodriguez sue Drake and Saturday Night Live? No, not really, but as part of SNL's cold opening last evening Drake spoofed the embattled third baseman. The clip with Drake begins at one minute-50 seconds in an interview with CNN's Piers Morgan (Taran Killam).  But be sure not to skip Bobby Moynihan's portrayal of Governor Chris Christie before it. You can skip Kate McKinnon's Justin Bieber after it though.

Houston, You Don't Have An A-Rod Problem

"What, me worry?"

or maybe you do....

UPDATE 3:40 PM - Thanks to @StaceGots for the heads up. ESPN among others have just reported that Brian Cashman denied that A-Rod will not be in Houston.

Wally Matthews ESPNNEWYORK.com - Brian Cashman says reports A-Rod not going to Houston are "false. I'm wasting my time talking about it.''

The Yankees season will conclude with a three game series in Houston this weekend. But there will be one less player in the dugout.

The Yankees have given Alex Rodriguez permission to skip the series so he can begin preparation to appeal his suspension. It may be the last time A-Rod wears the Yankees Pinstripes until 2015 or possibly ever. His arbitration hearing begins on Monday.

From Newsday:

"I believe in the process. I'm fighting for a lot of players, both present and in the future," Rodriguez said before Wednesday night's game with the Rays. Barring any last- minute legal action, the confidential hearing will begin Monday at MLB's offices in Manhattan, a source said. Arbitrator Fredric Horowitz will preside. Rodriguez is expected to attend some of the sessions.

Asked if he thought there could be a speedy resolution, Rodriguez said, "I'm not sure, I'm not sure. "In a perfect world all of it would have been done quietly, but it's not a perfect world. But we're going to address this and hopefully put this to bed as soon as possible."

"I'm very thankful for the emails, texts, and private conservations I've had with our union members," he said. "The support has been overwhelming. And the fans have been unbelievable. I've had more people come to my defense and be in my corner than at any point in my career. I am grateful for that and I am looking forward to hopefully putting this behind me."

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

TJ Quinn: A-Rod Paid For Bosch Attorney

ESPN.com's T.J. Quinn continued his fine investigative reporting tonight with a story he broke a short time ago. According to Quinn, Alex Rodriguez paid for Biogenesis head Tony Bosch's attorney and later wired $50K that the attorney would not accept.

One of A-Rod's former attorneys described the latter transfer as "a mistake", but it is reportedly part of Major League Baseball's pile of evidence about A-Rod. Here is an excerpt of Quinn's story:

A spokesperson for Bosch attorney Susy Ribero-Ayala said in a statement to "Outside the Lines" on Sunday that Rodriguez, currently appealing a 211-game suspension from MLB, paid her a $25,000 retainer to defend Bosch in February. Bosch was the founder of the now-defunct Biogenesis clinic in Coral Gables, Fla., at the center of the league's ongoing drug scandal. "A retainer was paid (via wire transfer) by a representative of Alex Rodriquez (sic). Ms. Ribero-Ayala accepted this payment on behalf of Anthony Bosch as payment for his legal representation," the statement says.

"In April 2013, Ms. Ribero-Ayala received an unsolicited and unwarranted wire transfer from A-Rod Corp. The funds were immediately returned. Mr. Rodriquez (sic) does not have any involvement in Mr. Bosch's legal representation." According to documents seen by "Outside the Lines," the amount of the second transfer was for nearly $50,000, minus transfer fees.

The documents also show that Ribero-Ayala and Jared Lopez, a partner with Roy Black's law firm in Miami, exchanged emails discussing the wire transfer. Black's firm was representing Rodriguez at the time. 

According to the document, Ribero-Ayala said she had received the money and was unaware of any reason for it. Lopez responded that the money had been sent in error, and he asked that it be returned. It was.Black's firm no longer represents Rodriguez, and Lopez could not be reached Sunday night. The documents and the statement from Ribero-Ayala's office appear to contradict earlier reports that Bosch sought to "shake down" Rodriguez for money before agreeing to cooperate with MLB's investigation in June. 

Instead, several sources familiar with the case said, investigators have said they believe Rodriguez paid for Bosch's attorney and sent the second payment in order to prevent him from providing evidence or testimony against Rodriguez.¹

The outcome of this soap opera has a long way to go and got emotionally charged Sunday night when Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Ryan Dempster hit A-Rod with a pitch after throwing behind his legs and two other pitches inside and tight. Joe Girardi was ejected for arguing after home plate umpire Brian O'Nora ignored the obvious intent of the pitches and warned both benches. A-Rod got a measure of revenge later in the game when he hit a solo home run off of Dempster.

1 - ESPN.com

A-Rod Has a Sit Down With MLB

According to the Associated Press, Alex Rodriguez met Friday with MLB investigators looking into the Biogenesis Clinic in Florida. A-Rod has been implicated in the case along with Ryan Braun and approximately 20 other players.

Though he met with them, there is no indication that A-Rod cooperated with the investigation. Braun had previously met with representatives of MLB and refused to answer their questions.