THIS BUD’S FOR YOU: Bud Selig (left) and Alex Rodriguez are expected to square off over a suspension, sources told The Post, because Rodriguez — who worked out in Tampa yesterday — isn’t prepared to give in to the commissioner. (
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Alex Rodriguez’s amazing race against the clock will take him tonight to Trenton, where he could try once again to rev up his playing career — or where Major League Baseball could pop him before he even enters the ballpark.
Either way, a source told The Post, the Yankees’ beleaguered third baseman isn’t ready to give in to commissioner Bud Selig.
The Yankees announced last night Rodriguez, after participating in a simulated game yesterday at Steinbrenner Field, will play tonight and tomorrow night for their Double-A affiliate in Trenton as part of his rehabilitation from a strained left quadriceps. That would put him on track to rejoin the Yankees Monday in Chicago, but that is of course subject to any proclamations by Selig, who is on the verge of issuing suspensions to A-Rod and nine other players for their alleged involvement in the shuttered Biogenesis anti-aging clinic in South Florida.
The announced discipline of Rodriguez could come later than, and separately from, that of the other nine players because baseball views his purported transgressions as considerably more serious than those of his fellow suspects — he’s accused of obstructing MLB’s investigation as well as purchasing illegal performance-enhancing drugs each of the four prior seasons — and therefore his situation is more complicated. While there have been continuing talks between both MLB officials and their Players Association counterparts and the PA and A-Rod’s representatives, indications are there has been no direct conversation betwee* MLB and Rodriguez’s legal team since a meeting last week in which possible punishments were discussed.
Optimism was dimming an agreement could be reached, and a source said the three-time Most Valuable Player was ready to fight Selig’s ruling. As The Post reported yesterday, Rodriguez has added to his legal team recently, retaining the Manhattan law firm Cohen, Weiss and Simon.
Selig has threatened to give as much as a lifetime suspension to Rodriguez if he doesn’t agree to a deal which keeps him off the field approximately through next season. Without an agreement, Selig could suspend A-Rod via the Basic Agreement (for obstruction) rather than the Joint Drug Agreement (for purchasing the illegal PEDs), the critical difference being the former avenue would keep A-Rod off the field (and unpaid) as he prepares for his appeal. That would avoid the unpalatable scene, in MLB’s eyes, of Rodriguez playing for the Yankees as a suspended player, but it also would create more turbulence with the Players Association.
The other nine players include Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli, Rangers All-Star outfielder Nelson Cruz, Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta, former Yankees prospect Jesus Montero (now a Mariners minor-leaguer) and former Mets prospect Fernando Martinez (now in the Yankees’ system). They all are expected to receive suspensions in the range of 50-to-65 games; 50 games is the standard for a first failed drug test, and those on the higher end would get punished for a lack of cooperation with MLB investigators. Most if not all of these nine are expected to accept their sentences. With many teams approaching the season benchmark of 112 games played, baseball likes the idea of the suspended players missing the rest of this season and then starting fresh in 2014.
Moreover, if MLB can lock up suspensions of these nine players as well as Ryan Braun, who agreed to a 65-game suspension last week, that would give baseball attorneys 10 corroborations of star witness Anthony Bosch in their case against A-Rod.
Rodriguez reported to the Yankees’ minor-league complex in Tampa yesterday and because of wet fields was transported to Steinbrenner Field, where the Yankees hold their spring training. With no one in the stands — but with choppers from two area TV affiliates surveying the scene from the sky — he had six at-bats, the Yankees said, and saw 31 pitches; there were no fielders. He also took part in some simulated defensive situations and ran bases in simulated situations. A source told The Post the 38-year-old felt great afterward. Rodriguez said last week during his clash with the Yankees he was ready to start playing in major league games.
Upon departing the minor league complex, Rodriguez welcomed The Post and a few other print reporters to approach his black Maybach luxury car. He rolled down his window and said, “I’ll talk to you guys, but no cameras.” However, when a gaggle of television camera operators and producers immediately arrived, he shook his head, closed his window and drove away.
Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner emerged from the building named after his father right around the time A-Rod began his simulated game. Steinbrenner politely declined comment on the storm surrounding his highest-paid player, saying, “Not today.”
* The Miami Herald reported yesterday that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami had opened a criminal investigation into whether Bosch illegally sold controlled substances to high school students. That probe has the potential to complicate baseball’s disciplinary cases if Bosch’s lawyers advise him not to participate in MLB grievance hearings, where the commissioner’s office presumably would call him to testify and authenticate documents.
— with AP