Alex Rodriguez filed a lawsuit on Thursday in Manhattan against Major League Baseball, claiming that the organization is on a “witch hunt” for evidence to keep him out of the sport.
The New York Times, which first reported on the suit, reports that his lawyers are accusing MLB of buying Anthony Bosch’s cooperation. Bosch ran the Florida anti-aging clinic that is currently the focus of the Biogenesis doping scandal. Rodriguez was suspended 211 games for alleged ties to the clinic and 12 other players were suspended as well.
Among the claims in the lawsuit is that investigators paid Bosch $125,000 for Rodriguez’s apparently stole records. They claim that MLB paid him a total of $5 million “to buy his cooperation,” information they received from “at least one individual who claims to have knowledge of Mr. Bosch’s deal.”
The suit accuses commissioner Bud Selig and MLB of “tortious interference” to ensure that Rodriguez would not get the rest of his mammoth Yankees contract. He is still owed $86 million by the team after the current season. The suit does not name the Yankees as a defendant.
“The entire legal dynamic is very complex, and my legal team is doing what they need in order to vindicate me and pursue all of my rights,” Rodriguez said in a statement, reports USA Today. “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.”
MLB also responded, calling the lawsuit a violation of the collective bargaining agreement. The full statement continues:
“While we vehemently deny the allegations in the complaint, none of those allegations is relevant to the real issue: whether Mr. Rodriguez violated the Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program by using and possessing numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including testosterone and human growth hormone, over the course of multiple years and whether he violated the basic agreement by attempting to cover up his violations of the program by engaging in a course of conduct intended to obstruct and frustrate the Office of the Commissioner’s investigation.”
In the lawsuit, Rodriguez’s lawyers go all the way to claim that Selig’s efforts against Rodriguez are part of an “attempt to secure his legacy as the ‘savior’ of America's pastime.”
Rodriguez, 38, is six years into his 10-year, $275 million contract with the Yankees.
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