Major League Baseball is trying to add "stool pigeon" to the list of unflattering adjectives used to describe former baseball star-turned pariah Alex Rodriguez.
According to the New York Daily News, MLB officials are accusing a public relations firm A-Rod hired of leaking documents to Yahoo! Sports in February that implicated the involvement of Milwaukee Brewers star Ryan Braun and New York Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli in the Biogenesis doping scandal in documents filed in Manhattan Supreme Court.
MLB has petitioned the court to make Michael S. Sitrick, owner of the Sitrick & Company public relations firm, to comply with a subpoena in the arbitration between the league and Rodriguez, the Daily News reported.
Baseball is arguing that A-Rod acquired documents that "had been maintained by (Biogenesis owner Anthony) Bosch ... for the purpose of preventing MLB from obtaining those records and from uncovering evidence of Rodriguez's use and possession of prohibited substances," the Daily News reported.
The petition added that MLB has reason to believe that Rodriguez or a third party acting for A-Rod provided information to Sitrick & Company that implicated Braun, Cervelli and others in receiving performance-enhancing drugs from Anthony Bosch, the Biogenesis founder.
MLB claims Sitrick & Company provided the information to Yahoo! Sports.
A lawyer for Sitrick said Sitrick did not respond to MLB's subpoena because "There are errors in the subpoena in substance and process," according to Newsday.
Newsday added that Joe Tacopina, Rodriguez's lead lawyer, is calling MLB's petition an act of "desperation."
"As we have said all along, Alex has never bought any documents related to Biogenesis, and he has repeatedly turned down offers from various individuals who approached him about buying them," Tacopina said in a statement, according to Newsday. "Alex unequivocally denies having exposed any players."
MLB responded in a statement Wednesday, saying "We continue to be at a loss to explain how Mr. Tacopina can take the position that his client has done nothing wrong."
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