NEW YORK – New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez filed a lawsuit in New York’s State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Thursday against Major League Baseball. In the suit, Rodriguez accuses the League and Commissioner Bud Selig of “tortuous interference,” or interfering with his contracts and business relationship.
The lawsuit comes as Rodriguez attends grievance hearings regarding the 211-game suspension that Selig levied against him in August for allegedly purchasing performance-enhancing drugs from the Biogenesis clinic owned by Anthony Bosch. Rodriguez alleges that Major League Baseball bought the cooperation of Bosch by paying him $5 million to help force Rodriguez out of the game. The lawsuit alleges that Major League Baseball also promised to provide security for Bosch, cover his legal bills, and indemnify him from civil liability stemming from the Biogenesis investigation.
Joyce Fitzpatrick, a spokeswoman for Bosch, denied those allegations on Friday, stating that Bosch had not been paid for his cooperation.
According to the lawsuit, Rodriguez believes that Selig and company have just one goal in mind when it comes to the former All-Star’s career: “to improperly marshal evidence that they hope to use to destroy the reputation and career of Alex Rodriguez, one of the most accomplished major league baseball players of all time.”
Rodriguez was one of 14 players suspended by Major League Baseball this season after the sport’s investigation into Biogenesis of America, Bosch’s now-defunct anti-aging clinic in Florida. The remaining 13 players accepted their penalties without appeal.
However, no other player received a suspension even remotely close to Rodriguez’s 211-game ban, causing the MLBPA to argue that the penalty is excessive. A decision on the ban will come from arbitrator Fredric Horowitz this winter.
In a statement released regarding the lawsuit, Rodriguez said: “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. I look forward to the arbitration proceedings continuing, and for the day to come when I can share my story with the public and my supporters.”
Major League Baseball responded on Friday with a statement of their own, saying, “We vehemently deny the allegations in the complaint,” while a spokeswoman for Bosch on Friday denied that Bosch had been paid for his cooperation.
Dan is Examiner.com’s beat writer for the New York Yankees and the Trenton Thunder. Follow him on Twitter at @danpfeiffer74 for all the latest New York Yankees news.
