SEEDS OF DISCONTENT: Alex Rodriguez’s battle with Major League Baseball gets crazier by the day, and that’s not about to change any time soon. (Getty Images)
There are no signs that the Alex Rodriguez — Should we call it: Saga, Issue, Circus? — is anywhere near conclusion.
Quite the opposite, actually. The sides are digging in and ramping up. The high ground has been abandoned, replaced by publicity stunts, gotcha moments and enough he said, she said nastiness to make “Jersey Shore” seem like “Masterpiece Theater” by comparison.
All the major actors in this drama (soap opera? comedy?) insist the process must play out without the blaring rhetoric that — among other things — is robbing attention from the pennant races. One MLB official bemoaned yesterday, “We are having a pretty good season, not that anybody has noticed.”
But the likelihood for quiet anytime soon is slim and, well … forget slim; it’s none. The sides appear unwilling to cede a second of the 24/7news cycle, so there is a non-stop spin cycle of innuendo, interpretations and — occasionally — facts.
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And the expectation is it will be quite a while until A-Rod’s grievance arbitration is heard to its conclusion. Union head Michael Weiner said at the All-Star break a decision would not come before November at the earliest, and that does not seem in dispute. The problem, in the short-term, is making the calendar work for all parties to have mutually free time, including arbitrator Fredric Horowitz.
Remember — beyond all the legal haggling and technicalities — A-Rod has a right to be at each hearing so the case either has to be heard in New York or wherever Rodriguez is on the road, and accommodate him getting to a stadium on time to play.
One involved lawyer said, “forget this being done in September, bet on early November, maybe later.”
However, much of how this proceeds is really in A-Rod’s hands. So let’s consider what is motivating him:
1. PLAYING: A lot of folks insist Rodriguez can’t love the game and, at the same time, do so much damage/dishonor to the sport. But many spouses love their mates and are unfaithful. People are three dimensional, pulled by different desires and pathologies.
I have no doubt A-Rod loves the game. Loves to prepare, loves to share his expertise, loves to play. The theory that has always made the most sense to me is Rodriguez is fighting like heck so he can finish this year on the field and then he will let his lawyers try to negotiate the best reduction possible from his 211-game suspension when the Yankees season concludes.
A-Rod probably knows his hips and, to some extent, knees are time bombs and this is the healthiest he will ever be again. Plus, even with the public bravado from his camp about escaping any penalty, there is a general acknowledgment Horowitz is going to uphold some or all of the suspension. Rodriguez turns 39 next July. What kind of player could he hope to come back as after another long layoff? And would the Yanks even bring him back, considering all the bad blood, or would they try to go after whatever portion of his contract remains? And would any other team take a chance on a player that has his combination of age, ignominy and decay?
Clearly, if A-Rod wants to exhaust as much of his hunger to play as possible — and I believe he does — it is now or very possibly never.
2. MONEY: Rodriguez did not assemble the League of Lawyers just to help attorneys everywhere buy beach homes. He is spending a fortune — not just on lawyers, but private investigators, spokesmen and crisis managers — to try to protect a larger fortune. He is due $86 million over four years after this season and any mitigation of the 211-game suspension would save some portion of that.
3. HAIL MARY: The A-Rod camp continues to aggressively attack both MLB and the Yankees. It often feels as if it is seeing whether any of these forays have traction — legally or in public relations. Maybe one enemy or the other will make a tactical mistake in response, creating a loophole to either diminish the suspension or establish firmer footing for medical malpractice.
Ryan Braun used a technicality to get completely out of his 2011 steroid suspension and his lawyer then, David Cornwall, is A-Rod’s lead lawyer now.
A-Rod’s camp has tried to depict a conspiracy between the Yankees and MLB. But these are two distinct issues and — when it comes to the medical matter, particularly — Rodriguez still must decide how far to go. His associates have talked about “preparing” a grievance against the Yanks through the union or a malpractice case against Yankees team doctor Chris Ahmad. But that reminds me of the Mets saying they are “monitoring” free agents in the offseason — which is spin for “we want to make our fans think we might do something when we know we won’t.”
To that end, will A-Rod’s group actually go beyond “preparing?” A legal case would almost certainly open A-Rod’s medical/drug history for discovery. That is not something he probably wants, specifically his 2009-10 involvement with Anthony Galea, who was convicted of smuggling illegal performance enhancers from Canada to the United States.
On Monday, in a statement, the Yankees said any medical questions raised by A-Rod and his counsel should be “directed to New York-Presbyterian Hospital.” An MLB official surmised that was a signal by the Yanks to the A-Rod camp that a big-budgeted hospital quite familiar with fighting malpractice cases will be part of this, as well. As the MLB official said, “Even A-Rod doesn’t have as many shark lawyers as Presbyterian.”