Evidence had to overwhelm fair arbiter
THE EVIDENCE that Alex Rodriguez obtained banned drugs from the Biogenesis anti-aging clinic must have been overwhelming for arbitrator Fredric Horowitz to suspend the disgraced superstar for 162 games, a veteran labor lawyer told the Daily News.
Horowitz is known in legal circles as fair and open-minded, and New York attorney Joseph Farelli said the arbitrator would not have hit Rodriguez with such a devastating penalty if MLB did not present a strong case.
“Horowitz is a straight shooter,” said Farelli, who has represented unions and employers in thousands of arbitration hearings during his 20-year career. “He doesn’t play games and he is widely respected. He must have seen a whole lot of evidence that A-Rod violated the dr ug program.”
Rodriguez didn’t do himself any favors when he stormed out of his grievance hearing on Nov. 20 and bad-mouthed the arbitration process during an interview with WFAN radio host Mike Francesa, Farelli added.
“Rodriguez basically told Fredric Horowitz ‘You are not fair,’ ” Farelli said. “Horowitz is a man of integrity and that probably didn’t affect his decision. But it did tell Horowitz that A-Rod and his lawyers did not take the process seriously, that Rodriguez and his legal team did not take the arbitration proceeding seriously.”
Rodriguez has vowed to go to federal court to overturn the season-long suspension, but the embattled Yankee will most likely strike out following a difficult and expensive legal battle, Farelli said.
“The odds are against Rodriguez,” Farelli said. “I never say never, but this is highly unlikely. Judges don’t like to overturn arbitrators’ decisions. He will have to prove that the arbitrator is biased or that he had a conflict of interest or he was on the take. He’ll have to say that he ignored evidence. He will spend a lot of money on attorneys.”
“He will go to court and argue that the suspension is harmful to his reputation,” Farelli said of the scandal-scarred Rodriguez, “and the judge will laugh in his face.”
Farelli said he was baffled by Rodriguez’s legal strategy: The months of doping denials and attacks on MLB and the Yankees seemed targeted to sway baseball fans and the general public. But in the end, only Horowitz’s opinion mattered.
“It seemed like this more geared to public relations than trying to vacate the ban. It was all about A-Rod’s ego,” Farelli said. “It seems like he is surrounded by ‘yes men’ who tell him what he wants to hear. I would have told him to cut a deal.”