Hal Steinbrenner: Yankees expect a 'fit' A-Rod back next season: Report

The New York Yankees seem to be softening their stance on Alex Rodriguez these days — just a little.

With the reality of A-Rod's 162-game suspension ending after this season finally setting in, Hal Steinbrenner said for the first time that the Yankees fully expect him back in uniform for 2015.

"That's what he's planning for,'' Steinbrenner said. "And that's what we're planning for.''

Rodriguez, who turns 40 next July, is owed $61 million by the team over the next three seasons. He has struggled to stay on the field in recent seasons due to hip injuries.

Steinbrenner, who was in Baltimore for the quarterly owners' meetings, took a few minutes to discuss his struggling Yankees and the future of A-Rod, who is serving his Biogenesis-related suspension.

Although Steinbrenner said he has not spoken to Rodriguez, he did hear a positive report from the owner's brother-in-law, Felix Lopez, a Yankees executive who bumped into A-Rod in New York recently.

"He says he looks good,'' Steinbrenner said. "He's fit. Alex is a hard worker. Alex will be ready. And we'll just have to go from there. See how he does. See how he responds to playing every day in spring training.

 "Point is, he's in good shape. And that's not surprising.''

And, from Steinbrenner's perspective, having the pariah back in pinstripes might not be such a bad thing right now.

After watching the team's playoff hopes hang by a thread and given his disappointment with this season's underperforming and very expensive roster, even a substandard A-Rod in the lineup must look pretty good to George's son at the moment.

"The offense has been a bit frustrating,'' he said. "They've been inconsistent. They know that. That's got to change — quickly. But having said all that, we're there. As we were last year at this time. The question is where are we in a month? It's up to them.''

He also left open the possibility that the team's finish could determine the fate of Brian Cashman, whose contract is up at the end of this season. Not counting the 1994 strike season, the Yankees haven't missed the playoffs in consecutive years since 1993, and Steinbrenner spent nearly $500 million to make sure it didn't happen again.

He was asked if he had made any decisions yet regarding the general manager.

"No,'' Steinbrenner said. "We're so busy right now trying to figure out who's going to be playing in any given game. We'll be talking about that soon enough. But you know me, we have enough things to worry about during the season. That's where our focus needs to be.''

And Cashman's fate?

"Let me get to October,'' Steinbrenner said. "Hopefully, the end of October, the beginning of November, and we'll go from there.''

Hal is suddenly sounding more like his late dad these days.

MLB knowingly bought stolen A-Rod documents: Report

Maybe this whole Alex Rodriquez Biogenesis scandal isn't over quite yet. At least it's still got legs.

Major League Baseball investigators illegally bought documents to build the performance-enhancing drug case against the Yankees' third baseman, according to a report in Newsday, citing a Boca Raton, Fla. police report, 

That's despite repeated warnings to MLB from Florida authorities that the documents in the Rodriguez scandal were stolen and that they were not to purchase them, according to Florida investigators and an April police report obtained by the newspaper.

MLB investigators bought Biogenesis records anyway, and a Boca Raton police detective investigating the theft noted that baseball officials neglected to notify law enforcement officials that they had done so for nearly eight months.

League spokesman Pat Courtney, however, told Newsday that it "had no knowledge that that documents we purchased were stolen."

The police report, which has not been previously publicized, details how a detective's investigation into the burglary of documents from a car parked outside a strip-mall tanning salon turned into an examination of whether MLB officials broke the law when they paid for records showing that players had used performance-enhancing drugs.

MLB commissioner Bud Selig, who will retire at the end of the 2014 season, stood by his office's actions.

"The only thing I'll say about the whole Alex Rodriguez thing, if you want to have a tough program, you better have tough enforcement," Selig said in a public appearance on April 25. "And once the Biogenesis thing broke, we did what we had to do."

MLB suspended A-Rod for the 2014 season for alleged PED violations.

Anthony Bosch to discuss injecting A-Rod, Biogenesis on '60 Minutes' Sunday night

Major League Baseball's star witness against Alex Rodriguez, Anthony Bosch, is scheduled to appear on CBS television's "60 Minutes" Sunday night along with MLB chief operating officer Rob Manfred.

According to a press release from the show, Bosch will say he personally delivered— and injected— banned substances, including testosterone, insulin-like growth factor 1 and human growth hormone, to Rodriguez at least a dozen times and that A-Rod paid him $12,000 a month in cash.

Rodriguez was suspended a record 162 games on Saturday as arbitrator Fredric Horowitz reduced the original 211-game ban. The ruling was a huge win for MLB even though the ban was reduced.

The suspension would not have been possible without Bosch, the former Biogenesis chief who eventually cooperated with MLB's investigation. He provided the league with phone records and corroborated other evidence.

Bosch's first public interview will air on Sunday night, as part of a 60 Minutes segment with Scott Pelley. Among his claims:

-He personally delivered banned substances, including testosterone, insulin-like growth factor 1 and human growth hormone to Rodriguez at least a dozen times and Rodriguez paid him $12,000 a month in cash.

-He personally injected Rodriguez because "Alex is scared of needles, so at times, he would ask me to inject."

-Rodriguez's mission was to hit 800 home runs and that the Yankee slugger asked him for what he gave MLB superstar Manny Ramirez, a former Bosch client

-Text messages obtained by 60 Minutes between him and Rodriguez indicate that at times they communicated daily about the substances the slugger took on his "protocol"

-Says Rodriguez associates intimidated him to try to prevent him from cooperating with MLB in its investigation of the Yankee third baseman.

Manfred is expected to tell Pelley that he believes threats against Bosch could be legitimate. He also denied a claim by Rodriguez's legal team that Bosch was given $5 million for his cooperation.

A-Rod reportedly turned down numerous interview requests from 60 Minutes. His attorney Joe Tacopina said in an email that he had not been asked to appear.

The segment will air on Sunday, Jan.12 at 8:00-9:00 p.m. ET on CBS.

A-Rod slammed with 162-game suspension: Report

The good news for Alex Rodriguez, he won't be serving a record 211-game suspension. On the flip side?  He'll still be on the shelf for for a full 162-game season— including any postseason games.

Independent arbitrator Fredric Horowitz ruled Saturday that the New York Yankees third baseman must serve a full-season, 162-game suspension for his involvement with Biogenesis. It’s a slight reduction from the initial 211-game suspension executed by Major League Baseball, but it’s still a strikeout for A-Rod.

And the largest performance-enhancing drug related suspension in MLB history.

Rodriguez addressed the suspension in a statement, though MLB had yet to confirm the ruling.

"The number of games sadly comes as no surprise, as the deck has been stacked against me from day one," the 38-year-old Rodriguez said in the statement.

"This is one man's decision, that was not put before a fair and impartial jury, does not involve me having failed a single drug test, is at odds with the facts and is inconsistent with the terms of the Joint Drug Agreement and the Basic Agreement, and relies on testimony and documents that would never have been allowed in any court in the United States because they are false and wholly unreliable. This injustice is MLB's first step toward abolishing guaranteed contracts in the 2016 bargaining round, instituting lifetime bans for single violations of drug policy, and further insulating its corrupt investigative program from any variety defense by accused players, or any variety of objective review."

Financially, this will cost A-Rod $25 million, and it gives the Yankees an opportunity to achieve their goal of getting their 2014 payroll under $189 million — and a better chance to sign Japanese free-agent pitcher Masahiro Tanaka. The Yankees were said to be waiting for the ruling before adding another third baseman.

A-Rod's legal team has threatened to get an injunction from federal court, pushing off this punishment until his lawsuit against MLB has been seen through, but that represents a Hail Mary pass, as courts usually respect the rulings from binding arbitration hearings.

Alex Rodriguez says he'll continue to fight suspension in a statement. "No player should have to go through what I have been dealing with."
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) January 11, 2014

A defiant A-Rod concluded his statement with:

"I will continue to work hard to get back on the field and help the Yankees achieve the ultimate goal of winning another championship. I want to sincerely thank my family, all of my friends, and of course the fans and many of my fellow MLB players for the incredible support I received throughout this entire ordeal."

Publishing houses never heard about alleged A-Rod tell-all book: Report

Recently, the New York Post reported that Random House and HarperCollins were in a multi-million dollar bidding war for an Alex Rodriguez tell-all book about the slugger's battle with Major League Baseball in the Biogenesis scandal.

The real truth is that A-Rod might have more of a chance of publishing a fairy tale about centaurs and minotaurs than ever seeing his version of that story come to life.

According to the N.Y. Daily News,  no one has told Random House and HarperCollins about it:

“It’s totally fake,” said one publishing insider. The insider also said no house would be foolish enough to plunk down that kind of money for an A-Rod book project given the risks.

 “One reason he’d never get anywhere near that money is the obvious risk that as soon as the book was published, it could and probably would be discredited,” said the insider.“He’ll say anything as long as it’s not under oath.”

Rodriguez has been slapped with a 211-game doping ban by MLB commissioner Bud Selig in connection with Biogenesis, but he is appealing and has denied using performance-enhancing drugs beyond 2001-03, when he was a Texas Ranger.

Another source said there’s “no way (Rodriguez) will get anywhere near $5 million, even if he does do a book, and at this point it’s anyone’s guess if he will actually try.”

A-Rod could always schmooze his Yankee teammate, and new publishing mogul, Derek Jeter. The Yankees' captain announced last month that he is partnering with Simon & Schuster to launch his own adult nonfiction and children’s book division.

He could title it Lord Of The Ring.

A-Rod storms out of suspension hearing, calls process a 'farce'

Angry at what he considered the “absurdity and injustice” of the appeals process for his 211-game suspension, New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez stormed out of the grievance hearing on Wednesday and referred to the process as a “farce.”

The maneuver that set Rodriguez off, according to ESPN NewYork.com, was the decision of independent arbitrator Fredric Horowitz to not call Commissioner Bud Selig to testify in the hearing. The hearing had resumed on Monday after a month-long recess.

A person familiar with the session said that after Horowitz made his ruling, the New York Yankees third baseman slammed a table, uttered a profanity at MLB Chief Operating Officer Rob Manfred and left. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because what takes place at the hearing is supposed to be confidential.

After walking out, Rodriguez issued this statement through his spokesman:

"I am disgusted with this abusive process, designed to ensure that the player fails,” he said. “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.

"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."

The Yankees are desperate for a resolution in the hearing, which will decide the validity of Rodriguez's suspension for his role in the Biogenesis scandal. A resolution was expected to come by December.

Where it goes now is anyone's guess.

A-Rod calls in sick for Friday's MLB meeting

Alex Rodriguez's scheduled interview with Major League Baseball Friday was canceled after the Yankees third baseman told officials he was in California and too ill to travel.

A-Rod was to be interviewed by baseball officials at the Players’ Association’s Manhattan offices in advance of testifying in his arbitration hearing, which resumes Monday, according to the N.Y. Daily News.

Rodriguez was said to be recovering in California with no date set for the interview. The illness was not described as serious, but there was no indication if it would impact Monday's scheduled resumption of Rodriguez's appeal of his 211-game suspension. Rodriguez's legal team is expected to begin its presentation when the hearing reconvenes.

Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement governs any arbitration process, and it allows for baseball officials to question A-Rod about performance-enhancing drugs in the Biogenesis case.

That was supposed to happen on July 12, but when MLB’s Biogenesis investigators met with Rodriguez in Tampa, the slugger chose not to speak through a four-hour meeting, invoking the baseball equivalent of pleading the Fifth when MLB presented its case against him.

Rodriguez’s mandated pre-testimony interview, whenever it takes place, is not under oath, but if he is not truthful, he could be further punished by MLB if it determines he lied during the interview.

There were reports that A-Rod’s camp would call MLB and Yankee officials to testify. It was unclear if that would fly under the collective bargaining agreement since the CBA calls for MLB chief operating officer Rob Manfred to represent commissioner Bud Selig and other officials.

There was no immediate comment by Rodriguez's attorneys.

A-Rod tells MLB panel he was tricked into taking illegal drugs: Report

Alex Rodriguez said the only dope being taken was himself after claiming he was tricked into taking steroids by Biogenesis proprietor Anthony Bosch.

A-Rod —who is fighting a 211-game suspension by Major League Baseball — claims Bosch duped him into using the banned supplements at Tuesday's arbitration hearing.

According to the N.Y. Daily News, a source with knowledge of Rodriguez’s ongoing hearings in Manhattan, said the embattled Yankee and his lawyers have presented a case based partly on the idea that Rodriguez believed the substances he procured from the Biogenesis anti-aging clinic were innocent legal supplements.

That defense conflicts with the version told by Bosch — the founder and head honcho of the now-shuttered facility — who spent part of Monday and almost all of Tuesday testifying before the three-person panel that will decide on the appropriateness of the 211-game doping ban MLB commissioner Bud Selig imposed upon Rodriguez in August.

Bosch, who is cooperating with MLB, has spent much of that time validating a vast trove of Biogenesis documents as well as his own electronic communications with Rodriguez. The league believes the evidence reflects a deep dealer-source relationship. If the Biogenesis products were legitimate, MLB argues, why were they so expensive and why were the transactions so secretive?

Attorneys for Rodriguez will likely begin their cross-examination of Bosch on Wednesday, attacking his credibility during the closed-door hearing as they have for several months now — pointing out that MLB’s investigators paid Bosch for his evidence and offered to drop him from a lawsuit if he cooperated with their probe. They may also point out that Bosch is the subject of federal and state criminal investigations in Florida, and that he was fined $5,000 by the Florida Department of Health for holding himself out as a doctor.

By claiming that he was given banned drugs when he thought he was getting legal supplements, Rodriguez is tearing a page from the playbook that guided other tainted athletes. Barry Bonds told a grand jury in 2003 that he thought the creams he got from his BALCO-affiliated trainer, Greg Anderson, were something like flaxseed oil. Roger Clemens claimed he thought the intramuscular injections he got from his trainer, Brian McNamee, were shots of vitamin B-12 and lidocaine.

That sort of alibi got Clemens into trouble when he couldn’t explain why the injections took place during furtive visits to supply closets and an upper East Side apartment, and why he needed an unauthorized strength coach to give him shots instead of a team doctor.

Such claims have met minimal success in courtrooms, but they sometimes work in the confidential confines of a sport’s drug program. Olympic sports have the highest standard of what is loosely termed "strict liability," where an athlete is almost always held responsible for substances found in his or her specimen regardless of intent.

A-Rod's post-season hearing is expected to continue through this week but can't continue next week due to scheduling conflicts. They may pick up once again later this month or in November if necessary.

Alex Rodriguez paid for Anthony Bosch's attorney: Report

Alex Rodriguez prepared us when he said the next seven weeks would be a "bumpy road" and we can expect "a story like this" every day — now it seems A-Rod might have run into a pothole that even his legal team can't fill.

The latest bombshell involving A-Rod, according to ESPN's "Outside the Lines," claims the embattled New York Yankees player made two payments for former Biogenesis chief Anthony Bosch's attorney. T.J. Quinn is reporting that the New York Yankees third baseman's retainer payments are part of the evidence Major League Baseball has proving he interfered with the PED investigation.

According to Quinn, Rodriguez paid a $25,000 retainer in February before a $50,000 wire transfer was rejected in April. A-Rod's camp says the second payment attempt was a mistake and asked for it to be returned. A spokesperson for Susy Ribero-Ayala, Bosch's attorney said this:

"A retainer was paid (via wire transfer) by a representative of Alex Rodriquez (sic). Ms. Ribero-Ayala accepted this payment on behalf of Anthony Bosch as payment for his legal representation," the statement says.

"In April 2013, Ms. Ribero-Ayala received an unsolicited and unwarranted wire transfer from A-Rod Corp. The funds were immediately returned. Mr. Rodriquez (sic) does not have any involvement in Mr. Bosch's legal representation."

MLB also has email exchanges discussing the second transfer. Ribero-Ayala said she was unaware why she had received the money and returned it upon request. Quinn says the evidence shows failed negotiations between A-Rod's camp and Bosch's attorney, at best. Neither side offered comment.

Rodriguez was suspended a record 211 games for his ties to Biogenesis earlier this month. He has appealed the ban and returned to playing third base for the Yankees. Fifty games is the typical penalty handed down to first time offenders, but A-Rod received more because he allegedly interfered with the investigation.

You're going to need a bigger shovel this time A-Rod.

A-Rod beefs up legal team with top criminal lawyer

Alex Rodriguez is bringing in a heavy hitter to bolster his legal team as he prepares to go nine innings against Major League Baseball in its case against A-Rod in the Biogenesis PED scandal.

A-Rod has hired top New York criminal defense lawyer Joe Tacopina to back up his legal team as the Yankees slugger prepares to get ready for the fight of his career, reports Page Six of The New York Post.

The third baseman is facing a 211-game suspension, millions of dollars in lost salary and a big Scarlet C(heat) on his already tainted career.

Tacopina — who has successfully handled many high-profile cases which looked like lost causes— and has defended the likes of acquitted ex-NYPD officer Kenneth Moreno and disgraced NYC politician Hiram Monserrate. He has joined Rodriguez’s team and is expected to make a series of media appearances — including interviews with ESPN and the morning shows — to defend A-Rod next week. 

A source close to Rodriguez's camp told Page Six, “Joe is a fighter, and that is what Alex needs right now. He has been brought on to reinforce the trial team, there’s a possibility this could go all the way to federal court. Joe is known for putting the hammer down, he’s going to take on the Yankees and take on MLB.” 

While Tacopina declined to comment last night, sources tell us A-Rod’s camp believes the Yankees want out of his contract, and their delivery of a letter fining him $150,000 just before his comeback last Friday “was seen as an attempt to break his spirit.”

MLB suspensions likely to drop this week; A-Rod's could last until 2015: Report

Alex Rodriguez spent his birthday on the field of the Yankees’ minor league Tampa complex Saturday, taking small steps in yet another attempted comeback bid. You can probably guess what what the embattled New York Yankees third baseman was wishing for when he blew out the 38 candles.

After the fallout from Ryan Braun's sordid suspension, all indications lead to Major League Baseball announcing all of the suspensions in the Biogenesis case this week, including one that could keep A-Rod out the rest of this year and all of next season, according to The New York Post.

If it all goes according to MLB’s reported plan to announce the suspensions all 15-plus players facing sanctions in the performance-enhancing drug case, expect the hammer to drop hardest on the Yankees slugger. MLB went early — and somewhat easy — with Braun’s suspension because of his willingness to accept the penalty without appeal.

It is expected other players will do the same this week. To that end, Rodriguez’s representatives met with MLB officials in the past few days, reported The Post. It is believed A-Rod’s camp was trying to gain a better understanding of potential penalties. However, a member of Rodriguez’s team said yesterday it is “unequivocally untrue” that Rodriguez is seeking a settlement.

A-Rod could still face MLB roadblock on way back to Yankees warns player's union exec

On Wednesday, Alex Rodriguez said he was "excited like a ten-year-old boy" about the possibility of rejoining the New York Yankees in Texas by Monday.

Today, that same "boy" might be holding his breath after the executive director of the Player's Association laid out a not so sunny scenario for A-Rod and the other major leaguers linked to the Biogenesis scandal.

Speaking to The New York Daily News at a union golf fund-raiser for Hurricane Sandy charities at Bethpage Black, Michael Weiner said that if Major League Baseball has overwhelming evidence linking the players to the defunct anti-aging clinic and its founder, Anthony Bosch, the powerful Players Association may be in the position of putting the kibosh on Rodriguez's long-awaited return.

“I can tell you, if we have a case where there really is overwhelming evidence, that a player committed a violation of the program, our fight is going to be that they make a deal,” Weiner said without referring to specific players. “We’re not interested in having players with overwhelming evidence that they violated the (drug) program out there. Most of the players aren’t interested in that. We’d like to have a clean program.”

The News wrote:

Weiner did not specifically mention Rodriguez by name, sources have told The News that MLB investigators have gathered an overwhelming amount of evidence that shows the Yankee star received performance-enhancing drugs from Biogenesis. Players connected to Biogenesis will soon begin meeting with union officials and MLB executives to discuss pending penalties.

Players who don’t grieve suspensions are expected to begin serving them immediately; those who opt for arbitration could see their cases drag into next year.

“We will surely meet with the commissioner’s office and try to resolve all the pending cases. If we can’t, we’ll have arbitration cases. At this point, that’s all we can say. It will happen soon,” Weiner said. Speaking to baseball writers on Tuesday, Weiner said that the union will try to find common ground with MLB officials on the length of suspensions and how they will be publicized. He reiterated that on Wednesday, adding that in many instances grievances, including some involving banned substances, are settled before a suspension is imposed and publicly announced.

“This is a somewhat new situation, but some of those grievances have been disciplinary grievances as well,” Weiner said. “They just don’t get the play that the Biogenesis case did.”

A source said in the past Weiner has quietly convinced MLB to drop 10 to 15 drug cases by pointing out flaws in those cases. Weiner also raised questions about the highly contentious Ryan Braun arbitration of 2012. In that case, the Brewers star was supported by the Players Association and successfully challenged a 50-game doping suspension by raising questions about the chain of custody of his urine sample.

“The Braun case was one of many where there were problems with the case,” the source said. “The others just didn’t become public.”

Sources said Rodriguez should expect no better than a 150-game ban if a deal is reached. Other sources said no meeting between Rodriguez, the union and MLB has been set up, but the source added: “It will be soon.”

Wednesday, Rodriguez denied that any deal is being negotiated on his behalf. “No deals. At this moment that is all we can discuss on the matter. There’s no deal that I instructed anyone to do at this point,” Rodriguez said on WFAN.

There is also the possibility that Rodriguez, after evaluation and consultation with physicians, would be declared physically unable to perform once he returns to the Yankees — almost eight months after his second hip surgery in four years — and retire, although he would still be able to collect the more than $100 million owed to him by the Bombers.

Rodriguez is expected to finish his rehab games this weekend with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankee affiliate starting Thursday.

Don't book that ticket to Texas just yet A-Rod.