NEW YORK -- The closed-door hearing going on at the Park Avenue offices of Major League Baseball to decide the fate of
Alex Rodriguez's 211-game suspension will not be the last fight between the league and its leading active home run hitter.
It may just be the first.
Alex Rodriguez claims in his lawsuit that MLB bought the cooperation of the chief witness against him.
Rodriguez filed a lawsuit Friday morning in New York State Supreme Court that alleges Major League Baseball and commissioner Bud Selig have had one goal in mind: "to improperly marshal evidence that they hope to use to destroy the reputation and career of Alex Rodriguez."
The
New York Yankees were not named in the suit, which seeks compensatory and punitive damages that would be determined at trial.
MLB issued a statement regarding the Rodriguez lawsuit. "While we vehemently deny the allegations in the complaint, none of those allegations is relevant to the real issue: whether Mr. Rodriguez violated the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program by using and possessing numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including testosterone and human growth hormone, over the course of multiple years and whether he violated the Basic Agreement by attempting to cover-up his violations of the Program by engaging in a course of conduct intended to obstruct and frustrate the Office of the Commissioner's investigation," the statement read.
Shortly after the suit was filed, Rodriguez's publicist released a statement from the Yankees third baseman: "The entire legal dynamic is very complex, and my legal team is doing what they need to in order to vindicate me and pursue all of my rights. This matter is entirely separate from the ongoing arbitration proceedings ... and for the day to come when I can share my story with the public and my supporters."
The suit may be the opening salvo in what could be a flurry of lawsuits from Rodriguez. In August, ESPNNewYork.com reported that Rodriguez would file suit against Yankees team physician Chris Ahmad, and on Friday, a source with knowledge of Rodriguez's plans said that suit was still forthcoming.
Alex Rodriguez has filed a lawsuit against MLB and commissioner Bud Selig over the investigation into the player's alleged PED use.
The source also said that no matter how the hearing before arbitrator Fredric Horowitz turns out -- it entered its fifth day Friday and is expected to stretch into next week -- "this thing will not end here. This thing will wind up in federal court before it's all done."
The 31-page lawsuit levels a series of charges at Selig and MLB, including the allegation that the commissioner has violated the collective bargaining agreement to "make an example of Mr. Rodriguez … to gloss over Selig's past inaction and tacit approval of the use of performance enhancing substances in baseball … in an attempt to secure his legacy as the 'savior' of America's pastime. "Neither Rodriguez nor his attorney, Joseph Tacopina, could be reached for comment.
Among the other allegations:
• MLB is paying $5 million to Anthony Bosch, the proprietor of the now-defunct Biogenesis anti-aging clinic suspected to be a source of illegal PEDs to players, for his cooperation in its case against Rodriguez.
• MLB has repeatedly violated terms of a confidentiality agreement between the parties by leaking information damaging to Rodriguez to selected news outlets.
• MLB investigators have bribed and intimidated witnesses and on at least one occasion impersonated police officers.
• MLB attempted to buy Biogenesis records from Porter Fischer, a former Biogenesis employee, for $125,000, and after Fischer reported the documents stolen, an MLB employee eventually bought them from an undisclosed source for $150,000 in cash that was "handed off in a bag at a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., area restaurant."
The suit is especially critical of Selig, accusing him of presiding over a "scandal-ridden" term as commissioner in which MLB suffered a work stoppage that caused the cancellation of a World Series, willingly allowing the proliferation of PED use in baseball as a means of rebuilding the game's appeal and adopting an anti-PED stance only under increasing pressure from fans and Congress in 2006.
The suit also alleges that Selig and MLB have used media outlets such as the "Late Show with David Letterman" and the "Today Show" to press their case against Rodriguez in what the suit terms a "scorched-earth approach to conducting an investigation."
Rodriguez is appealing the 211-game suspension levied against him in August by MLB for his alleged involvement with Bosch and Biogenesis. Thirteen other players, including 2011 National League MVP
Ryan Braun, have accepted suspensions ranging from 50 games -- the CBA-stipulated punishment for a first-time offender -- to 65 games for Braun.
If Rodriguez's case doesn't settle, a decision by Horowitz is expected this winter.
