New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez made his return to the team despite facing a 211-game suspension for his involvement in the Biogenesis scandal, but his return was not all rainbows and butterflies. According to Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York, the Yankees delivered Rodriguez a letter before his debut that informed him he would be disciplined for seeking a second opinion on his injured quad without informing the team.
"Rodriguez and the Yankees fought publicly late in July over the health of his quadriceps. Without officially informing the team, Rodriguez had orthopedic surgeon Dr. Michael Gross of Hackensack University Medical Center examine his MRI. Dr. Gross then did a media tour.Sources indicated then that the Yankees likely would discipline A-Rod, but didn’t inform him until right before his 2013 home debut Friday night. The letter did not specify the exact nature of the discipline, a source said.The Yankees will cite Article XII, Paragraph D of the collective bargaining agreement that a “player shall inform a team in writing” before seeking a second opinion."
A-Rod did inform the Yankees that he did not trust his medical staff, but that was not enough to avoid punishment after Gross went on his media tour and did everything he could to make the Yankees look bad and have it appear that they were conspiring with Major League Baseball.
Rodriguez is eligible to play for the team while his appeal is being heard, but it looks like he could still be at odds with the Yankees.
Whatever is going on, Rodriguez needs to enjoy the time that he has on the baseball diamond because he could soon have it all taken away.