By Jordan Kobritz
If the best defense is a good offense, then Alex Rodriguez and his high-priced team of lawyers have the playbook memorized.
On October 4 A-Rod filed a lawsuit seeking monetary damages against Major League Baseball (MLB) and Commissioner Bud Selig. The lawsuit is based on two legal theories. First, it claims “tortious interference with prospective business relationships,” for example, A-Rod’s ability to obtain future endorsement opportunities. Second, the suit argues “tortious interference with existing contracts,” including A-Rod’s business arrangements and his contract with the Yankees, which has four years and approximately $116 million remaining on the 10-year, $300 million deal he signed during the 2007-08 offseason. The complaint alleges that MLB and Selig are so obsessed with punishing A-Rod that they have gone to extraordinary lengths to “get him.”
The suit was filed on the fourth day of an arbitration hearing to determine if the 211-game suspension A-Rod received on August 5 for his various roles in the Biogenesis case – alleged by MLB to include the use of performance enhancing drugs, the attempted destruction of evidence, and the recruitment of additional players as clients of the former South Florida anti-aging clinic – should be reduced or overturned. Thirteen of the fourteen players who were suspended by MLB as a result of the Biogenesis investigation accepted their suspensions without an appeal. However, all but one of the suspensions – Ryan Braun’s at 65 games – was for 50 games, far below A-Rod’s record punishment.
Under baseball’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and the Joint Drug Agreement (JDA) between the owners and the players, testimony in the arbitration hearing is supposed to be confidential. That means A-Rod can’t really take to the airwaves and voice his complaints concerning the manner in which MLB collected its evidence against him and determined his punishment. But unlike arbitration hearings, court proceedings are considered public and all filings – including allegations in a complaint – unless sealed by the court, are available to everyone. Hence, by filing the lawsuit A-Rod and his attorneys are doing indirectly what they are prohibited from doing directly in an effort to both air their grievances and garner support for their position that MLB has a vendetta against “one of the most talented baseball players of all time,” one of the many allegations contained in the complaint.
Despite repeated admonishments by the independent arbitrator, Fredric Horowitz, regarding the issue of confidentiality — Horowitz even issued an injunction prohibiting A-Rod’s team from holding a press conference to address arbitration testimony — there have been countless leaks related to the testimony before the panel. MLB has admitted paying $125,000 for documents to bolster its case against A-Rod. A-Rod’s side admitted paying $300,000 to purchase evidence of its own, whether to prevent it from falling into MLB’s hands or to bolster its case against MLB is unknown. After eight days of testimony, the arbitration hearing was suspended until at least November 18.
A-Rod’s litigious offensive isn’t limited to MLB and Selig. On the same day that he filed the lawsuit against baseball, A-Rod filed a second lawsuit against the Yankees’ team physician and a hospital for misdiagnosing his medical condition and mishandling the treatment of a hip injury suffered during the 2012 season. A-Rod claims that the defendants jeopardized his career by allowing him to play throughout the season and the playoffs when he should have been undergoing treatment. A-Rod eventually underwent his second hip surgery in January. He was out for most of the season undergoing rehab, returning to the Yankees’ lineup on the same day he was suspended.
The suit against MLB resembles a yo-yo. A-Rod filed the suit in New York Supreme Court (the state’s trial court) in Manhattan, whereupon MLB removed the case to the Southern District of New York based on federal question jurisdiction. MLB’s argument is that A-Rod’s claims are preempted by section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act. If true, MLB will further argue that A-Rod’s claims are preempted by the CBA, meaning they should be resolved by arbitration, sending A-Rod back before Horowitz. Not to be outdone, on October 25 A-Rod’s attorneys filed a motion in federal court to return the case back to its original starting point in state court. A hearing on the respective motions has been scheduled for November 7.
Don’t be surprised if team A-Rod continues its scorched earth policy by filing additional lawsuits. One of his attorneys sent a letter to the Players’ Association in August claiming the union had prejudiced A-Rod’s case against MLB. MLBPA Executive Director Michael Weiner had stated publicly that he advised A-Rod to accept his fate and waive an appeal if MLB offered him a suspension more in line with those imposed on other Biogenesis players. Weiner’s comments suggest the union never had any doubt about A-Rod’s guilt or innocence, but rather the extent of the punishment imposed by MLB. A lawsuit against the MLBPA, particularly if A-Rod loses his grievance against MLB, shouldn’t surprise anyone.
Additionally, most observers believe A-Rod will eventually sue the Yankees, perhaps for conspiring with MLB to keep him out of the lineup long enough a) to declare him physically unable to play, thereby triggering at least partial insurance reimbursement on the remainder of his contract; b) for a suspension to take effect, which would have granted the Yankees payroll relief under MLB’s Luxury Tax for the time A-Rod was out of action; c) for A-Rod to get discouraged and retire and/or accept a contract buyout at a reduced rate; or d) for the team’s lawyers to come up with legal arguments as creative as A-Rod’s counsel have conjured up that would rid them of their mercurial star once and for all.
As long as A-Rod keeps paying his legal team, there are other potential lawsuits that could theoretically be pursued, including one against Red Sox pitcher Ryan Dempster. Dempster hit A-Rod on the elbow with a pitch — on his fourth try — during a game in Fenway Park on August 18. While Dempster’s actions were representative of the feelings many players have towards A-Rod, it was nonetheless a cheap shot, one that could have affected A-Rod’s career. The legal basis for such a suit would be questionable, but no more so than the suits already filed by team A-Rod.
On a scale of one to ten, the lawsuit against MLB would be a one — maybe. The tort of “tortious interference” is one of the most difficult legal claims to prove. It is oftentimes used as a catch-all when plaintiffs are frustrated over perceived inappropriate, yet legally insufficient, actions by the defendants. You can chalk this one up as just another strikeout, if you’re counting, number 2,115 — in 10,092 at bats, including postseason play — in A-Rod’s 20-year career.
However, A-Rod’s attorneys are right on one count: A-Rod’s on-field accomplishments certainly rank him among the top players in MLB history, although how much of that success was based on pure talent and how much on illegal “assistance” will never be known. This much we do know. All of A-Rod’s problems can be attributed to one individual: Himself. He can blame MLB, Selig, the Yankees and myriad others for his troubles but regardless of how many lawsuits he files, A-Rod and A-Rod alone is responsible for the effect that PEDs has had and will continue to have on the remainder of his career, such as it may be, as well as his legacy.
Jordan Kobritz is a former attorney, CPA, and Minor League Baseball team owner. He is a Professor in the Sport Management Department at SUNY Cortland and is a contributing author to the Business of Sports Network. He also maintains the blog: http://sportsbeyondthelines.com Jordan can be reached at jordan.kobritz@cortland.edu.
