:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/22419051/20131102_jdm_sx1_008.0.jpg)
The New York Times has published an article on their investigation into the ongoing investigations during the Alex Rodriguez Biogenesis case. Steve Eder, Serge F. Kovaleski, and Michael S. Schmidt of the Times looked deeper into the events that we have all heard so much about in order to find the definitive truth, or at least a clearer picture of what has gone down. During the process, it seems that new details have surfaced that people didn't know about before.
The extent of the investigation has caused MLB to bring George Mitchell on to help with the caseload. Mitchell is the ex-Senator made famous in the baseball community for his Mitchell Report that really started this whole thing in the first place. After the report was finished, Selig created an investigation team, at the suggestion of Mitchell, and hired Daniel Mullin, a 23-year veteran of the New York Police Department, to head the unit.
During the appeal the non-profit group Hispanics Across America has put together a small group of A-Rod supporters. Many started wondering whether or not the picketers were being paid by Rodriguez. Apparently the HAA was given an anonymous donation of $100,000 contingent on the fact that the money be used to raise awareness about Rodriguez's legal battle against MLB. The group later took out a $106,000 ad in the Times that criticized MLB's investigation. A-Rod allegedly had nothing to do with the donation, but you can probably connect the dots yourself.
Back in May, MLB began investigating Alex Rodriguez's trainer Bruli Medina Reyes when they showed up at his home in the Dominican Republic. Reyes told the Times that he was pressed for answers and threatened with a federal case. He was harassed and followed for month before meeting with MLB in New York where he was given paperwork saying that he had been an eyewitness to Rodriguez injecting himself with PEDs. Reyes denied knowing of such an event, yet he was still given documents, one in English, the other in Spanish, and signed without fully reading them.
MLB has a different story when a spokesman said "Medina affirmed the contents of his affidavit on numerous occasions in the presence of at least six M.L.B. attorneys or investigators, and had the affidavit read to him line by line in Spanish." They also believe that Reyes understood what was being asked of him and was never pressured.
Loraine Delgadillo, nurse to Anthony Bosch at the Biogenesis clinic, told MLB investigators that she had no information about MLB players being treated by the clinic. The investigation continued and Mullin, the investigator who had interviewed Delgadillo, sent flowers to her home on Valentine's Day with a card thanking her for her help and later asked her to dinner. The two met three times and became intimate. Rodriguez paid her $100,000 for the card, Mullin's business card, and text messages between the two.
In March a car was broken into and Biogenesis client records were stolen. Soon after Mullin bought documents from Gary Jones for $125,000 in a local diner. Jones told Mullin that the records had been stolen from both Biogenesis and the car. Both men recorded the transaction and A-Rod's lawyers apparently paid $200,000 for a copy. However, MLB officially denies that it knew the documents were stolen at the time they purchased them.
It's hard to say what is true and what is false, but it seems MLB may have engaged in some questionable methods in order to uncover information about Alex Rodriguez. Despite this, it's unknown whether or not these things are enough to actually change whether or not A-Rod is guilty of taking PEDs. If the arbitrator believes he was targeted unfairly, he could knock down the sentence, but it might not matter and if the evidence is against Rodriguez where it counts, the suspension could stand.