WEIRDER! MLB ADMITS PAYING FOR STOLEN AROD DOCUMENTS

On Thursday MLB COO, Rob Manfred, took the stand in the Alex Rodriguez arbitration hearings. In the case where ARod is appealing his 211 game suspension, Manfred admitted to authorizing a payment of $125K in cash in return for documents from the South Florida Biogenesis clinic.

(In Photo: Rob Manfred)
According to a report in the New York Post (HERE) "Manfred admitted to Rodriguez's attorney Joseph Tacopina, during cross-examination, that a member of the MLB's investigation team made two cash payments- one for $100,000 and a second for $25,000- to Gary Jones, a former Biogenesis employee, for information." Manfred also said that the documents ended up being stolen, though he did not know that at the time.

If you remember, ARod filed a suit against the MLB, claiming that Dan Mullin paid $150K in cash for stolen documents. Mullin happens to be the senior vice president for baseball's department of investigations. Though the arbitration hearings are considered informal, you have to wonder over the ethical implications of the MLB having paid for documents in an attempt to oust PED users.

The MLB denies the allegations, and both the MLB, and Manfred claim that it is a tactic by ARod and Tacopina to deflect from the issue: Whether or not ARod violated the Basic Agreement. Granted, if ARod is in violation of the Basic Agreement, he should absolutely be punished. The question is, how far exactly did the MLB go in its attempts to make examples out of these athletes? If the documents were stolen, and still being used against these guys, is there a possibility that they are also fraudulent? It brings may questions to the surface over the validity of the entire investigation. It looks bad for the MLB, and Manfred who headed the investigation.

Today was the last day in the court room until November. When the case opens again, ARod's team will have the opportunity to call witnesses to the stand. Any other information that may surface on the case will be here for you at BYB. Stay tuned!

--Erica Morales BYB Senior Writer
Twitter: @e_morales1804



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