Alex Rodriguez’s newest lawyer is coming out swinging, and he has thrown a few haymakers toward MLB and the New York Yankees.
We knew things were going to get interesting when Rodriguez hired Tacopina, who is considered the most-hated lawyer in New York. Tacopina has wasted little time defending his client and putting a new spin on the tense situation between the ballplayer, the club, and the league.
In an interview with The New York Times, Tacopina accused the Yankees of sabotaging Rodriguez by keeping medical records away from him, and he accused MLB of working with the Yankees in an attempt to void the third baseman’s contract.
Tacopina told The Times that the Yankees hid the results of an MRI from Rodriguez that showed the 3B/DH had a torn labrum in his hip last year. Tacopina says the team continued to play Rodriguez when he shouldn’t have been playing. Rodriguez had offseason surgery on his hip and missed most of the season while recovering.
And here’s the big bomb.
Tacopina says the doctor who performed the surgery, Dr. Bryan T. Kelly, told A-Rod the Yankees told Kelly they did not want Rodriguez to play for them again.
Yankees president Randy Levine allegedly told Kelly, “I don’t ever want to see him on the field again,” according to Tacopina.
The Times says Tacopina believes MLB is “working in conjunction” with the Yankees to void Rodriguez’s contract.
“You don’t need to look much further from the top to figure out where this all comes from,” Tacopina told The Times.
Oh, and if all that wasn’t enough, Tacopina is questioning the credibility of Biogenesis founder Tony Bosch as a witness.
While I have no doubt that the Yankees are trying to void A-Rod’s contract and that MLB wants to nail Rodriguez, we can’t allow Tacopina to convince us that Rodriguez is a sympathetic figure, which is what he’s trying to do. A-Rod is a slimeball who has been caught cheating multiple times. He was juicing while partnering with an anti-steroids organization. How much more disgusting does it get?
