While it seems like every day there is a new tidbit on Alex Rodriguez in the news, the slugger is hoping to change the trend.
According to reports, Rodriguez has instructed his legal team to stop talking to the media about the New York Yankees and Major League Baseball because he just wants to concentrate on what's happening on the diamond, rather than his laundry list of troubles piling up off of it.
"I'm shutting it all down," Rodriguez said, according to ESPNNewYork.com. "I'm shutting it all down, just focusing on baseball, just baseball."
A-Rod, 38, hired outspoken lawyer Joe Tacopina, who immediately attacked the Yankees, the MLB and team doctors for "misdiagnosing" the embattled slugger's hip injury last postseason. Now, he hopes that Tacopina, well-known for his aggression, will simmer down and let the three-time American League Most Valuable Player focus on playing the game.
How long A-Rod can continue to play the game remains in question as he's currently fighting an unprecedented 211-game ban for violating the league's joint drug agreement and collective bargaining agreement due to his alleged connection to Tony Bosch and the Biogenesis clinic accused of selling performance enhancing drugs to players.
While Rodriguez wants to play the game, he'll be on the bench Wednesday instead of in Joe Girardi's lineup after playing both games of a day-night doubleheader against the Toronto Blue Jays Tuesday. The Yankees won both games of the twin bill, and Rodriguez is hitting .296 with two homers and six RBIs this season through 14 games after missing the majority of the campaign due to offseason hip surgery in January and a quad injury setback.
Rodriguez insists that the off the field circus and daily headlines must stop so he can focus on the Yankees current playoff push.
"We have 30-something games? That's the only focus," Rodriguez said per ESPN. "That's coming from me."
The Yankees, currently in fourth place, are looking to gain ground in the AL East as they sit 6.5 games out and are also just five games out of the wildcard heading into Wednesday.
With 37 games remaining on the Yankees schedule and the playoffs rapidly approaching, A-Rod is finally attempting to change the focus back to baseball after Tacopina went on a media tour criticizing the very team Rodriguez is trying to help make the playoffs and the very league in which they will be contested.
"There are so many great stories going on in baseball," Rodriguez told ESPN. "And for us, we want to just focus on playing good baseball and 100 percent that all of the questions be about baseball. If there are any questions in the future that are not about baseball, the interview will end at that moment."
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