HOLD THE PHONE! AROD DID WHAT?

You know what the first thing is that I do in the morning? After I brush my teeth, have a bit of tea, and get dressed? I sit and wonder whether or not Alex Rodriguez has paid his bills. Yes, it bothers me that I don't know the state of ARod's finances. Because it would be an absolute shame if a man with that much money had terrible credit. Really, it just worries me to no end. Thankfully, someone out there heard my cries of woe.

According to the New York Daily News, ARod might be a "deadbeat." How can that be, you ask? Well, "A-Rod hasn't paid millions of dollars in legal bills he owes the lawyers and private investigators who worked for him in his epic legal battle with Major League Baseball, a source familiar with the case told the Daily News." Thank goodness for those nameless, faceless sources. It in no way seems like they are trying to make up a news story to quench the thirst of those who crave the ARod hate.

If you haven't noticed, I'm being a bit snarky. I honestly don't even understand how ARod's bills are anyones business but his own. But the Daily News reported it, and here I am presenting it to you all for your thoughts on it. To their credit they do say that Joe Tacopina, ARod's lead attorney, confirmed he had no problems collecting his fees from Alex. "He has been entirely fair and responsible with respect to the payment of my fees," he told the News. Great! So why is this even in discussion? Well, that wonderful 'source' from earlier is threatening to make him suffer.

"If he resists paying, he will pay anyway and he will suffer. If he forces people to prove he owes them money, the issues that he discussed with his attorneys will be made public- and Alex doesn't want people telling the truth."

Whoa! Okay, are we dealing with professional legal attorneys here? Because really, it sounds like more like Capone from "The Untouchables" than a professional attorney. You can check the clip above. There is an uncanny resemblance to that statement, and this scene. Let's add some more depth to this discussion. Let's consider for a moment that he originally owed $4 million, and now his bill is at $3 million. So it isn't like he hasn't made a payment. Isn't that how those of us who have car or mortgage payments do it? You pay in installments. Craig Calcaterra of Hardball Talk was an attorney and had this to say about it:

"Multi-million dollar legal bills are not like your electric bill. They're not typically turned around ASAP lest you start getting late notices. There is always negotiations about specifics of the charges. At least if the client is being prudent there is. 

Giant corporations review their bills because- this may be a shocker to you- not everything that appears on an attorney's bill is always legitimate. Indeed, a big reason businesses get into trouble is simply cutting checks to their attorneys without scrutiny or negotiation for whatever the attorneys say is charged. That's how double billing and all manner of attorney shenanigans happens. And that's from even the most respectable attorneys."

Thank you for clearing that up, Mr. Calcaterra.

Basically, you pay your legal bills the same way you would any other bill. But it is always wise to make sure that what you are being charged for is in fact something that you owe. Makes sense. Again, ARod has made payments already, and Tacopina has said that he has no issues in collecting his fees from ARod. So what is the issue really? Apparently, there doesn't seem to be enough news going around. The ARod front got quiet, and they want to rile all the troops up again. Get your pitch forks, ladies and gentlemen! We're about to hunt us an ARod!

The whole thing is beyond silly to me. ARod is no poster boy for innocence, but this is really the best "hate ARod" news they could dredge up? Doesn't ARod get himself into enough trouble without our help? Bottom line is this is a non-issue, and ultimately none of our business. If his lead attorney isn't worried about getting his money, why should we care? Oh, that's right! Because it further demonizes ARod. How silly of me!

Carry on, folks!

--Erica Morales BYB Senior Writer

Twitter: @e_morales1804

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