Watch CBS News

A-Rod On Bud Selig: 'Crimes Are Being Committed Under His Regime'

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Alex Rodriguez's appeal of his 211-game suspension handed down by Major League Baseball has still not been resolved, and it's anybody's guess when it will be.

But that isn't stopping A-Rod and his legal team from firing shots at MLB Commissioner Bud Selig and the league.

The Yankees' third baseman didn't hold back in a statement on Thursday, further accusing Selig and Major League Baseball of unfairly treating him and criticizing the nature of the investigation.

"I am deeply troubled by my team's investigative findings with respect to MLB's conduct," Rodriguez said in the statement. "How can the gross, ongoing misconduct of the MLB investigations division not be relevant to my suspension, when my suspension supposedly results directly from that division's work?

"It is sad that Commissioner Selig once again is turning a blind eye, knowing that crimes are being committed under his regime. I have 100 percent faith in my legal team. To be sure, this fight is necessary to protect me. But it also serves the interests of the next 18-year-old coming into the league, to be sure he doesn't step into the house of horrors that I am being forced to walk through."

A member of Rodriguez's high-powered legal team said last week that the three-time MVP has "absolutely not" taken performance-enhancing drugs in the recent past.

And he's disputing that Major League Baseball has any evidence otherwise in its effort to suspend A-Rod 211 games under the joint drug agreement for his ties to Biogenesis, the shuttered anti-aging clinic accused of distributing PEDs.

A-Rod's attorney, Joe Tacopina, made the comments before arbitrator Fredric Horowitz put the kibosh on publicly discussing the case.

MLB chief operating officer Rob Manfred labeled Tacopina's statement as "inaccurate," according to Newsday.

Rodriguez admitted in 2009 to using PEDs from 2001-03 while playing for the Texas Rangers. He was linked to the Biogenesis clinic and its operator, Anthony Bosch, in a bombshell Miami New Times report in January.

"When I did something wrong, I came forward, I admitted it," A-Rod recently said, a source told Newsday. "That should be enough for right now. People should understand that."

Baseball handed down its punishment in early August after a lengthy investigation, which included Bosch's cooperation. Tacopina accused the league of utilizing "shocking and deplorable" investigative methods.

You May Also Be Interested In These Stories

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.