According to the New York Daily News, Anthony Bosch tried to get money from A-Rod to help pay his mounting legal bills, due in part to the frivolous lawsuit filed by Major League Baseball for tortious interference. A-Rod refused his request, so Bosch cut a deal that would end the lawsuit and require MLB to indemnify him from the collateral damage his cooperation would cause.
The Daily News reported Wednesday that baseball was concerned Bosch might turn to players for financial help if MLB didn’t lock him into an agreement to testify.
“They were afraid someone else would pay him,” said the source. “Bosch is the only guy that can provide them with what they need.”
Bosch is expected to provide MLB with enough dirt to suspend Rodriguez and nearly two dozen other players, sources familiar with the Biogenesis case have told The News, including Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun, who has had a target on his back since he successfully appealed a positive drug test last year.
Among the benefits Bosch will reportedly get for his cooperation is Baseball's intervention in any potential legal actions from the various law enforcement organizations who might be interested in what he has to say when he sings about all the performance enhancing drugs he provided players.
So here's Major League Baseball—doggedly hunting down so-called cheats and players who have been demonized because of their association with a fountain-of-youth charlatan—bankrolling the guy even those same cheats won't help. What's that they say about the company you keep?
Photo credit: Getty
Yankees' Alex Rodriguez refuses to pay Anthony Bosch, who then cuts deal to help MLB [NY Daily News]