Report: A-Rod banned through 2014?
- Thread starter mabrowndog
- Start date
You should be a Canadian senator. A-Rod is in trouble, not because he is obstructing the investigation, but because he is cheap. $50K? Please. The going rate is $90K, even with an exchange rate.jon abbey said:Oddly no one ever seems to pay my bills by mistake, maybe I need better friends.
Sampo Gida said:
Seriously?
I think the thing A-Rod's PR machine keeps forgetting is that over 10 other guys have actually accepted their suspensions because they were named in the exact same notebooks A-Rod was.
So, I don't really see how you can credibly say this was a "random" payment to a friend that just "happened" to have incriminating documents on A-Rod.
The one good thing A-Rod has going for him is that his current attorney realizes that Bosch may not testify at an arbitration hearing. However, MLB can call him and just watch him take the 5th. Then they can introduce evidence of what he said prior to taking the fifth. So I don't see how that really helps. Knowing what little we know, momentum (still) seems to be hugely on MLBs side at the moment.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/08/16/3567784/grand-jury-digs-into-mlb-steroid.html
MLB is going after the clinic, but not the guy who ran it? Wasn't it was basically a 1-man shop?
I guess Selig made Bosch an offer he couldn't refuse, or at least a better one than Arod did.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/08/16/3567784/grand-jury-digs-into-mlb-steroid.html#storylink=cpy
MLB is going after the clinic, but not the guy who ran it? Wasn't it was basically a 1-man shop?
I guess Selig made Bosch an offer he couldn't refuse, or at least a better one than Arod did.
bankshot1 said:
From MLB's Perspective:
MLB can sanction players. MLB can also sue other entities for civil damages. MLB cannot bind anyone else (certainly not any government seeking to prosecute anyone for a crime.)
From what I understand, MLB went after the Biogenesis records after the New Times story broke. They did this because they wanted to sanction a player (or investigate a possible violation of the drug policy.) They had trouble getting those records (because Bosch isn't bound by the CBA) so MLB sued Bosch civilly and requested the records as part of their discovery in that new and separate civil lawsuit.
When (or Once, or Because) Bosch provided the records, a deal was hammered out whereby MLB would not continue to sue Bosch or Biogenesis. MLB also promised to pay Bosch's legal bills *should* any player sue him in the future, although I do not believe any suit was pending at the time. (It's possible MLB sued several entities and offered to protect Bosch should any of those entities "turn" on Bosch by raising claims of their own in that or another lawsuit.)
A-Rod's interference in the MLB investigation was called "obstruction" and was one of the reasons why he got a 211 game suspension. It was not a "criminal" act, in the sense that the police investigated it as a crime or the government has tried to punish A-rod for breaking a law.
Right now, MLB is largely done. There's just A-Rods appeal against their own already issued sanction.
From the US Federal Government Perspective, Executive Branch:
The US Gov can sue in civil court. (That does not really apply here.) The US Gov can also prosecute certain crimes. That means that if it's a crime on the books, the US Attorney in FL can begin an investigation, put a grand jury together, and eventually charge and criminally prosecute people.
Possible crimes - Buying/Selling drugs, and various related acts. If there's an (immediate or subsequent) investigation that's interfered with, then obstruction charges could be brought.
Right now, the US Gov is just getting started. MLB cannot bind their hands in any way.
From the US Federal Government Perspective, Legislative Branch:
Congress can have hearings due to MLB's special status as a tolerated monopoly. If there was a hearing, and if someone lied to Congress, they can be prosecuted for that in and of itself. (See Bonds, Barry, and Clemens, Lardo.)
Right now Congress is keeping its thumbs warm. As usual.
From the FL State Gov perspective:
Same as the US Gov, basically. They might get involved to charge the players and/or Bosch with crimes.
Right now, I don't know that any State Attorney in any county in FL has begun an investigation. But who knows?
From A-Rod's perspective:
He can sue nearly anyone in civil court. He can appeal to an arbitrator to reduce his 211 game ban *within* MLB's rules.
Basically A-Rod can sue Bosch for defamation (and Bosch can counter with the truth.) I doubt he has any other kind of case. He could sue MLB for ruining his reputation, etc. but that seems to be a weak case at first glance.
So, basically A-Rod can try to defend himself in arb and try to get his suspension reduced. His best hope is to muddy Bosch up enough to claim he was framed. However, the other suspensions kind of argue against that. Plus other players might be able to be called to testify against A-Rod. We'll see what happens.
In terms of paying Bosch's attorney, there's little or no way that's koser, from MLBs perspective - but it's not a crime from the governmental perspective. If the money was intended as "hush money," then yes, it is a crime.
From Bosch's perspective:
He's basically dog-meat. MLB won't sue him. A-Rod can, but MLB will pay for an attorney to defend him. However, that deal might be contingent on Bosch testifying at the arb hearing. MLB may have also offered to pay for an attorney to defend Bosch in a criminal case. (I don't know about that, but I am taking on new clients right now.)
If Bosch testifies, he will basically incriminate himself, leaving himself open for Federal AND State prosecution. If he refuses, MLB can use anything Bosch said in arb anyway, because the MLB investigators have already heard (and perhaps taped) Bosch's testimony. If the government wants that material, regardless of what Bosch currently wants, MLB can't refuse to turn it over. So it's damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.
At this point, Bosch's best chance is to wait for a Fed suit, then roll roll roll roll roll, and cough up all the info he can on everyone he can think of. This is bound to make him -ah- not a popular kind of fellow. MLB can also ask for clemency, but there's no guarantee that helps Bosch.
He might be able to sue his initial civil attorney for malpractice, as he's really backed himself into a corner.
PS - last thought. If criminal charges do come of this, none of the parties (Bosch, ARod, MLB, etc.) can lie to the police. They can be asked for depositions though, if they're witnesses, as opposed to defendants. Any witness can plead the Fifth - that is, refuse to testify if they think the testimony will be self incriminating. But basically that's waving the big red flag in front of the bull. A witness who incriminates himself can become a defendant. (Or a witness who lies can become a defendant for both lying and/or any substantive violations of the law that are independently discovered.)
Things may drag on awhile, but Bosch is probably toast unless he rolls.
The question is how many people can he bring down with him.
Things may drag on awhile, but Bosch is probably toast unless he rolls.
The question is how many people can he bring down with him.
No content in this post except that between V&N and here, Romin you are doing amazing work in your analysis of these legal situations.
http://deadspin.com/a-rod-lawyer-melts-down-on-today-1166164064
How's that saying go? "The Soulless Clown who represents A-Fraud has a Soulless Clown for a client...and enough $$$ to never worry about from where that next gallon of hair product will come?" Or something like that.
MLB probably feared being accused of plotting to Kill Hutz via septicemic paper cut had they actually sent him the actual papers.
How's that saying go? "The Soulless Clown who represents A-Fraud has a Soulless Clown for a client...and enough $$$ to never worry about from where that next gallon of hair product will come?" Or something like that.
MLB probably feared being accused of plotting to Kill Hutz via septicemic paper cut had they actually sent him the actual papers.
New York Daily News @NYDailyNews12m
EXCLUSIVE: Alex Rodriguez’s new lawyer has conflict of interest, says Brian Cashman’s mistress in court papers. http://nydn.us/16DRtbB
Of course this would happen to A-rod
Of
EXCLUSIVE: Alex Rodriguez’s new lawyer has conflict of interest, says Brian Cashman’s mistress in court papers. http://nydn.us/16DRtbB
Of course this would happen to A-rod
Of
Anytime. Well, not really anytime - I'm in a holding pattern for a trial right now, so I have some free time on my hands.CaptainLaddie said:
That clip is awesome. This guy seems like a clown. Bluster is one thing, but you've got to be ready to back it up if needed. "High Powered Attorney" often just means, "has a cousin at the local paper."cheesypoofs said:
That's kind of beautiful actually. The conflict is kind of complicated though - the basic rule is that an attorney cannot advocate against a former or current client without that client's permission. The rule is there to encourage people to talk fully and openly with their attorneys, knowing that what they say cannot later be used against them. (Some caveats apply, such as a person confessing he is about to kill someone to his attorney, etc.)soxhop411 said:
Beyond that, you can't "zealously" advocate for your client unless you can use all the available arrows in your theoretical quiver. So if there's a chance you could potentially damage a former or current client, you're best off withdrawing. Even if the client is dead, you still can't embarrass or damage them.
This kind of conflict applies to attorneys who work together - it's just automatically assumed that what one attorney knows, all the other attorneys in their firm also knows. (There are, again, some caveats to this - I'm just stating the basic rule.)
Here, it seems that Cashman's former mistress is represented by an attorney who is a partner with A-Rod's attorney. I'm not sure how that's a conflict, unless Cashman's former mistress feels her reputation or litigation might be harmed by what comes out through A-Rod's representation. Which seems like kind of a stretch.
Now if the partner had previously represented Cashman, that would be a clear cut conflict. . .
http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/yankees/post/_/id/62690/tacopina-ambushed-on-the-today-show
has there been any reply to the allegation that the yanks kept the MRI result from arod?
has there been any reply to the allegation that the yanks kept the MRI result from arod?
I don't believe that A-Fraud's legal Clown Posse have any hope of, or plans to, back up the bluster. I think the bluster IS the whole point. It's a lot of sound and buffoonery signifiyin' less than nothing.Rovin Romine said:
They're all about creating noise to distract from the only issue that matters: what he did and what MLB can/can't prove.
I think the Cashman "conflict" BS sounds suspiciously like a part of the noise.
The woman who hates Cashman (and, completely unrelated..nudge..nudge...wink..wink- has firsthand knowledge of his firsthand knowledge and somewhat conflicted views on Peds) has a lawyer who works with the lawyer of the guy who hates Cashman sooooo, where's the conflict?
In my experience, nothing in life creates harmony like shared enmity.
I think this is a none-too-subtle reminder that that Cashman's not above the sleaze himself so obviously A-Fraud's being victimized by the whole world. Again.
Sigh.
Wow:
Alex Rodriguez's aggressive new attack on the Yankees over his medical care could backfire and prompt the revelation of even juicier new details about his doping past.
According to legal experts and sources familiar with the case, the Yankees and Major League Baseball will move to unseal records related to the Canadian human growth hormone guru Rodriguez secretly visited in 2009.
...
"A-Rod's lawyers may have opened a Pandora's Box as a result of filing a grievance with MLB relating to the third baseman's medical treatment," says Daily News legal analyst Tom Harvey. "MLB and the Yankees now seem to have a legitimate reason to have all records related to Rodriguez's involvement with Anthony Galea."
If that happens, the temporary publicity boost Rodriguez's legal team seems to be seeking by casting their client as a victim could prove costly in the long run — and not just for A-Rod; dozens of professional athletes from around the world were Galea patients, and at least some of them are believed to have testified to the grand jury in Buffalo.
Unsealing grand jury testimony is difficult, of course, but it appears that there is no stopping A-Rod's rapidly escalating fight to escape the 211-game ban commissioner Bud Selig handed him early this month, citing close ties to Biogenesis, Anthony Bosch's shuttered Miami-area anti-aging clinic.
http://m.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/grievance-reveal-juicy-details-alex-article-1.1430742
I'm starting to wonder what Papi and ARod may have been discussing in their getaway car the other night.
Shared secrets?
The best interests of the game?
She-males?
The possibilities are endless.
Alex Rodriguez's aggressive new attack on the Yankees over his medical care could backfire and prompt the revelation of even juicier new details about his doping past.
According to legal experts and sources familiar with the case, the Yankees and Major League Baseball will move to unseal records related to the Canadian human growth hormone guru Rodriguez secretly visited in 2009.
...
"A-Rod's lawyers may have opened a Pandora's Box as a result of filing a grievance with MLB relating to the third baseman's medical treatment," says Daily News legal analyst Tom Harvey. "MLB and the Yankees now seem to have a legitimate reason to have all records related to Rodriguez's involvement with Anthony Galea."
If that happens, the temporary publicity boost Rodriguez's legal team seems to be seeking by casting their client as a victim could prove costly in the long run — and not just for A-Rod; dozens of professional athletes from around the world were Galea patients, and at least some of them are believed to have testified to the grand jury in Buffalo.
Unsealing grand jury testimony is difficult, of course, but it appears that there is no stopping A-Rod's rapidly escalating fight to escape the 211-game ban commissioner Bud Selig handed him early this month, citing close ties to Biogenesis, Anthony Bosch's shuttered Miami-area anti-aging clinic.
http://m.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/grievance-reveal-juicy-details-alex-article-1.1430742
I'm starting to wonder what Papi and ARod may have been discussing in their getaway car the other night.
Shared secrets?
The best interests of the game?
She-males?
The possibilities are endless.
In an obvious homage to Manny's dyslexic hamstrings, seems there's some confusion as to which hip was the issue.seageral said:
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/full-transcript-cashman-comments-a-rod-article-1.1430424
The listed quotes are from that whore-mongering, pillow-whispering Cashman, to be clear:
RT @AndrewMarchand: Source: A-Rod's lawyers preparing malpractice suit against Yankee team doctor. Story up soon.
Really...... This is getting insane...
Really...... This is getting insane...
This is possibly the single best story of the Twitter Age. I literally can't check my feed without a development of some sort.
What is ARod's legal team hoping to get out of this airing dirty laundry campaign? Are the Yankees supposed to back down off something? Or is he just determined to reenact Brewster's Millions by wasting $100M in a month?
What is ARod's legal team hoping to get out of this airing dirty laundry campaign? Are the Yankees supposed to back down off something? Or is he just determined to reenact Brewster's Millions by wasting $100M in a month?
https://twitter.com/Joelsherman1
I loathe Joel Sherman - in large part because of all the unwarranted cheap shots he's taken at Jeter in
support of A-Fraud over the years.
Now even he's not smellin' what the Fraud is cookin'.
I loathe Joel Sherman - in large part because of all the unwarranted cheap shots he's taken at Jeter in
support of A-Fraud over the years.
Now even he's not smellin' what the Fraud is cookin'.
cheesypoofs said:
This seems to suggest Cashmans memory is unclear, or worse.
http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/9582962/alex-rodriguez-preparing-malpractice-suit-new-york-yankees-team-doctor-source
I suppose Arod could claim that playing with the tear resulted in a longer recovery time, and risked a career ending injury.
Van Everyman said:
I think Arods team is trying to show that the Yankees have been motivated to get out of Arods contract, and this malpractice suit suggests allowing Arod to play with a torn labrum put him at risk of a a career ending injury which lets the Yankees off the hook. That failing, the Yankees conspired with MLB to gather evidence to support a lifetime ban, and falling short of that they have pursued an unwarranted 211 game suspension.
That's my guess anyways. I think going public could backfire on them, arbitrators and judges probably don't like it much.
Am I missing something? Both of those articles seem to imply that he complained with his right hip so they did MRI looking for a problem with his right hip. If Cashman contradicted himself, I'm not seeing it there. There are also lots of his own press quotes about how great he felt at the time of his benching (because at the time they were victimizing him by NOT trying to kill him on the field, IIRC) so...Sampo Gida said:
As far as what he might claim, Christ on a cracker, who would even dare guess at this point?
If there was malpractice he has the money to pursue it (unless there's a world-wide shortage of insta-tan and hair shellac and Hutz raises the rates on him). Again, I think they're throwing everything they can throw at the wall in the off chance that something will stick and take some of the focus off what he did/what they can prove.
jon abbey said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grbSQ6O6kbs
On October 6 of last year, our client, Alex Rodriguez was coerced with spine-tingling threats of being knocked unconscious and thrown onto a wooden cart into making false, specious, slanderous, egregious and public claims of good health.
Poor Mr. Rodriguez was, in fact, having a no-good, very bad day and NOT "feeling much better"! Contrary to his own statements he could not possibly have wanted to "go for a walk" as evidenced by his OBP.
See how easy that is?
Not a Dude.jon abbey said:
Don't listen to WFAN.
Haven't passed the '3' setting on my personal ratchet scale but apologies if I've offended your sensibilities.
cheesypoofs said:
So the patient is supposed to diagnose the problem and the Dr ignore the MRI because he has no symptoms? They obviously did MRI the left hip as well and the radiologist noted the tear. Any Dr worth his salt would have recognized this was a problem and advised the patient. I doubt the Yankees Dr is an idiot and that the team was not advised.
A good analogy, well maybe a bit extreme, is a patient goes to see his Dr for shoulder pain, but despite an abnormal EKG the Dr simply prescribes pain medication for the pain because there was no shortness of breath and does not tell the patient he might drop dead in the next few hrs. He does however call the patients employer and tell them they might want to look for a replacement.
I have no idea what the team doctor (as opposed to radiologist) saw or didn't see or should have done. Again, if there was mistreatment/malpractice he's got enough lawyers to figure it out. I was just asking if there was a discrepancy between what Cashman said in the first article as opposed to the second in light of the "This seems to suggest Cashmans memory is unclear, or worse." quote. I was asking if I had missed the contradiction because I read both of them to state that their concern was the right hip because that's the hip that he'd complained with.Sampo Gida said:
cheesypoofs said:
Do you honestly believe that the initial MRI findings had not been discussed with the Yankees after Arod's Dr reviewed them on Oct 29 and noted the labral tear on the MRI and determined surgery was needed? Like I said before, his response to this question was at best a demonstration of a poor memory, and at worst a bald faced lie, even assuming he was not aware of the initial findings at the time they were withheld from Arod.
I don't honestly know what was discussed or when. I don't doubt that any discussions were well-documented and therefore IF there was malpractice it will be easily uncovered. I DO wonder, if this was also glaringly obvious last October WHY it's only being brought to life now when A-Fraud's obviously desperate to deflect focus from the suspension issue.Sampo Gida said:
Again, I was asking if I was missing where Cashman had somehow contradicted himself with statements between two articles because I honestly didn't catch it.
Personally I find it really hard to wrap my head around the possibility that a seemingly competent and well-respected doctor would put
himself at risk by purposely victimizing Alex Rodriguez, or that the Yankees would be dumb enough to intentionally put him at risk but nothing's impossible.
A-Rod's past inability to tell the truth and the fact that they waited nearly a year to remember that oh, yeah, a doctor and a professional sports team tried to end his career with their glaring malpractice conspiracy? Yeah, that part makes me honestly dubious.
All of this will come out in the end. Until it does I wouldn't believe A-Roid and his minions if they told me the sun was hot.
ETA: Sampo, there seems to be confusion here re: timing. I think Cashman was discussing the period between the MRI that was given after he complained of right hip pain after game 3 on October 10 - since the complaint/grievance/suit is apparently that they forced him to play after that date knowing that he was hurt. Since the Yankee season had been over nearly two weeks by the 29th, I'm missing the relevance of what was/wasn't known on that date?
By all accounts that I've heard, A-Rod never complained about his left hip causing him pain. Like, EVER. The MRI of his right hip showed the labral tear of his left hip, but, from the typical sports medicine surgeon's perspective, if you're not complaining about pain in that hip, that's a meaningless incidental radigraphic finding. There are plenty of guys playing with small labral tears that don't have any symptoms from them and 99.9% of surgeons would never recommend surgery for that MRI finding.
Now, Phillippon... he's a hip arthroscopy surgeon. It's all he does. If you're in his office and have an MRI with an abnormality that might cause you a problem in the future, in spite of current symptoms, he's going to suggest you have surgery. Same with Brian Kelly. So A-Rod had his surgery to basically preserve the health of his hip in the future, not to cure any current symptoms, at least by what I know of the situation.
So basically, A-Rod's legal team is going to suggest that Ahmad committed malpractice for letting him play with an incidentally found labral tear. I can tell you right now that is complete and utter medical nonsense, but when you look at it from a superficial perspective it becomes "OMG they didn't tell him he had a tear!!!". I know Chris Ahmad, he's a very smart and reasonable guy - I also know Brian Kelly professionally, I know that if someone told him to basically make sure one of his patients never played sports again, he would tell that person to fuck right off and would have no problem telling EVERYONE about it.
The whole situation makes me sick on a professional level - ARod is a massive douche looking to drag everyone down with him and regardless of the truth of the situation, plenty of people are now going to remember Ahmad as the guy who "screwed up ARod". He deserves better than that.
Now, Phillippon... he's a hip arthroscopy surgeon. It's all he does. If you're in his office and have an MRI with an abnormality that might cause you a problem in the future, in spite of current symptoms, he's going to suggest you have surgery. Same with Brian Kelly. So A-Rod had his surgery to basically preserve the health of his hip in the future, not to cure any current symptoms, at least by what I know of the situation.
So basically, A-Rod's legal team is going to suggest that Ahmad committed malpractice for letting him play with an incidentally found labral tear. I can tell you right now that is complete and utter medical nonsense, but when you look at it from a superficial perspective it becomes "OMG they didn't tell him he had a tear!!!". I know Chris Ahmad, he's a very smart and reasonable guy - I also know Brian Kelly professionally, I know that if someone told him to basically make sure one of his patients never played sports again, he would tell that person to fuck right off and would have no problem telling EVERYONE about it.
The whole situation makes me sick on a professional level - ARod is a massive douche looking to drag everyone down with him and regardless of the truth of the situation, plenty of people are now going to remember Ahmad as the guy who "screwed up ARod". He deserves better than that.
Thanks DRS.
So it really just sounds like a lawyer being aggressive and a bit bombastic - just throwing a bunch of stuff out there, muddying the waters, and maybe increasing drama enough so that Selig cuts them a better deal.
Of course just becase they are trying to increase their leverage doesn't mean they have none. Interesting stuff.
So it really just sounds like a lawyer being aggressive and a bit bombastic - just throwing a bunch of stuff out there, muddying the waters, and maybe increasing drama enough so that Selig cuts them a better deal.
Of course just becase they are trying to increase their leverage doesn't mean they have none. Interesting stuff.
I will humbly defer to DRS and accept that no harm was likely caused playing a few games once the labrum tear was detected, although I do believe the finding was significant enough that the patient (Arod) should have been advised.
However, his performance was affected, and given the right hip was fine it seems clear the left hip was the culprit Why he felt no pain or symptoms in that hip and felt it in the surgically repaired hip is an interesting question.
However, his performance was affected, and given the right hip was fine it seems clear the left hip was the culprit Why he felt no pain or symptoms in that hip and felt it in the surgically repaired hip is an interesting question.
cheesypoofs said:
The initial MRI was done on or about the 10th and was sent to Arods Dr at some point who discussed the findings with him on the Oct 29th when he was examined, and it was then determined surgery would be required to protect the hip from damage.
Sampo Gida said:
Or maybe he's a 37/38 year old ballplayer who has been in the Majors since he was 18 and his performance is starting to fall off. Not everything has to be nefarious.
bluefenderstrat said:
I think Armstrong is the unquestionable winner if only because of the scale and audacity of his fraud. (It's instructive to remember that he wasn't hiding his actions from his teammates or many others around him and yet he had no reluctance to claim absolute innocence in public for years.) Combine this with the fact that Armstrong took aggressive steps to destroy the reputations and careers of those who crossed him, and I don't think it's close.
However, if the reports about how Braun acted after his first positive test are true, he is much closer to Armstrong than A-Rod. Still a distant second, but reaching out to play the "anti-Semitic Cubs fan" card against the sample collector in hopes that you can get other players to support you is a move that would have made Lance smile. And the angry, defiant press conference where you don't just celebrate your victory on appeal but lash out at those who question your success has a Lance Armstrong copyright on it.
At the end of the day, A-Rod is a clueless douchebag who simply can't get out of his own way. He's more pathetic than anything.
Edit: After thinking about it, I have to admit that the fact that he appears bent on taking the Yankees down with him makes A-Rod more sympathetic in my eyes. So perhaps I am understating his assholishness.
DaveRoberts'Shoes said:
Completely agree. This lawsuit has less than zero merit. Just to pile on.... here's a study from A-Rod's own surgeon in Colorado stating the prevalence of labral tears in asymptomatic patients is 69%! http://www.smbs.buffalo.edu/ortho/residency/usmjournal/1813a.pdf
The study isn't huge, and that number might be a bit high. But the point is that if you're not complaining of hip pain in that hip, that imaging finding has virtually zero significance. Even if you are complaining of pain, there is a very good chance it's not because of your labrum. Furthermore, this is a chronic condition.... playing a few extra games on it won't make one bit of difference. It's not like someone going out there and playing with an ACL tear.
My favorite quote by A-Rod's lawyer.... "They rolled him out there like an invalid and made him look like he was finished as a ballplayer" is so asinine it's impossible to find the words to do it justice. Sickening.
At this point, I think ARod's whole game is to throw enough charges aginst the Yankees so that they "settle" with him (and maybe as part some sort of global deal with MLB as well) in such a way as to make sure the Yankees have to pay him most of his remaining contract.
No love for Arod, but: 1)the Yankees org -- aside from paying him big $$$$ -- *have* regularly treated him like crap*; and 2)as long as he was putting up the numbers, the team probably turned a blind eye to whatever he was getting shot up with. So I think he's just trying to get his pound of flesh.
*He certainly brings some of it on himself, but I compare it to Manny, who during his time in Boston, was, it seems, 10 times the pain in the ass that ARod was, yet it was only in the end that the organization failed to support him. The Yankees' "support" of Arod always seemed a bit passive-aggressive.
No love for Arod, but: 1)the Yankees org -- aside from paying him big $$$$ -- *have* regularly treated him like crap*; and 2)as long as he was putting up the numbers, the team probably turned a blind eye to whatever he was getting shot up with. So I think he's just trying to get his pound of flesh.
*He certainly brings some of it on himself, but I compare it to Manny, who during his time in Boston, was, it seems, 10 times the pain in the ass that ARod was, yet it was only in the end that the organization failed to support him. The Yankees' "support" of Arod always seemed a bit passive-aggressive.
Somewhere, Mike Lowell is hobbling to a telephone.
Am I the only one who is enjoying the irony of this whole "I was hurt and they let me play anyways" situation?
ARod spent the last month of his rehab saying the Yankees were keeping him off the field and all he wanted to do was play baseball. He wanted to be with his team and his brothers but the Yankees wouldn't let him. Now the Yankees are the bad guys for letting him play. Or, maybe ARod just prefers to play in July and August but not October?
In my mind, ARod has turned into a 12 year old little boy looking for any excuse possible (even if one contradicts the other) to deflect attention off his suspension. It makes me smile a little.
ARod spent the last month of his rehab saying the Yankees were keeping him off the field and all he wanted to do was play baseball. He wanted to be with his team and his brothers but the Yankees wouldn't let him. Now the Yankees are the bad guys for letting him play. Or, maybe ARod just prefers to play in July and August but not October?
In my mind, ARod has turned into a 12 year old little boy looking for any excuse possible (even if one contradicts the other) to deflect attention off his suspension. It makes me smile a little.
joe dokes said:
Yes, this is exactly what is going on.
This is all a strategy by Team Rod to accomplish two things:
1) create a narrative for the arbitration hearing that the MFYs and their lackeys in the MLB executive suite have a long track record of trying to get out from under Alex's deal and that the 211 game ban is an extension of that. This seems like a central part of their tactic to get the number of games on the suspension reduced with the arbitrator. They will likely use this to argue that MLB is carrying the MFY's water and this 211 game suspension is just the Steinbrenner's weapon to try to kill his deal entirely.
2) create some leverage with the MFYs to potentially negotiate a buy out getting ARod as much of his guaranteed money as possible. You pay my client what you owe, he will go away and all these nasty courtroom headlines go with him, Hank.
One thing worth noting here is that I bet the Yankee legal reps aren't thrilled with all the snide things guys like Cashman have said publicly about Alex over the last few years. There's a reason why the lawyers tell managers to stick to bland talking points and cliches with the press. Cashman's "Alex should shut the fuck up" from earlier this summer is going to come up in that arbitration hearing.
86spike said:
This may all be true but what I've never understood is that ARod cares so much more about his reputation and his legacy than most other players, yet everything he's doing will permanently damage both. If he had the option to negotiate a reasonable suspension I would've taken it, assuming he's guilty. If he's actually innocent then his actions make a little more sense, but the odds of him being falsely accused in all of this are probably close to zero. If he had accepted a deal, he would've collected almost all of his cash and he could've laid low for a while, hope things blow over to some extent, and resume his career. His actions to date are more like someone who knows he's going down and wants to take as many other people with him, and fuck the consequences. When all is said and done, I can't envision a scenario where he'll be better off by taking this approach.
Or maybe "Alex should shut the fuck up" means that this was going on long before the public heard about it and Cashman knew what Arod was trying to so.
Now that everything is coming out, Arod may have been setting the table with his "ready to go" comments in hopes that Cashman would say he wasn't and it was another layer of "proof."
Now that everything is coming out, Arod may have been setting the table with his "ready to go" comments in hopes that Cashman would say he wasn't and it was another layer of "proof."
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mlb/news/20130819/alex-rodriguez-legal-analysis/?sct=hp_wr_a3&eref=sihp
nothing that isn't said here but a decent summary
nothing that isn't said here but a decent summary
glennhoffmania said:
He just may not be very smart. As I recall, his first admission/excuse of PED use was sort of legacy related -- trying to live up to the big contract.
As for resuming his career, he's pretty old and while still not sucky, was clearly in decline. And now he's got old dog hips.
With all due respect to sage baseball commenter Neil Young, Jeter is fading away; maybe ARod would rather burn out?
You're probably right. I think he's getting very bad advice. Everything his people are doing seems to go against ARod's primary goal- to be loved and accepted again.joe dokes said:
Of course, this is all speculation on my part.
You're probably right. I think he's getting very bad advice. Everything his people are doing seems to go against ARod's primary goal- to be loved and accepted again.
Of course, this is all speculation on my part.
His goal is not to be loved and accepted. It's to turn the public against the Yankees and get him all his money.
Three years ago he wanted to be loved, now he wants people to feel bad for him and then he wants to get his money and walk.
Of course, this is all speculation on my part.
His goal is not to be loved and accepted. It's to turn the public against the Yankees and get him all his money.
Three years ago he wanted to be loved, now he wants people to feel bad for him and then he wants to get his money and walk.
glennhoffmania said:
I think his situation is too far gone now, and even Alex knows he can't reasonably salvage his "legacy" anymore. He is in complete scorched earth mode at this point and if he can salt the earth of YS I think he'll be perfectly satisfied with that outcome.
