In the wake of a historic suspension sentence for his role in the Biogenesis PED scandal, Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez privately informed advisers last summer that he was prepared to retire from baseball, according to the New York Daily News.
“He had been talking about retirement because of injuries. Given his prior involvement [with doping], he knew he would be a target for additional testing,” a source told the Daily News. “There was no way he could use and play again.”
While it seemed set in stone that the troubled slugger was ready to hang up his spikes last season, multiple sources told the Daily News that Rodriguez changed his mind and decided to fight MLB’s pending suspension after consulting with Desiree Perez, a Manhattan nightclub manager with close ties to rapper Jay-Z.
While Perez is not affiliated with Roc Nation Sports, Jay-Z’s sports agency that includes clients such as Robinson Cano and Kevin Durant, sources say that Perez is a major influence within the organization.
“She’s directly involved with the athletes,” one source said. “She has a lot of power.”
According to a source, Perez, a convicted felon who was arrested in 1994 for intent to distribute over 35 kilograms of cocaine, accused Rodriguez of letting MLB and Yankees organization remove him from baseball and urged the three-time MVP to fight his pending suspension.
Prior to his suspension, Perez is said to have consulted Rodriguez and recommended a “combative stances” against MLB, the Yankees, and Anthony Bosch, the founder of the Biogenesis clinic.
Rodriguez apparently was still taking Perez’s advice when he told media members on Aug. 2, 2013, that the Yankees and MLB were conspiring to force him out of baseball.
“I think that’s the pink elephant in the room,” Rodriguez said, adding, “People are finding creative ways to cancel [the] contract.”
Rodriguez’s aggressive stance would completely backfire, as MLB levied a 211-game suspension against the 14-time All Star on Aug. 5, 2013.
Rodriguez’s suspension was eventually reduced to 162 games on Jan. 11. As a result, Rodriguez will miss the entire 2014 season and forfeit about $20 million in salary.
“It was like Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance, except you never wanted to take a chance with [Perez],” a source told the Daily News. “She undermined everything A-Rod‘s people were trying to do to help him. It was a travesty.”
