1. Articles from Ronn Torossian: 5WPR
CEO - PR Firm, New York Public
Relations Agency Owner
With Spring Training in Full Swing, Where’s A-Rod?
2014-04-02 15:04:41 Ronn Torossian
Image via Yahoo! Sports
Spring Training is in full swing, and down in Tampa, the Yankees are getting
geared up for the 2014 season without one of their biggest sticks. A-Rod is
AWOL.
Ronn Torossian explains…Alex Rodriguez’s Grapefruit League locker remains
open – and empty – but the Yankee star has yet to make an appearance in, or
out of, uniform with the team this year. However, the disagreement that
turned into a PR disaster for the All Star slugger took a step in the right
direction for A-Rod recently with the announcement that he has dropped his
lawsuit against Major League Baseball.
A-Rod had sued MLB and the players union back in January in a last ditch
attempt to get his 162-game suspension overturned. The suspension was

2. handed down after Rodriguez was found to have taken banned substances,
and later tried to obstruct MLB’s investigation of the incident.
The substance issues were bad enough, but Rodriguez compounded them
first by obstructing the investigation and then filing the suit. Fredric Horowitz,
the arbitrator involved in the dispute, shortened Rodriguez’s suspension from
211 down to 162…and any playoff games in 2014.
A-Rod called the move one that was made in “bad faith,” and accused the
union of not providing fair representation. The language of the suit caused
some fans to accuse A-Rod of childishness, of whining when he should just
fess up and take his medicine. And, this being New York, those were the nice
things being said. Sure, Yankee fans want to see A-Rod back in a Yankee
uniform, but they have little stomach for a season of distraction and
complaining from a star that many said they won’t miss in the playoffs
anyway.
And the issue could not have come at a worse time for Yankee public
relations. Derek Jeter is retiring at the end of this season, and the Boys in Pin
Stripes are eager to spend the year saying goodbye. Even still, Bronx born
Ronn Torossian – and many other Yankees fans – are upset.