Following Ryan Braun’s suspension, Alex Rodriguez is expected to be Major League Baseball’s next target in the biogenesis scandal. Currently, the New York Yankees third baseman is not participating in big league action due to quad strain—a quad strain that Rodriguez and his representatives are calling a hoax, according to ESPNNewYork.com citing sources.
Rodriguez has missed the entire season due to hip surgery. He was scheduled to stop rehab and join the team in Texas on Monday. However, after an MRI the Yankees decided to keep him out of action due to a Grade 1 quad stain. The diagnosis was given by team doctor Chris Ahmad.
The third baseman’s representatives believe the Yankees decision is the way for the team and the MLB to keep him off the field amidst the biogenesis scandal.
Hackensack Medical Center orthopedic surgeon Dr. Michael Gross said he analyzed the MRI and saw no indications of quad damage that should prevent Rodriguez from playing.
Another source said Rodriguez has reached out to the team and notified them he wants to be playing when the Yankees face the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday.
"He feels he has no choice," the source said in an interview with ESPNNewYork.com. "He wants to play and they won't let him play. Nobody knows Alex's body better than he does."
One source said the Yankees were looking into a possible collective bargaining agreement violation by Rodriguez since he sought a second medical opinion without notifying the team—a rule outlined in Article XIII, paragraph D of the CBA.
Unfortunately for the team, it appears that little would come from the situation. The most Rodriguez would have to do is pay the costs of getting the second opinion.
A source said Ahmad would contact Gross to figure out where the differences in analysis occurred.
"To me, an MRI is an MRI," said the source. "Either it is or it isn't."
According to a source, it was Rodriguez who brought quad issue to the Yankees’ attention. General Manager Brian Cashman was not immediately available for comment.
"He told them he couldn't play third base on Saturday, and he told them he couldn't play at all on Sunday," the source said.
Nevertheless, Rodriguez maintains he is able to play while the Yankees believe he is not. The third baseman is convinced the MLB and Yankees are working against him.
"So he's saying the New York Yankees, Major League Baseball and New York Presbyterian are all in cahoots to phony up an injury?," asked a source to which ESPNNewYork.com referred as “highly placed”. "It makes no sense."
A source said the injury requires 10-14 days to heal. The subsequent rehab assignment could last up to 20 days. However, the source doesn’t believe Rodriguez will need the all of that time.
"He has to prove to us that he can play and he's not nursing an injury," said a team source.
Rodriguez is expected to face a longer suspension than Ryan Bruan in connection to the biogenisis scandal. If he is punished he could appeal and—barring no more injury problems—return to the majors this season.
However a friend of Rodriguez said, "This [situation on Wednesday] has nothing to do with anything except he wants to be back on the field."
