At last, somebody not named - or employed by - Alex Rodriguez is defending Alex Rodriguez.
The New Jersey Star-Ledger is reporting that the Major League Baseball Players Associations is threatening legal action against Major League Baseball for violating the confidentiality of their collective-bargaining drug program and for continuing to "publicly pile on" A-Rod as a result of Sunday night's "60 Minutes" expose on Rodriguez's affiliation with the Biogenesis clinic and founder Anthony Bosch.
Bosch, MLB chief operating officer Rob Manfred and Arbitrator Frederic Horowitz all are appearing on the "60 Minutes" interview.
The players' union issued a statement posted by the Star-Ledger:
"It is unfortunate that Major League Baseball apparently lacks faith in the integrity and finality of the arbitrator's decision and our Joint Drug Agreement, such that it could not resist the temptation to publicly pile-on against Alex Rodriguez. It is equally troubling that the MLB-appointed Panel Arbitrator will himself be appearing in the "60 Minutes" segment, and that Tony Bosch, MLB's principal witness, is appearing on the program with MLB's blessing.
"MLB's post-decision rush to the media is inconsistent with our collectively-bargained arbitration process, in general, as well as the confidentiality and credibility of the Joint Drug Agreement, in particular. After learning of tonight's "60 Minutes" segment, Players have expressed anger over, among other things, MLB's inability to let the result of yesterday's decision speak for itself. As a result, the Players Association is considering all legal options available to remedy any breaches committed by MLB.
"Throughout this process the Players Association has repeatedly shown it is committed to an effective drug program that is strong and fair. And as we indicated in our statement yesterday, although we do not agree with the arbitrator's decision, we respect the process and will act accordingly. We believe the other involved parties should do the same."
Horowitz reduced Rodriguez's suspension from 211 games to 162 games on Saturday. The report did not include a response from league officials.
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