Report: A-Rod's Legal Team Seeking Millions In Unpaid Bills
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Alex Rodriguez won't get close to the field this year. But the people who went to battle for him are reportedly ready to play hardball -- and it could get ugly.
The suspended New York Yankees third baseman has made his share of enemies within the ranks of Major League Baseball and the players union. Now he's on the outs with his dream team of attorneys and investigators due to piles of unpaid bills, according to the New York Daily News.
A-Rod still owes around three-quarters of $4 million in fees amassed during his battle with MLB over a season-long ban related to Biogenesis, the anti-aging clinic at the center of last season's performance-enhancing drugs controversy, the Daily News reported.
The 38-year-old "has ignored repeated attempts" at collection and is in danger of his spurned legal team spilling the beans if they're forced to recoup the money in court, the Daily News reported.
"Alex doesn't want people telling the truth," a source told the Daily News.
Rodriguez had his suspension reduced to 162 games in January after a testy arbitration process. He vowed to challenge the ruling in court before eventually accepting the ban on Feb. 7, dropping his lawsuits against baseball and the Players' Association. Rodriguez will be eligible to return to the Yankees in 2015.
A source told the Daily News that A-Rod "will suffer" in a very public way if he doesn't pay up. But high-profile attorney Joe Tacopina, who according to the source was among the people still owed cash, told the paper there was "no fee dispute whatsoever with Alex."
"He has been entirely fair and responsible with respect to the payment of my fees," Tacopina told the Daily News.
A-Rod will forfeit $22.1 million of his $25 million base salary in 2014.
He has made $353.4 million in his career, according to baseball-reference.com, and is owed $61 million -- not including record-based bonuses -- over the final three years of his deal with the Yankees (2015-17).
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