A-Rod in good graces of union, says new chief Clark

TAMPA — Alex Rodriguez has a village full of fences to mend if he actually wants to play Major League Baseball again, but he’s in good standing once more with the Players Association. At least, so said the union’s executive director Tony Clark Monday morning at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

“The page has been turned,” Clark told reporters, after he and other union officials held their annual meeting with the Yankees players.

As part of an attempt to vacate the 162game suspension he received for his involvement in Biogenesis, the shuttered South Florida antiaging clinic, ARod sued the Players Association on Jan. 13, alleging the union “completely abdicated its responsibility to Mr. Rodriguez to protect his rights under the agreements between MLB and MLBPA.” The lawsuit specifically mentioned comments Clark’s predecessor, Michael Weiner, made about ARod in an August 2013 radio interview; Weiner died of brain cancer in November.

The day of Rodriguez’s filing, Clark released a statement that read, in part: “Mr. Rodriguez’s allegation that the Association has failed to fairly represent him is outrageous, and his gratuitous attacks on our former Executive Director, Michael Weiner, are inexcusable.”

When ARod dropped his lawsuit on Feb. 7, however, Clark considered the matter closed. And he will urge his members to do the same, even though thenRed Sox pitcher Ryan Dempster threw intentionally at ARod during a game last August and players discussed the idea of ejecting Rodriguez from the union (as first reported by Yahoo! Sports).

“Whether you’re a player who played from the very first time you stepped on the field, or to any of the players that are going to come next, our membership is our membership. Alex is a member of the Players Association,” Clark said. “He will serve the penalty that he has been given by the arbitrator. He will come back [next year] in spring training ready to go, wherever that happens to be. He’s under contract with the Yankees. I would expect him to be in camp with the Yankees. Am I concerned about anything beyond that? No.”

“Not once” on his current spring training tour of teams, Clark said, has a player expressed his unhappiness over Rodriguez remaining in the union.

Asked whether Rodriguez’s lawsuit against the union concerned him, Clark said, “At any point in time, any player in the fraternity feels like this organization — that I have a lot of passion for and I have a lot pride in … isn’t defending his rights, it is a concern. Having played with Alex, having played against Alex, yes, it is a concern. Having any number of conversations, I’m glad we find ourselves [past it].”