A-Rod and Bud Selig nearly cross paths at memorial service for Michael Weiner: Report

Out of the hundreds of mourners attending the memorial service of Michael Weiner, the late executive director of baseball's Player's Association who died at age 51 from a brain tumor, were the two central characters in the midst of MLB's highly-charged grievance hearings — Alex Rodriguez and Bud Selig — newly sworn enemies who almost awkwardly ran into each other at a Paramus, N.J. chapel.

Selig left the chapel ahead of Rodriguez, ensuring there would be no bitter exchange between the two, who are embroiled in a nasty arbitration battle over the 211-game drug suspension Selig handed the three-time MVP on Aug. 5. A-Rod’s arbitration hearing ended Thursday, but the slugger abruptly left those proceedings Wednesday after independent arbitrator Fredric Horowitz ruled that Selig did not have to testify as a witness in the matter. Rodriguez took to the airwaves Wednesday afternoon to deny using performance-enhancing drugs and to castigate Selig. Horowitz will now render his verdict, which is expected sometime in the next month or possibly in January.

Rodriguez, who has sued Selig and MLB and has threatened to even take the union to the courts if the arbitrator’s ruling isn’t acceptable to him, had also taken issue with statements Weiner made in August, when he said he recommended a negotiated settlement for a certain length that he claimed Major League Baseball did not offer.

Dozens of prominent names from all areas of baseball were in attendance and, although many former players were on hand at the chapel, Rodriguez was the only active player to pay his respects, and the only member of the New York Yankees organization to attend.

In honor of the beloved Weiner’s penchant for wearing Chuck Taylor high-top sneakers, several of the mourners donned the famous basketball shoes for the service. Rabbi Mary Zamore even remarked that “Mike Weiner was known for his informality,” and encouraged the standing-room only crowd to sit on the floor if they wished.

After Rodriguez left Weiner’s service, he traveled to the La Marina restaurant in Washington Heights, which hosted an early Thanksgiving dinner for 300 seniors from upper Manhattan and Bronx nursing homes.

The Upper-Manhattan hot-spot is co-owned by Fernando Mateo, also the president of Hispanics Across America, the nonprofit group which drew dozens of A-Rod supporters to Park Avenue while Rodriguez’s arbitration unfolded. Rodriguez shook hands and visited with the seniors Sunday, but did not stop to talk with three reporters at the event.

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.