Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Francisco Rodriguez and the MLBPA vs. the New York Mets

As expected, the MLBPA (the union), filed a grievance against the Mets on behalf of disqualified Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez. Reading the report by Adam Rubin on ESPN New York.com, the contention is over WHEN and HOW K-Rod injured his thumb.
The Mets maintain Rodriguez tore a ligament in his right thumb during an altercation with his girlfriend's father at Citi Field last week. Chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon said Tuesday that Rodriguez confessed to a team trainer that the injury occurred as a result of the incident.

Rodriguez's agent, Paul Kinzer, and the union have been noncommittal about when the injury occurred. And a team source told ESPNNewYork.com on Wednesday that Rodriguez will claim he slipped, but not as a direct result of the incident.

Of course, both sides are saying that they believe that they are right (that's usually the case).

My message to all involved. Guys, don't fuck around. This is a legal case. I'm not a lawyer, and I don't always understand big words, but if this thing comes to trial, the injured thumb may come up as proof that K-Rod really did strike the grandfather of his children. In a court of law, and in probably just about everything else related to a legal case, the parties involved are sworn to tell the truth with sever consequences for lying. The truth will come out in court, and one of these sides will be very embarrassed. And before the stories start getting out of hand, there were supposedly witnesses. It's a bad spot to be in for a teammate or a teammate's family member. This grievance should sit in limbo until the legal matters are sorted out, and then we should see what really happened. Whichever side is found to be either lying or wrong about when/how the injury occurred is going to look mighty foolish once the truth comes out.


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