Alex Rodriguez’s lawyers came out swinging for the fences on Thursday, trying to convince a Manhattan federal judge Major League Baseball is out to “destroy” the Yankee superstar’s “career and reputation” to help salvage MLB Commissioner Bud Selig’s rocky reputation.
“[MLB and Selig] engaged in extensive and improper investigatory tactics in an effort to get Mr. Rodriguez at all costs, and in an effort to salvage Mr. Selig’s reputation as he heads towards retirement,” Rodriguez’s lawyer Jordan Siev told Manhattan federal Judge Lorna Schofield.
“[Selig] saw this as an opportunity to bring down one of the biggest names in the game.”
It was the first court conference since Rodriguez filed a scathing lawsuit last month against MLB and Selig, claiming they are on a “witch hunt” aimed at destroying his reputation and making it appear baseball has cleaned up its act regarding performance-enhancing drugs after years of being accused of looking the other way.
Rodriguez — who is fighting a 211-game suspension imposed by MLB for alleged violations of baseball’s drug agreement and labor contract – was not present.
The suit also accuses MLB of conspiring with Anthony Bosch, owner of Biogenesis, the shuttered South Florida-based anti-aging clinic.
It says baseball officials bribed Bosch with $5 million “to buy his cooperation” in their takedown of A-Rod. Bosch is under criminal investigation for dispensing performance-enhancing drugs to minors.
More than dozen players including Rodriguez, 38, allegedly are connected to the clinic.
Rehashing allegations previously made in the complaint — but in more vivid detail — Siev told the judge Team A-Rod has turned up evidence that will prove MLB reps in their efforts to try nailing Rodriguez “threatened witnesses, impersonated police officers,” offered cash and jobs to potential witnesses and, in one case, “engaged in inappropriate sexual relations” with a witness.
Among the MLB staffers Siev was referring to is Dan Mullin, senior VP of investigations for MLB. The suit alleges Mullin had “inappropriate sexual relations” with a witness he interviewed about the “Biogenesis matter” and allegedly exchanged a bag stuffed with $150,000 for stolen records.
Joseph Baumgarten, a lawyer for MLB, told the judge the league and Selig deny all of the allegations in the suit but did not offer much detail.
Both sides continued to argue where the case should play out.
MLB is filing a motion asking the judge to dismiss the case, but in the interim believes it should remain in federal court. MLB says Rodriguez is bound by the collective bargaining agreement between MLB and its Players Association, and that disputes under the agreement are covered by the federal Labor Management Relations Act.
Ultimately, however, MLB believes the case should be decided by its independent arbitration process, Baumgarten said.
Siev, however, said the case should be moved back to Manhattan Supreme Court — where it initially was filed before MLB objected. He said state courts — not federal courts — historically handle “tortuous interference” claims, such as Rodriguez alleging MLB has interfered with his current contracts and future work by leaking information to the press.
He also cited a more than a decade-old lawsuit involving former NBA star Latrell Sprewell as a reason why the Rodriguez suit should move back to state court. The ex-Knick sued the league and his former team, the Golden State Warriors, for $30 million after being suspended in 1997 for choking then-coach P.J. Carlesimo during a practice.
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in California found nearly all of the case lacked merit — but allowed to continue one claim by Sprewell that the NBA violated California state law by making public comments against Sprewell that hurt him financially.
Federal judges historically are tougher than state judges.
Schofield will decide on where the case should play out and MLB’s motion to dismiss at a later date. She scheduled another hearing for Jan. 23.