Alex Rodriguez walks out of MLB’s arbitration hearing, slams Bud Selig on Mike Francesa's radio show
Hours after storming out of Wednesday's hearing while telling MLB COO Rob Manfred that the process against him is 'f------ bulls---,' A-Rod vented against Selig on Francesa's WFAN show and publicly denied for the first time using PEDs.
Comments (151)BY TERI THOMPSON , MICHAEL O'KEEFFE , CHRISTIAN RED AND NATHANIEL VINTON / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
PUBLISHED: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2013, 12:04 PM
UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2013, 8:57 PM
CHRISTIAN RED/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Alex Rodriguez, seen here arriving at MLB headquarters Wednesday morning, says the 'absurdity and injustice just became too much' as he walked out of his arbitration hearing in the appeal of the Yankee slugger's historic 211-game drug ban.
Alex Rodriguez’s future in baseball is more uncertain than ever after a theatrical day in which he punched a wall, pounded his fist on a table, told Major League Baseball chief operating officer Rob Manfred that the process is “f------ bulls---,” and stormed out of his doping arbitration.
And he wasn’t finished.
A couple of hours later, A-Rod took to the radio to castigate Bud Selig and proclaim his innocence in the Biogenesis scandal, denying publicly for the first time (albeit not under oath) that he took the performance-enhancing drugs MLB says he took in what it has described as the most egregious doping case in baseball history.
"Did you do any PEDs?" host Mike Francesa asked.
"No," Rodriguez said.
He added that he had “missed my daughter's birthday, first time; she's 9 on Monday. I was here, and I wasn't there for Natasha.”
Alex Rodriguez vents on Mike Francesa's radio show after losing 'my mind' during Wednesday's hearing.
“You're saying you did nothing wrong, you did not do what they're accusing you of doing?” asked Francesa.
“That's correct,” Rodriguez said.
Wearing a dark gray suit and polka-dot tie on the YES simulcast, Rodriguez described himself as persecuted by Major League Baseball and undermined by arbitrator Fredric Horowitz’s ruling that MLB had properly designated Manfred as the representative who explained the penalties the league imposed rather than Selig.
“Today I lost my mind,” Rodriguez said. “I banged a table, kicked a briefcase and slammed out of the room.”
He went on to attack the 79-year-old Selig, who lives in Milwaukee and whose office is there.
“I know you don’t like New York, but you’ve got to come face me,” Rodriguez said of the commissioner. “This is my legacy. I’m part of history. You tell me why I should serve one inning. 'Cause you’re retiring next year? That’s not fair, Mike."
“This has been a disgusting process for everyone,” said Rodriguez, who told Francesa he had been prepared to testify Friday if Selig took the stand on Thursday.
YOUTUBE
Mike Francesa (r.) lends a sympathetic ear to Alex Rodriguez during Wednesday's show.
“This should end with Selig on Thursday and me on Friday,” he said. “Put your money where your mouth is. ... Let the arbiter decide whatever he decides.”
MLB spokesman Pat Courtney told the Daily News that MLB has the right under the collective bargaining agreement to select the person it wants to use as a witness to explain the penalty the league has settled on in a doping case.
"In the entire history of the Joint Drug Agreement, the commissioner has not testified in a single case,” Courtney said in a statement. “Major League Baseball has the burden of proof in this matter. MLB selected Rob Manfred as its witness to explain the penalty imposed in this case. Mr. Rodriguez and the Players’ Association have no right to dictate how baseball's case is to proceed any more than baseball has the right to dictate how their case proceeds. Today's antics are an obvious attempt to justify Mr. Rodriguez's continuing refusal to testify under oath."
Denying that he used doping products supplied by Biogenesis and interfered with MLB’s investigation of the Miami anti-aging clinic, Rodriguez told Francesa that he deserved to play for the Yankees on Opening Day — but that he was through with arbitration.
"For me, I'm done," Rodriguez said. "I don't have a chance."
It remains unclear whether Rodriguez’s sudden departure signals a surrender or an escalation in his war with the league and the Yankees, who he says conspired to sabotage what remains of his massive contract.
“I have a lot of friends on that team,” Rodriguez said.
CHRISTIAN RED/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
A-Rod, who says he sat through 10 days of testimony by 'felons and liars', signs an autograph before entering MLB headquarters on Wednesday.
One of his lawyers, Joseph Tacopina, told Michael Kay on ESPN Radio Wednesday afternoon that the case is headed to federal court, where A-Rod is expected to ask for a stay of the suspension, assuming Horowtiz upholds all or a sizeable a portion of it.
The arbitration was scheduled to resume Thursday morning at 9:30 despite the walkout, a process that would need to be completed before Rodriguez’s lawyers could even hope to get their case into federal court. If A-Rod’s legal team fails to appear (the player himself is not required to attend), Horowitz can rule on the evidence that has already been presented.
“I am disgusted with this abusive process, designed to ensure that the player fails,” Rodriguez said in a long statement released simultaneously with what appeared to be his staged exit from the league’s Park Ave. headquarters.
“I have sat through 10 days of testimony by felons and liars, sitting quietly through every minute, trying to respect the league and the process,” Rodriguez’s statement continued, apparently referring to MLB’s chief witness against him, Tony Bosch, the former owner of Biogenesis, the clinic baseball says supplied Rodriguez with multiple banned substances for three years. “This morning, after Bud Selig refused to come in and testify about his rationale for the unprecedented and totally baseless punishment he hit me with, the arbitrator selected by MLB and the Players Association refused to order Selig to come in and face me.
“The absurdity and injustice just became too much. I walked out and will not participate any further in this farce."
MLB responded with its own statement Wednesday afternoon, defending its collectively bargained and binding arbitration process.
"For more than 40 years, Major League Baseball and the Players Association have had a contractual grievance process to address disputes between the two parties. This negotiated process has served players and clubs well. Despite Mr. Rodriguez being upset with one of the arbitration panel's rulings today, Major League Baseball remains committed to this process and to a fair resolution of the pending dispute.”
KENDALL RODRIGUEZ/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
A-Rod, seen here outside of MLB headquarters earlier in the week, is upset that MLB commissioner Bud Selig isn't being forced to testify.
The Players’ Association also issed a statement, saying "The MLBPA believes that every player has the right under our arbitration process to directly confront his accuser. We argued strenuously to the arbitrator in Alex's case that the commissioner should be required to appear and testify. While we respectfully disagree with the arbitrator's ruling, we will abide by it as we continue to vigorously challenge Alex's suspension within the context of this hearing."
Rodriguez’s lawyers, Jordan Siev of Reed Smith and sports law expert David Cornwall, met with Horowitz before leaving the hearing to plan their next move with the rest of their legal team, including Tacopina and presumably the union.
Following Selig’s historic suspension of Rodriguez, Team A-Rod had threatened to take the case to federal court and sue both baseball and the Players’ Association. Rodriguez has already sued MLB and Selig in state court, a suit that baseball has asked to be removed to federal court.
From a strictly theatrical standpoint, Rodriguez’s walkout outdoes everything that predates it in a three-month saga already noted for its outrageous theatrics and over-the-top P.R. moves.
From a legal point of view, an attempt to move to federal court is risky; courts rarely take cases in which the parties have agreed to settle their differences via binding arbitration.
Lance Armstrong, for instance, never recovered legally from his decision to unilaterally suspend arbitration that courts deemed a necessary step before hearing arguments.
(Armstrong claimed the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency was on a “witch hunt,” a line Rodriguez has parroted. Both men launched civil suits, Armstrong in federal court, Rodriguez in New York state court, where he has already sued MLB and Selig.)
Now, it appears Rodriguez will add another case to his litigation list.
“They appeared to have nothing left to offer in this arbitration,” said one person who has followed the case. “They have to do something.”
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/i-team/a-rod-walks-arbitration-hearing-calls-process-farce-article-1.1523436#ixzz2lFDS55eO
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