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Tag: Biogenesis

  • Alex Rodriguez Sued by Own Lawyer Over Alleged Unpaid Legal Fees

    Alex Rodriguez is being sued by his own attorney, David Cornwell, over $380,000 in allegedly unpaid legal fees.

    In a lawsuit filed in Manhattan on Monday, Cornwell and his firm Gordan & Rees said Rodriguez never finished paying them for work performed on his failed bid to overturn a lengthy doping suspension received in connection with the Biogenesis scandal.

    Rodriguez’ troubles started back in January 2013 when the Miami New Times published an article linking him, Ryan Braun, Melky Cabrera, Bartolo Colón, and others to the Biogenesis Clinic. Although Biogensis billed itself as an anti-aging clinic, it was actually providing the athletes with performance-enhancing drugs.

    When the MLB commenced a series of meetings and investigations, Rodriguez set about assembling what he called a “legal dream team.” He included Cornwell because the veteran sports attorney had been a key player in getting Ryan Braun’s 2012 doping suspension overturned.

    In August the MLB banned Rodriguez for 211 games. In January the suspension was reduced to 162 games, effectively keeping the New York Yankees third baseman off the field for the entire 2014 season.

    At the time, Rodriguez issued a statement on Facebook:

    Post by Alex Rodriguez.

    In a 12-page complaint filed by Gordon & Rees in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the firm said that Rodriguez is acting at least partially upon the recommendation of Roc Nation Sports, a sports management company owned by Shawn “Jay Z” Carter.

    “Most recently, Mr. Rodriguez admitted that his advisers at Roc Nation, most specifically, Desiree Perez, instructed him ‘not to pay the invoices, and to make Gordon & Rees sue’ him.”

    Post by Alex Rodriguez.

    Desiree Perez is one of Jay Z’s top advisors at Roc Nation. And she’s had her own share of trouble with the law. In 1994 she was arrested for intent to distribute cocaine and later served as a cooperating witness for the Drug Enforcement Administration.

    Back in May, when Rodriguez was set to cut a deal with the MLB and retire early, Perez allegedly convinced him to continue fighting the charges.

    Post by Alex Rodriguez.

    What does A-Rod have to say about all of this?

    “Alex Rodriguez has already paid substantial legal fees to this firm,” said his spokesman. “There are additional fees being sought from hours that continued to be billed and are the source of the disagreement between the parties. Alex looks forward to swiftly resolving this matter and moving on.”

    And Rodriguez has denied being influenced by Perez, saying he has no official ties to Roc Nation Sports:

    “I made my own decisions with my legal team over the last year, and I have accepted my penalties and am trying to serve my penalty.”

    Post by Alex Rodriguez.

    The Gordan & Rees lawsuit comes at a time when Rodriguez appears to be attempting to lie low and quietly ride out his suspension.

    His Facebook feed is filled with photos of him spending time with daughters Natasha and Ella and volunteering for the Boys and Girls Club in Miami.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • A-Rod’s Drug Use Discussed on ’60 Minutes’

    A-Rod’s Drug Use Discussed on ’60 Minutes’

    The hits keep coming for disgraced New York Yankees player Alex Rodriguez (or “A-Rod), who was suspended for the 2014 season for using banned substances. Following an investigation into Biogenesis for administering performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) to baseball players, thirteen MLB players were suspended. Even though A-Rod has steadfastly denied using banned substances, the man that claims he regularly administered the PEDs to Rodriguez interviewed with 60 Minutes last night.

    Anthony Bosch, founder of Biogenesis, claims that he started providing A-Rod with PEDs in 2010. Bosch says that he injected A-Rod with the human growth hormone regularly and that he also provided the third baseman with testosterone-laced gummies before the games so he would have more energy.

    “[Gummies] are so small you could literally while sitting in the dugout take it, put it in your mouth and people could think it’s sunflower seeds or…piece of candy or a piece of gum, for that matter,” Bosch said. “Now, all of a sudden, his levels of testosterone are higher. It gives him…more energy. It gives him more strength. It gives him more focus. And in combination with the growth hormone, that combination would make playing the game of baseball a lot easier.”

    Even though Rodriguez claims he didn’t know he was taking anything illegal, Bosch says that A-Rod was very well aware of the drugs he was being injected with.

    “Alex cared. Alex wanted to know,” Bosch said. “He would study the product. He would study the substances. He would study the dosages because he wanted to achieve all his human performance or in this case, sports performance objectives. And the most important one was the 800 home run club.”

    Now that the interview has aired, A-Rod will reportedly file an injunction in an attempt to play baseball during the 2014 season.

    No surprise there, but Manhattan defense attorney Todd Spodek says that it’s unlikely A-Rod will be successful.

    “I think that’s still a stretch, but it is possible,” he said. “Getting it overturned, I don’t think it’s going to happen. They need to tell the court this is an emergency, that this judge needs to review the full case file and that it’s highly prejudicial to A-Rod so they need to stay the order until the federal court could review the arbitrator’s full file, transcripts, everything. But to actually overturn it, they are going to have to show that something particular with these proceedings was so biased, out of the ordinary course of arbitration.”

    Do you think A-Rod’s suspension should be overturned or shortened? Add your comments below.

    Image via YouTube

  • Alex Rodriguez Files Another Lawsuit

    Alex Rodriguez Files Another Lawsuit

    Sometimes the best offense is a good defense. Alex Rodriguez and the Yankees are not even in the post season and yet the third baseman remains a news headline. Out of the 13 players that were suspended this past season due to the Biogenesis scandal, A. Rod is the only player who appealed his suspension. The explanation is easy to see, he was the only one suspended for 211 games, which for an oft-injured 38-year-old professional baseball player, it would probably mean his career.

    So A. Rod is fighting back with yet another lawsuit. Last night, A. Rod’s litigation team filed a lawsuit against New York Yankee team doctor Chris Ahmad and The New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center. In the suit, Rodriguez accuses them of malpractice concerning an MRI which he contends showed a injury to his left hip.

    Friday’s lawsuit was not the first and it seems will not be the last. On Thursday, A. Rod’s legal team went after Major League Baseball and Commissioner Bud Selig. The claim states that the Commissioner and MLB were purposely trying to smear Rodriguez’s name and ruin his career, calling the proposed suspension “a witch hunt.”

    The complaint states, “They have ignored the procedures set forth in baseball’s collectively bargained labor agreement; violated the strict confidentiality imposed by these agreements; paid individuals millions of dollars and made promises of future employment to individuals in order to get them to produce documents and to testify on MLB’s behalf; bullied and intimidated those individuals who refused to cooperate with their witch hunt; and singled out plaintiff for an unprecedented 211-game suspension — the longest non-permanent ban in baseball history.”

    As you can expect the twitter world is having its say:

    Image via Facebook

  • Alex Rodriguez Sues MLB For “Contract Interference”

    Bad boy of baseball, Alex Rodriguez is suing Major League Baseball claiming the league interfered with his contracts and business relationships.

    Rodriguez claims in the lawsuit that MLB bought the cooperation of the chief witness against him. Rodriguez’s people also claim that Anthony Bosch, the head of the Biogenesis clinic has been paid $5 million by MLB to help force Rodriguez out of the game, according to the Times.

    Rodriguez’s lawyers are saying that the league is trying to make an example out of the baseball player.

    MLB commissioner Bud Selig was named a defendant in the lawsuit, which was earlier reported by the New York Times. Selig hasn’t made any comments on the matter.

    This is the statement that Rodriguez released:

    “The entire legal dynamic is very complex, and my legal team is doing what they need to in order to vindicate me and pursue all of my rights,” the statement says. “This matter is entirely separate from the ongoing arbitration proceedings continuing, and for the day to come when I can share my story with the public and my supporters.”

    Rodriguez was one of the 14 players penalized by MLB this year after the investigation of Biogenesis of America.

    Photo Credit: YouTube