With no settlement and no grievance filed, the New York Daily News reported, A-Rod deflected questions about the long-simmering issue.
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Asked after Sunday’s victory in Baltimore about the possible grievance, Rodriguez said: “That stuff will work itself out. I don’t know much about those kind of things.”
Rodriguez may be taking that approach because, according to the Daily News, he and his representatives and the Yankees agreed not hold to a firm deadline for the grievance to be filed since it wouldn’t be heard until after the season anyway.
At issue is the Yankees’ claim that by confessing he used steroids and the subsequent season-long suspension by MLB, he and, in turn, his milestone accomplishments are unmarketable, rendering invalid the agreement that is separate from his playing contract.
Moreover, the Daily News noted, the team apparently is confident that it could win a grievance hearing given that “there have been zero commercial/endorsement opportunities presented to A-Rod or the Yankees for his passing of Mays — or, for that matter, to Rodriguez for the 3,000-hit milestone he’s closing in on. (By contrast, Derek Jeter had numerous commercial/endorsement deals after he reached 3,000 hits.)”
Still, the Yankees, in what the Daily News described as “a face-saving olive branch,” suggested months ago to the MLB Players Association that the dispute could be settled by the team making a donation — less than the $6 million — to a charity of Rodriguez’s choice.
“If you guys are so interested in my charities, I’ll be at the Boys and Girls Club on Tuesday,” a smiling Rodriguez said Sunday. “That’s a great organization, and we welcome all you guys to come out and give the Boys and Girls Club some exposure.”
According to unidentified sources cited by the Daily News, the union would prefer the dispute be resolved without going to a hearing before an arbitrator so that all of Rodriguez’s PED history and his involvement in the Biogenesis steroids scandal wouldn’t become media fodder.
However, in an effort to force even reduced bonus payments, Rodriguez might be willing to go before the same arbitrator, Fredric Horowitz, who in 2013 found him guilty on all counts in his appeal of his 211-game suspension for doping — but reduced his punishment.
A-Rod faces a tough sell, as one baseball official noted to the News on Sunday: “Alex can’t even make the case that he’s helped the Yankees this year with his comeback season as their attendance and TV ratings are both down.”
