Source: A-Rod has not reached out to Yankees since new allegations emerged
Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees walks off the field after he grounded out in the top of the ninth inning against the Detroit Tigers during game four of the American League Championship Series at Comerica Park. (Oct. 18, 2012) Credit: Getty Images
If Alex Rodriguez feels the need to say anything to the Yankees, so far he's kept it to himself.
The embattled third baseman, according to a source, has not, in the past two days, reached out to the organization.
A Tuesday article in the Miami New Times claimed A-Rod purchased PEDs from a South Florida anti-aging clinic over the last four years, allegations Rodriguez emphatically denied later that afternoon in a statement.
But otherwise mum has been the word from Rodriguez.
MLB hasn't commented beyond a statement released Tuesday -- the crux of which said it has an ongoing investigation of the clinic and its ties to multiple major leaguers -- and the players union has, to this point, declined to comment.
The Yankees aren't saying much about A-Rod, who has five years and $114 million remaining on his contract.
"No one's going to do anything until the league reports on their investigation," said Douglas Hand, a transactional lawyer at Hand Baldachin & Amburgey LLP in Manhattan.
If A-Rod, who could miss all of 2013 after undergoing hip surgery, is found to have used PEDs, MLB will handle the discipline and not the team, per baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.
And even if Tuesday's allegations prove correct and A-Rod is suspended, likely for 50 games, the Yankees would have a steep hill to climb if they want to attempt to terminate his contract early.
The Yankees, one sports attorney who works in baseball said, are in a "tough position" trying to get out of a contract.
One scenario to do so, considered the longest of shots, would be if A-Rod was somehow found to have broken the law and subsequently was convicted of a crime.
Another, still a long shot, would be if the Yankees could trace any of Rodriguez's injuries over the time he was alleged to have been using PEDs -- 2009-12 -- to the use of those drugs. That would give them, perhaps, grounds to claim a material breach of contract.
"There's always hope," one person familiar with the team's thinking said of finding a way out, "but realistically, probably not."
