The war wages on between Alex Rodriguez and the Yankees.
In an interview that was published in The New York Times on Saturday, Rodriguez’s lawyer Joseph Tacopina alleged that the Yankees conspired to keep the slugger off the field by feeding him false information about his injury.
Now, Yankees team president Randy Levine is firing back.
Levine challenged Rodriguez to release his medical records that would support Tacopina’s claim that the Yankees misled him about the extent of his injury, according to ESPNNewYork.com. Those records would show the treatment Rodriguez received from Dr. Anthony Galea — which the Yankees did not sanction.
“The one medical issue we can’t confirm is [Rodriguez’s] treatment by Dr. Anthony Galea. We obviously didn’t know he was being treated by Dr. Galea,” Levine told ESPNNewYork.com in a phone interview. “We didn’t authorize it. Since [Rodriguez] has put his condition into play, he should release his records with Galea.”
With the third baseman’s permission, the Yankees will release all of the team records they have, dating back to his first hip surgery in 2009 to show the care he’s received has been more than adequate, as well as to contest the allegation that Rodriguez was playing during the 2012 playoffs when he should not have been medically cleared.
“If he really believes that,” Levine said, “He should file a grievance for the release of all his medical records. We’re willing to release all of them. All he has to do is say yes and we’ll release them all for everyone to see.”
Tacopina believes the Yankees used the recent performance-enhancing drug allegations as well as Rodriguez’s injury as ways to keep him off the diamond and potentially void the remainder of his contract. Levine refuted all of Tacopina’s claims, but he was clear in his message to his third baseman.
“Alex should put up or shut up,” Levine said.
