The sparring between Major League Baseball and Alex Rodriguez
intensified Monday, as the New York Yankees third baseman pondered
options for recourse against his team.
Rodriguez and his attorney, Joe Tacopina, say the Yankees let Rodriguez play during the 2012 postseason despite an MRI scan by team doctor Chris Ahmad that indicated a significant injury to his left hip. Rodriguez had surgery on the hip in January.
Tacopina, in remarks to The New York Times, said the Yankees "rolled Rodriguez out there like an invalid" during the playoffs. Rodriguez had an MRI on Oct. 11, the date of Game 4 of the Yankees' American League Division Series against the Baltimore Orioles.
Rodriguez had three hits in 25 at-bats, with 12 strikeouts, in the two playoff series.
Also Monday, Major League Baseball welcomed a challenge from Tacopina to publicly divulge all of the information it gathered in recent years to reveal that Rodriguez has been taking performance-enhancing drugs since 2010.
In a letter from MLB vice president Rob Manfred delivered to Tacopina, Manfred informed the lawyer he was in violation of baseball's Joint Drug Agreement confidentiality clause, but if he was now willing, MLB would reveal all of its information on Rodriguez.
A copy of the letter was obtained by USA TODAY Sports.
"While we believe that your public comments are already in breach of the confidentiality provisions of Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program," Manfred said in the letter, "we will agree to waive those provisions as they apply to Rodriguez and the Office of Commissioner of Baseball with respect to Rodriguez's entire history under the Program, including, but not limited to, his testing history, test results, violations of the Program, and all information relating to Rodriguez's treatment by Anthony Bosch, Anthony Galea and Victor Conte."
Tacopina issued a rebuttal, noting that any such release would have to include the permission of baseball's players association. "This letter was a publicity stunt," Tacopina wrote.
In response, Manfred said, "The Players Association has never stood in the way of an individual player publicly disclosing his own drug testing history. We are more than happy to add a signature line for the MLBPA to my letter."
MLB interviewed Rodriguez before the 2010 season about his relationship with Galea, a Canadian doctor who admitted using human growth hormones but said he didn't distribute it to clients. Conte, the man behind the BALCO doping scandal that ensnared home run king Barry Bonds among others, met with Rodriguez in May 2012 regarding the use of legal nutritional supplements, according to New York's Daily News.
Rodriguez and his attorney, Joe Tacopina, say the Yankees let Rodriguez play during the 2012 postseason despite an MRI scan by team doctor Chris Ahmad that indicated a significant injury to his left hip. Rodriguez had surgery on the hip in January.
Tacopina, in remarks to The New York Times, said the Yankees "rolled Rodriguez out there like an invalid" during the playoffs. Rodriguez had an MRI on Oct. 11, the date of Game 4 of the Yankees' American League Division Series against the Baltimore Orioles.
Rodriguez had three hits in 25 at-bats, with 12 strikeouts, in the two playoff series.
Also Monday, Major League Baseball welcomed a challenge from Tacopina to publicly divulge all of the information it gathered in recent years to reveal that Rodriguez has been taking performance-enhancing drugs since 2010.
In a letter from MLB vice president Rob Manfred delivered to Tacopina, Manfred informed the lawyer he was in violation of baseball's Joint Drug Agreement confidentiality clause, but if he was now willing, MLB would reveal all of its information on Rodriguez.
A copy of the letter was obtained by USA TODAY Sports.
"While we believe that your public comments are already in breach of the confidentiality provisions of Major League Baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program," Manfred said in the letter, "we will agree to waive those provisions as they apply to Rodriguez and the Office of Commissioner of Baseball with respect to Rodriguez's entire history under the Program, including, but not limited to, his testing history, test results, violations of the Program, and all information relating to Rodriguez's treatment by Anthony Bosch, Anthony Galea and Victor Conte."
Tacopina issued a rebuttal, noting that any such release would have to include the permission of baseball's players association. "This letter was a publicity stunt," Tacopina wrote.
In response, Manfred said, "The Players Association has never stood in the way of an individual player publicly disclosing his own drug testing history. We are more than happy to add a signature line for the MLBPA to my letter."
MLB interviewed Rodriguez before the 2010 season about his relationship with Galea, a Canadian doctor who admitted using human growth hormones but said he didn't distribute it to clients. Conte, the man behind the BALCO doping scandal that ensnared home run king Barry Bonds among others, met with Rodriguez in May 2012 regarding the use of legal nutritional supplements, according to New York's Daily News.
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